1667. Strawberry Shortcake

My cute baking date chose strawberry shortcakes for this round, and heart shaped no less. We did enjoy the process, and indeed the result, but frankly I always felt strawberry shortcake was overhyped compared to the actual product, which is somewhat rustic. 

The shortcake is barely sweetened, depending on the cream and fruit to flavor it. The recipe called for macerating the strawberries, but that would be so messy to eat, so instead I sweetened the cream before whipping, which balanced perfectly for optimal presentation. Assemble minutes before serving as the shortcake will get soggy the longer it sits.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

100g butter, chilled

1/3 cup milk

For the filling:

500g strawberries

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 425F. Put the flour and baking powder in a food processor and blitz to combine.

Add the chilled butter pieces and and blitz again until resembles coarse sand. While the machine is running, drizzle in the milk and stop processing as soon a the dough comes together.

Roll the dough on a floured surface to just under 1 centimeter thick. Cut out your shapes and place in a non-stick baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden-brown. 

Split the shortcakes in half while still warm.

In a bowl, whip the cream and the sugar to a stiff peak, set aside. Slice the strawberries and set aside.

Spread the cream over the bottom halves, top with sliced strawberries, and cover with the top half.

Decorate with some extra cream and strawberry and serve.

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