Strawberry Shortcake

For the biscuits

3 cups all-purpose flour

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1 Tablespoon baking powder

½ Tablespoon baking soda

¾ teaspoons salt

12 Tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 ½ cups heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops of biscuits before baking

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 3 T sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or your hands (run them under cold water and dry them first). Alternatively, you can pulse in a food processor with a steel blade. The consistency should be that of cornmeal. You will see pieces of butter.

Combine the cream and the vanilla extract. I like to use a large measuring cup for this as you will make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the cream mixture into that well.

Mix with a fork until just combined. The dough will look “shaggy” and appear a bit dry. Gently knead the dough 5-6 times to pick up all the bits of dry ingredients in the bowl and make it more uniformly moistened.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and pat it into an 8” square, about 1-inch thick. Transfer to a silpat-lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. After the dough has chilled for at least 30 minutes, cut the dough square into 9 even squares (I like to use a bench/dough scraper) and move them 2-inches apart on the baking sheet. Brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake approximately 18 minutes until golden. Do not let the bottoms get dark.

Prepare the strawberries

Wash and dry the berries on a paper towel. Cut and put into a large bowl with 1 Tablespoon sugar. Toss lightly and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes - 2 hours. They will be very juicy!