Recipe: Ultimate Strawberry Shortcake

Total time: 40 min.

4 pints strawberries, rinsed and hulled

1/4 cup sugar

10 shortcakes

2 cups whipping cream, whipped

Cut strawberries in half and toss with sugar. Set aside 1/2 hour.

Split each Shortcake while still warm. Spoon plenty of strawberries over bottom of each shortcake, top with generous spoonful of whipped cream and set top half of Shortcake on top. Makes 10 servings.

Each serving contains about:

380 calories; 263 mg sodium; 82 mg cholesterol; 25 grams fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.70 gram fiber.

Shortcake

Note: It’s important that your baking powder be active for the recipe to work, as there is no other leavener. The first couple of times we tried it in The Times Test Kitchen, the biscuits looked more like cookies than cakes. A change of baking powder did the trick.

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

Dash salt

1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into 8 pieces

3/4 cup whipping cream

Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into medium mixing bowl. Rubbing between fingers, or cutting with crossed knives or pastry cutter, work butter into dry ingredients until mixture forms consistency of cornmeal, with few larger lumps of butter left intact. Add half of cream and stir into dry ingredients with fork. Add remainder of cream, bit by bit, until mass forms that pulls cleanly away from bottom and sides of bowl. You may not use all of cream.

On lightly floured work space, quickly and lightly knead dough until smooth and cohesive. Gently roll out 1/2-inch thick. Cut out biscuits with 3-inch biscuit cutter, or lightly floured juice glass. Gather leftover dough together, knead again briefly and roll out again. Cut remaining biscuits.

Place biscuits on unbuttered baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until light-brown and slightly crusty, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly before splitting and serving. Makes 10 biscuits.