BELLOWS FALLS — In early June, we had tons of the tiny, sweet native strawberries along our dirt road in Spofford, N.H., where I grew up. Picking them was a lot of work for just a little harvest each day when they ripened, but oh, were they worth it. Few of them made it home.
I still pick strawberries, but at a local farm and not so much in the wild. I want enough to make my annual batch of jam, as well as treat the kids to berries and cream. We pick and buy a lot, so we have plenty to make jam and tuck in the freezer.
Our family's tastes have changed over time. Yes, they still love strawberry shortcake, but everyone loves cheesecake, too. So at our spring and early summer gatherings, we make my mother's shortcakes with a companion - a plain cheesecake. We serve the strawberries on the side, ready to enhance both desserts! With whipped cream for all, of course.
Make this shortcake when the local berries are sweet and deep red through and through. In a pinch, keep a stash of local frozen strawberries tucked in your freezer. Sweeten them just as you would fresh. If you sweetened them before you froze them, omit all or most of the additional sugar - just give them a taste to guide your decision.
I've updated my mother Sylvia's recipe with just a few changes. First, I added orange liquor to the strawberries as they macerate, creating a mashup of Strawberries Romanov and traditional strawberry shortcake. Omit the alcohol if you like, or use a little orange juice.
To echo the orange flavor, I added orange zest to both the berries and the dough for the shortcakes as well, and I enhanced the whipped cream.
Shortcakes
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Mix and set aside:
¶3 pints fresh or frozen local strawberries, sliced
¶{1/2} cup superfine sugar
¶2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier or other orange liquor
¶Zest of one orange
In a large bowl, combine:
¶2 cups flour, plus more for the board
¶{1/2} tsp. salt
¶1 Tbsp. double acting, non-aluminum baking powder
¶{1/3} cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
¶Zest of one orange
Using a pastry blender or fork, cut into the flour mixture:
¶1 stick butter, frozen, cubed
You want to keep the butter chunks cold, so fingers don't work so well here.
In a small bowl or mixing cup, combine:
¶1 egg, beaten
¶{1/2} cup plus 1 Tbsp. light cream
As gently as you can, mix the egg and cream into the flour mixture. Toss with a fork until large clumps form. Turn mixture onto a floured work surface and lightly knead just until it comes together.
The best way to do this is to flatten and then fold over, gently creating layers as you work. Do this as little as possible to create a rectangle of dough about {3/4} inches thick that barely sticks together. The object is to join gently layers of the dough but not overworking it, which would develop the gluten and render the biscuits tough. What you want here is fluffy and flakey.
Flour a biscuit cutter. Depending on the size of your cutter, you will get between 8 and 10 shortcakes. You only want to re-roll once. I use a square biscuit cutter so that I have very few scraps and don't have to think about re-rolling.
Place 1 inch apart on small parchment-lined baking sheet; brush tops with cream or an egg wash made of a beaten egg and a tablespoon of water. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
Bake until golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Keep an eye on them! Remove the cakes to a wire rack; cool them about 10 minutes.
Split each cake crosswise; spoon a portion of berries and then a dollop of whipped cream over each cake bottom. Cap with cake top; serve immediately.
You can make this with a gluten-free baking mix as well, and they come out great - no gluten to develop!
Whipped cream
Local cream that is not ultra-pasteurized is fresher, tastes better, and whips quicker than a product with more processing.
In a small bowl with high sides, combine:
¶1 cup chilled heavy cream, not ultra-pasteurized
¶1 Tbsp. superfine sugar
¶1 tsp. vanilla paste, or vanilla extract
¶1 tsp. orange liquor
Whip all ingredients together until gentle peaks form. Do not overbeat. You can add more sugar if you like.
For a special occasion, pipe the cream onto the dessert with a large star tip fitted in a pastry bag.