Strawberry Shortcake

As you enjoy the Labor Day weekend, what better way to celebrate the end of summer than with a bunch of fresh strawberries and a little homemade shortcake?

Thankfully my 10-year-old friend Geraldine from Fun with Cooking: Easy Recipes for Beginners has the perfect recipe for us to try! Let's get started.

Strawberry Shortcake
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup shortening
Strawberries
Powdered sugar

1) Follow the instructions on page 36 for Baking Powder Biscuits but use the new amounts given above. Be sure to sift the sugar with the dry ingredients. 
 
Beep-beep-beep-beep-be-beep-beep-beep-beep...we interrupt this broadcast for a breaking biscuit recipe! I've never made biscuits before, so this will be a venture into uncharted territory!

 

     Baking Powder Biscuits 
--Sift the flour, baking powder, salt (and sugar) all at once into a bowl.  
--Add the shortening and, using the fork, blend into the flour until you have a crumbly mixture. 
--Make a hollow in the middle of the mixture and into it pour the milk. Stir only until the milk is all taken up and you have a rather sticky ball of dough.
 

--Place the dough on a well-floured board and roll it gently with a floured rolling pin until it is a patty about 1/2 inch thick.
--With a biscuit cutter, cut rounds of the dough, each one just touching the next one, in order to get as many biscuits as possible. Pat the left-over strips into biscuits also.

--Lay the biscuits on a greased pan, not too close together, and bake in a hot oven, 450 degrees, for 10-15 minutes, until they are lightly browned on top.

Okay, now that we've made our biscuits, let's get back to our regularly scheduled programming!

2) Wash and pick the strawberries. Mash them a little with a fork, leaving a few whole ones. Sweeten by stirring in a spoonful of powdered sugar.
(I didn't quite do this step--I prefer my strawberries to be fresh and natural, but this syrupy strawberry mixture would be delicious, I am sure.)

3) Split each biscuit and put some crushed strawberries over the bottom half. Then put back the top half of the biscuit and add more strawberries. If you like, finish with a dab of whipped cream sweetened with powdered sugar.

And there you have it! Featuring: baking powder biscuits (plus sugar) all dressed up as strawberry shortcake. Taylor added a little ice cream and some hot fudge to his, and I stuck with whipped cream. Next time, I'll roll the dough a little thicker so that the biscuits are taller and fluffier. And I might add a bit more sugar to sweeten the shortcake, too.

Hey, look at me! I'm cooking!