strawberry shortcakes

There is a point during winter, usually around February, like today, where you grunt and scowl and become the grumpy scary person on your block that shakes their fist at everything and everyone. Today, right now, I am that person. The icy wind, the freezing cold, the heater that sometimes doesn’t like to work, the snow banks plowed in a way to prevent one from getting out – it all can get overwhelming and I shake my fist. Curse you winter, curse you coldness, curse this evil horrible weather. Why am I living here? Why did I buy a broken house? Why did I get lazy and decide not to go to the overly packed grocery store right before the storm so I could eat while plowed into my house? Why?

Really, these are questions people with cabin fever have, and I have been the victim of this very disease this week. I grumble and grunt and huff and give scathing looks at my blankets and long johns and knee high socks because of this stupid weather, because I chose to live in the part of the country that does not get warm sunshine all year long. And it’s not my 16 blankets’ fault, or my fuzzy knee high socks that are starting to wear holes since I use them everyday. I’m just tired of using them; of having to use them. This hibernation, it must stop.

So, today, on one of the coldest days in February, I (was finally able to get out of my house!) threw seasonal eating to the wind. I bought strawberries, and they made me smile. I didn’t care that they had white shoulders or were not soft as butter like the ones in June, but it was fruit, and it was red and it was summery and it was anything but squash or collards or kale. And I feel as if my smile, my strawberries, my cheerfulness instead of doldrums is coaxing spring to come that much faster – at least that’s what I’m believing since the opposite would have me spiraling back into that grumpy cabin fever state, and well, I just want spring…

Strawberry Shortcakes with Balsamic
Adapted from Nigella Lawson

Serves 6 – 8 depending on biscuit size

Buscuit:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, frozen
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup heavy cream*
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Coarse sugar, optional

Strawberries:
1 pound strawberries, wash, hulled and cut into quarters or sliced
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Few drops balsamic vinegar, optional
Fresh whipped cream, optional

Preheat the oven to 425-degrees.

Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and tablespoons of the sugar in a bowl. Grate the butter into these dry ingredients and use your fingertips to finish crumbling the butter into the flour. Whisk the egg into the cream, and pour into the flour mixture a little at a time, using a fork to mix. (Nigella: You may not need all of the eggy cream to make the dough come together, so go cautiously. Meg: see note below.)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll gently to 3/4-inch thick. Dip the cutter in flour and cut out as many rounds as you can. Work the scraps back into a dough, re-roll and finish cutting out you should get 8 in all. (Meg: I used a larger cutter to make bigger, but fewer cakes.) Place the shortcakes an inch apart on the baking sheet, brush the tops with the egg wash, and sprinkle them with coarse sugar.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden-brown, and let them cool for a short while on a wire rack. Meanwhile, add the strawberries, sugar and a few drops of balsamic vinegar if using (I would say at least a teaspoon or more if you are interested in actually tasting the balsamic against the strawberries).

Split each shortcake across the middle and cover with a spoonful of the strawberry mixture dollop some whipped cream on top, and set the top back on. Serve and enjoy.

* I needed much more than 1/2 cup, but as flour can be temperamental, I would say start with that, though you may need closer to 3/4 cup.

Do Ahead: You can cover and refrigerate the raw dough rounds for up to 2 hours.