Strawberry Shortcake

The shortcake part of this recipe comes from Alice Waters, in The Art of Simple Food. They are basic cream biscuits with a little sugar added. By all means make strawberry shortcake from scratch, with local cream. The difference is flavor is phenomenal. If you like, you can substitute a tablespoon or so of liqueur for the extract in the whipped cream.

4-5 cups strawberries, more if you want to be generous
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp cold butter, in small pieces
1 pint heavy cream
1/2 tsp almond or vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp confectioners sugar

Hull and slice the strawberries. Toss with 1/4 cup sugar and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine 1 Tbsp sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two knives until it is the size of peas or smaller. Pour in 3/4 cup cream and mix with a fork until the dough just hold together. If it's too dry, add more cream a tiny bit at a time. Form the dough into a rough ball with your hands. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and roll out to 3/4-inch thick. Cut into 6-8 pieces.

Bake the shortcakes for 17 minutes, until lightly golden. Cool on a rack.

Combine the remaining cream, vanilla or almond extract, and confectioners sugar. Using and electric mixer, beat until the cream holds soft peaks.

To serve, slice the shortcakes in half. Top one half with strawberries and whipped cream and cover with the other half.

Serves 6-8.