Food Love: Summer Strawberry Shortcake

It's the last week of summer! Officially anyway, but we all know that this crazy Australian weather might mean the hottest days are yet to come.

There are some fabulous summer fruits still available and I picked up some beautiful strawberries for $1.00 a punnet - time to get baking (and another resolution ticked off)!

Here is a fantastic recipe for Strawberry Shortcake (a fancy scone if you will) that will impress everyone and taste delish.

Summer Strawberry Shortcake

Prep Time: 35 Mins

Cooking Time: 20 Mins

Serves: 4-8

Ingredients

2 punnets strawberries, cut in half (quarters for big berries)

5 tablespoons caster sugar (white sugar is also fine)

1 1/2 cups thickened cream (plus additional 1/2 cup for serving)

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2 cups plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch salt 

to serve: icing sugar and whipped cream

Method

Rinse well, drain and hull your strawberries, then cut into halves or quarters.

It's hard to do this without taste testing...

When your strawberries are cut, puree a quarter of your quantity.
Add the liquid to the remaining strawberries.
Add three tablespoons of sugar and the balsamic vinegar, mix well and allow to macerate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

I used flavoured balsamic, but ordinary balsamic vinegar is fine - whatever type you have!

While the berries are doin' their thing, gather the shortcake ingredients.
Sift flour and baking soda then add remaining sugar and salt into a large bowl.
Gradually add the thickened cream, using a spatula to combine.
NOTE: your mixture will be a scone-like consistency - use your hands to bring the mixture together and form a dough - DON'T KNEED or the dough will be tough.

The shortcake mixture will resemble scone mixture

Lightly grease and flour a 5cm-deep baking tin (I used a square tin) and press dough into base. Be sure to evenly cover the tin (the dough will be sticky, use lightly floured hands to press into tin)

Get your hands dirty!

Place into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees and bake for 18-20 minutes - the shortcake will be cooked but not too golden on top. Cool completely.

While short cake is cooling, grab your remaining thickened cream and give it a whip - add vanilla essence if you're feeling adventurous.

When shortcake is cooled, cut into desired serving size (I was generous and cut four - will comfortably cut eight pieces), then cut each piece horizontally to create a 'sandwich' of shortcake.

The dough won't rise, but the height is in the stacking

Get your deliciously macerated strawberries from the fridge. Layer a tablespoonful of the juice onto the bottom half of your shortcake 'sandwich' then pile on a few berries. Then smear cream on top. Add a few more berries. Smear more cream onto the lid of the shortcake and carefully place lid on top of shortcake stack.

Sticky fingers

Give your shortcake a dusting of icing sugar and garnish with a few more strawberries.

A fine dusting

And there you have it! A fabulous summer strawberry shortcake to share with your sweetheart!

YUM!

The beauty of this recipe is the minimal amount sugar it requires. Sugar free is optional, just increase your quantity of balsamic vinegar to three tablespoons to macerate your strawberries. Also, thickened cream can be substituted for 'light' thickened cream for a (slightly) more healthy option.

Enjoy lovers x

Elouise