Strawberry Shortcakes {No. 4}

Today was my little brother's birthday! He turned 18!!! Unbelievable how time goes by so fast...

In any case, he pretty much begged me to make these mini strawberry shortcakes for him and so as always I turned to Martha Stewart. She has this great recipe that turned out pretty good considering it was my first time making these delectables.

When I try this recipe again, I'll cut down on the sugar put in the strawberries to maybe a quarter because the biscuit is sweet and so is the whip. The other tip I would recommend is to perhaps try making them in a shaped tin like those square or round muffin pan. I only say this because the for my recipe the biscuit dough spread out a bit too much than I would've liked.

Another hooray for Life List #74! For more photos from my experiment, click here.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES RECIPE

[Adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe]

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 pounds (6 cups) strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered


• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar


• 3 cups all-purpose flour


• 4 teaspoons baking powder


• 3/4 teaspoon salt


• 12 tablespoons cold (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces


• 2 cups heavy cream


• 2 large eggs


• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss strawberries with 3/4 cup sugar [I recommend only a 1/4 cup sugar]; let sit to bring out their juices.

In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup sugar, and the salt until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal but with some pea-size bits of butter remaining, 10 to 12 times. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup cream and the eggs; pour over flour mixture, and pulse until some large clumps begin to form, 25 to 30 times.

Using a half-cup measuring cup [I used 1/4 cup instead], gently pack dough, invert, and then tap out onto a baking sheet. Repeat to form 8 biscuits. Bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes.

Beat remaining 1 1/2 cups cream and 2 tablespoons sugar with the vanilla until soft peaks form.

Slice biscuits in half horizontally. Spoon strawberries and their liquid over bottom halves. Spoon whipped cream on strawberries, and replace top halves of biscuits.