Ponchatoula Strawberry Shortcake Recipes

THE BEST CLASSIC STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• For the shortcakes: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk the heavy cream, sour cream and vanilla in a small bowl; refrigerate until ready to use. Pulse the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor until combined. Add the butter; pulse until the mixture looks like fine meal. Pour in the chilled heavy cream mixture and pulse until just combined.
• Lightly flour a work surface and dump the dough onto it. Pat out the dough 1/2-inch thick. Cut out as many biscuits as you can with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Then pat the remaining dough out to 1/2-inch thick again. Cut more biscuits; you should get 12.
• Put 6 of the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops generously with cream, then top each cream-brushed biscuit with one of the remaining biscuit rounds. (This makes it easier to split once they are baked.) Brush the top of each biscuit stack with more heavy cream and sprinkle 1 teaspoon granulated sugar on each biscuit.
• Bake the biscuits until golden and puffed, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
• Meanwhile, for the topping: Toss the strawberries and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar in a medium bowl.
• Just before serving, beat the heavy cream, sour cream, the remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes.
• Split the shortcakes in half. Spoon half the cream on the bottom of the biscuits, top evenly with the strawberries and top with the remaining cream. Put each biscuit top on and serve.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• In a bowl, cream sugar and shortening. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with milk to the creamed mixture. Spread in a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack. , Cut into nine servings. Split each serving horizontally and fill with whipped cream and strawberries. Replace top of cake; garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and more berries. Serve immediately.

PONCHATOULA STRAWBERRY AND BROWN BUTTER SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• Bring a large saucepan with 1 inch of water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Stir the strawberries, lemon zest and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a large stainless steel mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place on top of the simmering pot (the bottom of the bowl shouldn't touch the water). Reduce the heat to medium-low, and let the strawberries macerate over the simmering water for 20 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pot and refrigerate until chilled. (Note: The strawberry sauce can be made up to 1 day in advance.).
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a 10-inch cake pan on parchment paper; trace and cut out a circle. Spray the pan with nonstick spray, then place the round piece of parchment into the bottom of the pan and spray one more time. Sprinkle a couple of spoonfuls of flour into the pan, tap and coat bottom and sides of the pan and discard any excess flour.
• Cut the 1 1/2 sticks of butter into small pieces and melt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer, whisking often to incorporate any solids that sink to the bottom, until the butter is a golden-amber color and smells nutty, 4 to 6 minutes. Set the butter aside to cool.
• To prepare the cake: In a large bowl, whisk eggs and 1 cup sugar vigorously for about 2 minutes. The mixture will be bright yellow. Set whisk aside and continue by using an electric mixer to whip the eggs and remaining 1/4 cup sugar on high speed until the mixture is thick and pale in color (4 to 5 minutes more). Reduce speed to low and slowly (adding too quickly will cause mixture to separate) add in the cooled brown butter making sure to scrape in all of the brown bits.
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Using a whisk, gently fold in one-third of dry ingredients into the batter, then half the buttermilk. Repeat, ending with the last third of the dry mixture. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake sides pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. If the cake appears to be browning too quickly, cover lightly with foil in the last 10 minutes of baking. Let cake cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes before removing from pan. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the Chantilly Cream: Pour the heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the vanilla and sift in the confectioners' sugar. Whip on low speed to combine and then increase the speed to medium-high. Whip until medium-stiff peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes.
• Transfer the cake to a plate and slice into wedges. Serve topped with strawberries, sauce and a dollop of Chantilly Cream or slice each wedge in half horizontally and sandwich the halves with strawberries and sauce, then top with cream.