Daylong Shortcakes

I am officially calling this post" Daylong Shortcakes", because after two recipes, the first failing, I produced delicious shortcakes with lemon cream and strawberries. I used two separate recipes, both from the same cook, to create a homemade shortcake. I spent yesterday with my brother, his wife, and two kids picking strawberries at the festval at Boone Hall. The strawberries were red and plump, so I just knew what I had to do with them.

About that first try and fail, I attempted to convert an British recipe (obviously in metric units) in the American measuring system. Grams->ounces= wrong measurements for Sarah. needless to say the butter outweighed the flour and my circles melted into squares the first few seconds in the oven. So, one hour wasted, I ate half of the dough and began again.

I couldn't have done it all without listening to my bubblegum oldies and feeling the fresh breeze as I baked for 2 hours. I took a break while the dough was refrigerating and went out to the driving range to practice my golf swing. I did pretty well, only missed a couple :).

I have combined the two recipes that used to create my lemon cream strawberry shortcakes for you:

Shortcake Biscuits
1 2/3 cups flour
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

To make the biscuits: In an electric mixer combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and mix together until it resembles coarse meal. Add the cream and mix just until the dough comes together (it will be wet and soft).

Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a 6 inch square, about 1 inch high. Wrap up the square and chill for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the dough into 9 biscuits (you can simply cut into squares or use a round cutter - remember the biscuits will expand in the oven). Brush the tops of the biscuits lightly with cream and sprinkle the turbinado sugar over them.
Place the biscuits about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or the biscuits are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Strawberries :
While the cream and dough are chilling in the fridge, slice up some fresh strawberries!

Lemon Cream
adapted from Pierre Hermé's Desserts
makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups
1/2 cup sugar
zest from 2 lemons
2 eggs
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
5 ounces butter, cut into 1 inch pieces, softened but not melting

Create a water bath by placing a saucepan of water over heat to simmer and placing a metal bowl unto the pan so its bottom does not touch the water. Combine the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers and add to the metal bowl. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice.

Cook the mixture over the simmering water, whisking constantly, until the cream reaches 180 degrees and thickens. Keep whisking while the mixture is heating up to prevent the eggs from cooking.
Once the cream is thickened - you should be able to make tracks in the mixture with your whisk - take the cream off the heat and strain it into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Let the cream rest for a bit until it cools to about 140 degrees.

Once the cream is finished pour it into a container and let it chill in the refrigerator for about half an hour before assembly.

I placed a shortcake on the plate, and piped lemon cream on top (hoping it would be thick to create a pattern, but it was thin like a lemon. If you would like to make more like a lemon cream instead of curd, then I suggest mixing this recipe with a recipe for whipped cream, or eggwhites)

Arrange the Strawberries,

Place the strawberries on top and finish off with whipped topping if you like!