Strawberry Shortcake

 Farmers Wife Original.

Hey y'all! Man it feels like forever since I've been on here, though in all reality it's only been 3 days. But man were those a CRAZY 3 days!! Sunday was my wonderful Sis in law's baby shower (have I mentioned how THRILLED I am to be an aunt?!?) which meant we spent all day in the car traveling, got home technically Monday morning... haha! Yeah, it was a long day but worth it! Then I spent all of yesterday helping out some family members, and finally am starting to feel back in the swing of life!!

Ok, now that you're caught up on me, let me tell you a little about this recipe! If I remember correctly I made this the weekend before Mother's Day, but I don't quote me on that. But I do remember it was awesome! I don't make desserts all that often because I just don't like all the calories that come along with them, but I was having a particularly hard day and dang it, I needed some dessert!! The night before I had made Biscuits and Gravy for dinner, and had leftover biscuits. Alongside the most amazing Strawberries (have you checked out the strawberries lately... YUM!), all that was missing was some Whipped Cream, which is when I made whipped cream in the food processor for the first time! I can't tell you how happy I was with this dessert, I didn't feel overly guilty eating it, and it was so fresh and delicious. Great for a hot summer night! Plus, it made my little Sous Chef's day!

Ingredients:
Biscuits: recipe from joyofbaking.com
2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup Cold Butter or Margarine, cut into small chunks
3/4 cup Milk (I used 1%)
1 Egg, slightly beaten
Egg wash topping:
1 Egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon Milk

Whipped Cream:
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, Cold
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

Strawberries:
2 cups Diced Strawberries
2 Tablespoons Sugar or Splenda

Directions:
Biscuits:
Preheat oven to 400F degrees. To make the biscuits first combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl with a whisk. Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut in the cold (must be COLD) butter until resembles coarse crumbs. Add the milk and egg and using a spatula mix until just combined (you want it to be sticky and moist and lumpy). Turn out onto floured surface and knead gently til it all comes together (do not over knead or your biscuits will be tough and not flakey). Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness and using a biscuit or cookie cutter cut out your biscuits. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, and brush the tops with the egg wash. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Whipped Cream:
First, get out your food processor and insert the blade attachment. Pour in your whipping cream, and place the lid on WITHOUT the plunger in (the thing that pushes down vegetables for grating and what not, you need air to be able to get into the food processor.) Turn it on and whip for about 1 minute. Turn it off and check the consistency. At this point you can add your sugar. Then put the lid back on and whip for 30 second intervals until it reaches the desired consistency, typically about a total whipping time of 2-3 minutes. 

Strawberries:
Dice the strawberries and place in a bowl. Add the sugar/splenda and mix. Set aside while it creates a syrup.

Assembly:
Slice in half a biscuit, and spoon some strawberries on the bottom half. Top with a large dollop of whipped cream and place the top half of the biscuit on top, add additional whipped cream and strawberries as desired. Can also drizzle some chocolate sauce on top too.

Review:
Since the biscuits were already cooked, it was incredibly easy to put together, but this would be simply fabulous with fresh from the oven biscuits too! 4 stars.

P.S. Be sure to tune in every Friday starting this week until the end of July for my new Friday Feature of Guest posters on The Farmers Wife! First up in the fabulous Sandra from Sandra's Easy Cooking!

The Farmers Wife