While shopping recently I was picking through some packages of fresh strawberries as were other consumers, trying to find the best ones. I inquired with one young lady what she was making; she had so many containers in her cart. Like most people sometimes do, she looked puzzled at first per my request than I think she noticed I had quite a few as well! I told her what I was making to make her feel a bit more comfortable and then she happily explained to me what she was doing, how she was doing it, for how many people, etc…I asked her if she enjoyed cooking and her familiarity with what she was making. Her first response was a no and the second was “I make this all the time”. She quickly asked about my recipe and if I liked to cook? My answer was yes to both questions and then I explained what I did and it seemed as though she was quite envious. So I gave her my card and told her about the classes we teach and that it may be something she and some friends would enjoy taking. The recipe she was making was a classic, so I decided to dig into my repertoire and share this one with you. This is the season where fruit becomes abundant. What’s your favorite summer fruit recipe? Give us something to talk about…       

Old Fashion Strawberry Shortcake’s

Ingredients:

2 qts, fresh strawberries rinsed and sliced – Reserve 6 whole strawberry for garnish  

1 cup sugar-divided

2 ¾ cups all purpose flour

4 t. baking powder

¾ cup butter chilled

2 large eggs

1 (8oz) container sour cream

1 T vanilla extract-divided

2 cups heavy cream

Procedure:

1. Toss pre sliced strawberries with 1/2 cup sugar, place in a sauce pan to warm over low heat 3-4 minutes, set aside
2. Combine in a sifter; flour, ¼ cup sugar, baking powder and sift into a bowl. Slice the butter into tablespoon size pieces and with a pastry cutter blend with the flour mix until crumbly
3. In another bowl stir together the eggs, sour cream, 1 t vanilla and combine with flour mixture until moisten
4. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead with your hands about 10 times (mixture should be moist but tender to touch)
5. Form the dough into a 9” square and cut into 3” squares, place on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 450* oven for 12 minutes or until golden, remove and set aside to cool
6.  Combine heavy cream and vanilla in a chilled bowl and whip the mixture to soft peaks gradually adding the remaining sugar, then on to stiff peaks
7.  Split the short cakes in half horizontally, top each evenly with the strawberry mixture and a spoonful of whipped cream, cover with remaining top’s, garnish with fresh a strawberry and more whipped cream

Thanks + ciao Bernard