yummy

strawberry shortcake for Sunday

 

We bought 2 giant baskets of strawberries from our “local” strawberry farm (aka the one less than a mile from our doorstep) on Saturday afternoon. Sugary sweet and perfectly ripe, these berries needed to be eaten quickly so we could refill on some more ripe specimens this week…

Mr. M had whipped out his Bobby Flay: Grill It! cookbook to prepare a feast for my visiting parents on Saturday night, but due to our Costco-sized purchase of flank steak, he was able to make DOUBLE the amount of “Red Wine Marinated Flank Steak Filled with Prosciutto, Fontina and Basil with Cabernet-Shallot Reduction” than we could possibly eat in one night.

That meant we had servings for four people on Sunday… so we invited our friends W & CM over for dinner. And with all those strawberries from the day before and no need to prep much for dinner, I searched epicurious.com for a good strawberry dessert and this was the first thing that popped up:

recipe inspired by: Strawberry Shortcake with Grand Marnier Strawberry Compote and Chantilly Cream (from Michael Mina) [source]

Do I even need to tell you how wonderful of a dessert this was? Because seriously, I’m salivating just from the title! But I can tell you that it was a very easy shortcake recipe and that if you love strawberry daiquiris, then you’ll adore this dessert even more! And if it’s not strawberry season in your neck of the woods yet, wait for delicious local berries to make this even better!

Ingredients [makes 4 servings]:

Biscuits
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 T baking powder
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter (1/2 stick), cut into chunks
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/4 cup cream, plus more for brushing
Finely grated zest from one lemon

Grand Marnier Strawberry Compote
2 pints strawberries, stems removed and quartered
1/4 cup Grand Mariner
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Pinch of kosher salt

Chantilly Whipped Cream
1/2 cup cold heavy cream
1 T confectioners’ sugar

Biscuits:
In large bowl, sift together both flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Use your hands to crumble in the butter.

In medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk and cream, then add the lemon zest. Add it to the dry mixture, stirring with fork just until dough forms.

Knead gently in the bowl, just until dough holds together, about 10 turns. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Use an ice cream scoop to make your “drop biscuits” of shortcake and place them on parchment on a baking sheet. Brush them with cream, sprinkle with sugar and bake until golden brown for 15 to 18 minutes. Place them on a wire to rack to cool.

Compote:
In large mixing bowl, combine strawberries, Grand Mariner, 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Mix gently, taste, and add more sugar if needed. Let stand at room temperature until juices form, at least 30 minutes.

Chantilly Cream:
Chill medium mixing bowl and whisk in freezer for 10 minutes before beginning. In chilled bowl, whisk cream until it begins to foam and thicken. Add sugar and continue to whisk just until soft peaks form. Do not over-whip.

 

Assemble your shortcake however you like… crumbled shortcake, whole shortcake, lots of strawberries or TONS of whipped cream and ENJOY!

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