Strawberry Shortcake.

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but things get busy and you just can't seem to find the time to blog. Well, last weekend, I spent some time up at Lake Lanier with a friend at her lake house, and as an expression of my gratitude, I made dessert. And since it is still strawberry season, I decided to fix Strawberry Shortcake. Now, the thing that is different about this recipe is that instead of using a biscuit or a scone, I tried using shortbread. It was suggestion from my mother, and she told that it was how her grandmother fixed, so I decided that it would be fun to try.

Shortbread
Cream together 1 cup of room temp. butter and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar together until light and fluffy. Slowly add in 1 1/2 cups of All Purpose Flour. Your dough will still be a bit sticky once it's all been blended together. Scrape all of the dough onto a sheet of Cling Wrap, wrap it up, and stick it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Once the dough had rested, roll it out on a well floured board. If you're not careful the dough will stick so be generous. I found that I was able to pat it out with my hands pretty easy. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out round and place on a non-greased baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 350. Once your shortbread is ready, place it in the oven, and immediately turn it down to 225. Let it bake for 45 to 1 1/2 hours (depends on your oven) Do not let it get too dark. It should be a nice golden brown, but if it gets to dark, even if it isn't burnt, it will a bit of an off flavor, so be careful. You should have a crunchy, buttery cookie at the end.

For the strawberries, I hulled and quartered probably a pound of strawberries and then sprinkled 1/4 cup of sugar on top. Be generous with your sugar because it helps to form the syrup from the strawberries. These need to sit for at least an hour so that some syrup can form.

For the whipped cream, I used 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, a tablespoon of sugar, and a trickle of vanilla. Whip it in a bowl that has been sitting in the freezer with beaters that have also been in the freezer. Don't whip the cream until right before you need it.

To assemble, place a cookie down on your plate, spoon over the strawberries, top with whipped cream, and if you would like, put another cookie on top. It's different from your normal everyday Strawberry Shortcake, but it's still very good. Has more of a bite to it rather than just bread. I'm sorry that there's no picture, but it was very pretty, and while I might still try another recipe with a biscuit or scone, you should give this one a try. It was yummy!