Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake. A delicious biscuit based shortcake that's lightly sweetened and sturdy enough to stand up to juicy fruits and ice cream toppings.

Ingredients

For the strawberries

4 cups fresh strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
2-3 Tablespoons water see notes

For the shortcakes:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter cold and cut into small pieces
1/2 cup milk I used whole milk
1 egg yolk
raw sugar

For the whipped cream:

1 cup heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
vanilla ice cream

Instructions

A few hours before serving, prep your berries. Wash and cut them into 1/4" slices. Mix with 1/3 cup sugar and, if desired, 2-3 Tablespoons of water. Cover and refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
For the shortcakes, whisk flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
Add cold pieces of butter and using a pastry cutter, fingertips or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until you have various sizes of butter no larger than peas.
Make a well in the center of the flour/butter mixture and pour in the milk.
Using a spoon, slowly pull the flour mixture into the center turning the bowl to get all sides mixed in and moistened. Do not over stir but gently toss mixture until the flour is generally incorporated.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead it by folding it and turning it over on itself about 10 times. This will create layers of butter and help finish the mixing process.
Pat down with your hands or use a rolling pin until the dough is about 1" thick. Then dip a 2 1/2" biscuit cutter into flour and push directly down into the dough without turning the cutter to cut your shortcakes. Do not twist or turn your cutter while cutting or you may risk sealing the edges which will inhibit rising.
Bring together scraps, pat or roll them to an inch thick again and cut remaining shortcakes.
Place them a couple of inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Beat the egg yolk in a small bowl to break it up then brush the tops of each shortcake lightly with the yolk.
Sprinkle generously with raw sugar then bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
You can serve warm or allow to cool completely.
Make the whipped cream. Beat heavy cream, sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Set aside.
To assemble, split the shortcake, spoon some strawberries and syrup onto the bottom. Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the berries and top with more strawberries.
Prop the top of the shortcake of top of the ice cream and berries, and top the whole stack with whipped cream.

Recipe Notes

*Store any leftover shortcakes covered at room temperature. I like to reheat mine in a toaster oven for a few minutes before serving, but you may prefer to keep them at room temperature.

*I only add water to my strawberries if I don't have enough time for the sugar to draw out enough of the natural juice of the strawberries. For this recipe, I do like to add a bit of water because I like having the extra strawberry syrup to soak into the shortcakes.