Strawberry shortcake

No, not the cartoon. The real deal!

Oregon strawberries are in season, and we are enjoying them immensely! They are super sweet and tasty! I made homemade strawberry shortcake the other night. YUMMY! Best dessert I've personally ever made I think.

I used a recipe that I found online at Patent and the Pantry (via Tastespotting). The recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson's "How to be a domestic goddess". I really love the biscuits. They are super creamy tasting and just a hint sweet. I also LOVED the trick in the recipe of grating the butter. I've never been successful at cutting butter into bits, and this was a great (pun intended) way to do it!

Strawberry Shortcakes

Adapted slightly from chef Nigella Lawson’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

For the shortcakes:

• 1½ cups (325 ml) flour
• ½ tsp (2 ml) salt
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) baking powder
• 5 tbsp (75 ml) sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) unsalted butter, frozen
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup (125 ml) half-and-half cream
• 2 tbsp (25 ml) whipping cream
• 2 tbsp (15 ml) sugar, divided
• 1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream

for the filling:

• 1 pound (500 g) strawberries, hulled and sliced
• mix the sliced strawberries with 1 tbsp (15 ml) sugar and set aside in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 425°f (220°c).

Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and 3 tbsp (50 ml) of the sugar in a bowl. Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients and use your fingertips to lightly toss all together. Whisk the egg into the half-and-half cream and pour into the flour mixture a little at a time, using a fork to mix.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, then roll gently to about ¾-inch (2 centimetres) thick. Dip a cutter in flour and cut out as many shortcakes as possible. Work the scraps back together, re-roll and cut more. Place on a baking sheet, brush the tops with the 2 tbsp (25 ml)whipping cream and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. (I forgot to do this last step! Will try it next time, for sure!)

Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden. Remove to wire rack to cool.

The recipe also included whipping cream, but we opted for a small scoop of vanilla ice cream! What a treat this was! I bought more berries and put them in the freezer. I thought about making some jam, but that's a process I've never taken on by myself. (I always assisted my friend Nancy in jelly-making!) I may still decide to give it a try - we'll see. These berries are very tempting!

The local Farmer's Market opens tomorrow. I am way more excited about fresh veggies than I probably should be! I have no idea what the growing season is like here in Oregon, so I don't even know what to expect veggie-wise. Should be fun though!!

Happy long weekend! :)