Sweet strawberry shortcake starts with tender biscuits, infused with fresh strawberry puree. The addition of rhubarb compote gives this dessert a wonderful tart-sweet flavor.
I'm not as skilled a baker as I would like, so when I decided to create a new recipe for sweet strawberry shortcake, I was feeling a little apprehensive. Despite my worries, I forged ahead hoping my shortcake biscuits would marry well with the addition of strawberry purée.
The recipe creation proved one of the best experiments I've ever attempted. With a few measurement adjustments of flour vs liquid, the sweet flesh of the berries blended into the batter before baking worked perfectly.
I substituted heavy cream instead of milk or half and half, and added a few tablespoons of the strawberry liquid/syrup to the batter.
I went a step further with my new recipe by adding a hot rhubarb compote.
The combination of sweet tart rhubarb, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream blends perfectly with the tender strawberry shortcake biscuits.
The sweet strawberry shortcake biscuits would be delicious for breakfast or brunch, served with jelly or lemon curd. Or even better, serve them for High Tea slathered in Devonshire cream.
- 2 ⅓ cups flour
- plus ¼ cup flour for rolling surface
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ cups powdered sugar
- 1 stick cold butter (½ cup)
- 1 ⅓ cup heavy whip cream
- ⅓ cup macerated strawberries (see strawberry preparation below)
- ¼ cup strawberry liquid/syrup
- Additional: 1 cup heavy whip cream and ¼ cup powdered sugar
- for serving
- 3 cups sliced strawberries
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ounce Cointreau liqueur (optional)
- 3 cups sliced rhubarb
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ lemon juiced
- 1 ounce Cointreau Liqueur (optional)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place rack on lowest position
- Wash and slice strawberries
- Pour lemon juice, Cointreau and sugar over the berries, mix well and set aside at room temperature
- Combine dry ingredients
- Cut in cold butter until flour resembles coarse sand
- Combine ⅓ cup macerated strawberries, 1 ⅓ cup heavy cream, ¼ cup strawberry liquid, cointreau in a food processor
- Pulse until just blended
- Stir liquid into dry ingredients until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, add more liquid if dough is too dry
- Pour additional ¼ cup of flour onto cleaned surface and dump dough onto the flour
- Gently turn dough until all sides are covered in flour
- Knead by gently rubbing the dough into the flour, turning 6-10 times (do not overwork the dough)
- Pat the dough into a 1 inch slab
- Cut into rounds with a sharp biscuit cutter, scrape scraps together to make more biscuits
- Place biscuits ½ inch apart on an insulated cookie sheet (layer two regular sheets if you dont have an insulated sheet)
- Bake in a hot oven for 12-14 minutes or until puffed and sides are golden brown
- While biscuits are in the oven, slice cleaned rhubarb
- Combine rhubarb and remaining ingredients in a medium heavy bottom saucepan, and cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until rhubarb is soft and thickened, about 10 - 12 minutes
- Remove biscuits from oven, cool slightly
- Whip heavy cream until thickened (firm peaks), add 2 teaspoons strawberry liquid/syrup, and powdered sugar, combine. Refrigerate until ready to use
- To serve: Cut biscuit in half, ladle hot rhubarb compote onto the bottom of serving dish, place bottom layer of biscuit on top of compote, spoon macerated strawberries over biscuit, next spoon whipped cream over strawberries then place biscuit top over the ceram. Finish, with another dollop whip cream, strawberry liquid/syrup and compote over, enjoy!
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