Strawberry Shortcake

 www.marthastewart.com

For the berries:

2 pints strawberries, sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

¼ c sugar

For the biscuits:

3 c flour

½ c + 2 T sugar

1 T + 1 ½ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp salt

9 T cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 ¼ cups + 1 T heavy cream

2 large eggs

6 T coarse sanding sugar

For serving:

½ c cold heavy cream

Toss the strawberries with lemon juice and sugar to combine. Let macerate at room temperature for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375⁰. Whisk to combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender cut the butter into the flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix together 1 1/4 c heavy cream and 1 egg. Add to flour mixture and stir with a fork just until dough starts to come together but is still crumbly.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a 6-by-9-inch rectangle, about 2 inches thick. With a 2 1/2-inch round cutter dipped in flour, cut biscuits and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Whisk remaining egg and 1 T cream, then brush egg wash over tops of biscuits. Sprinkle each with 1 T sanding sugar.

Bake until tops are golden brown brown, rotating sheet halfway through, about 25 minutes. Transfer biscuits to a wire rack and let cool slightly.

When ready to serve, whip cream in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Split biscuits in half and place a bottom half on each plate. Top generously with berries and their juice, then top with dollops of whipped cream followed by remaining biscuit halves. Scatter a few more strawberries on top.