Spiked Summer Berry Shortcakes Recipes

SUMMER BERRY STACKED SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Trace an 8-inch circle onto two pieces of parchment paper. Line two baking sheets with the paper, writing-side down.
• Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together buttermilk, cream and egg in a liquid measuring cup.
• Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is the size of small peas. Make a well in the center and pour in the liquid. Stir the mixture together until just combined, then use your hands to knead it a few times until the dough comes together. It will be the texture of thick cookie dough.
• Divide the dough into two equal pieces, place each onto one of the prepared baking sheets and use lightly damp hands to press it into a circle just inside the traced line. (Do your best to pat the tops flat while keeping the edges perpendicular to the pan.) Chill the dough on the baking sheets in the refrigerator until firm, about 15 minutes (dough can be chilled up to 4 hours). Just before baking, sprinkle each round with 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar.
• Bake the shortcakes until golden and cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool completely.
• While the shortcakes are cooling, macerate the berries and make the cream: Add berries, sugar, lemon and vanilla to a large bowl. Use a fork to gently mash up to 1/4 cup of the berries. (This doesn't have to be exact, but you want to create a little bit of liquid if your berries aren't naturally super juicy.) Stir gently to combine and let sit for about 30 minutes.
• For the cream, add the yogurt, sugar, vanilla and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium speed until combined. Add the heavy cream, and whip until very firm peaks form. (You can complete the shortcakes, cream and berries up to 4 hours in advance, refrigerating the cream and berries until ready to serve.)
• To serve, place one of the cooled shortcakes on a serving plate. Top with half of the cream followed by half the berries. (Don't spread the cream quite to the edges, as it will spread when you add the other shortcake.) Repeat with the remaining shortcake, cream and berries. If there is a lot of extra berry juice left in the bowl, serve it alongside the cake.
• Slice the cake with a long serrated knife and serve. The shortcake can be layered up to about 1 hour in advance and stored in the fridge. It will soften as it sits.

THREE-BERRY SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• Sprinkle fruit with 1/3 cup granulated sugar; let stand 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 425°F.
• Stir Bisquick mix, milk, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and the butter until soft dough forms. Turn dough onto surface dusted with Bisquick mix. Knead 8 to 10 times. Roll dough 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 3-inch cutter.
• Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Mix sour cream and brown sugar. Split shortcakes; spoon fruit between halves and over tops. Top with sour cream mixture.

PERFECT BERRY SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 425 degrees. Mix flour, salt, baking powder and 3 Tbs. sugar in a medium bowl. Grate 2 Tbs. of the butter on the coarse holes of a box grater into dry ingredients; toss to coat. Repeat grating and tossing with remaining butter. Combine egg and half-and-half; pour into flour mixture. Toss with a fork to form large clumps. Lightly press clumps into a ball; add a teaspoon more half-and-half to the bowl if dough won't come together.
• Turn dough onto work surface; press into an 8-by-4- to 5-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 squares, placing them 1 inch apart on a small baking sheet. (Can be refrigerated up to 2 hours before baking.) Before baking, brush tops with optional egg white for a particularly attractive sheen. Sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbs. sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool until warm, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Mix thawed and fresh berries with sugar in a bowl; let stand until sugar dissolves. With a hand mixer, beat cream to soft peaks, gradually adding 1 Tb. sugar, then vanilla.
• Split each cake crosswise; spoon a portion of berries over each cake bottom, then a dollop of whipped cream over berries. Cap with cake top and serve immediately.

SPIKED SUMMER BERRY SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• For the biscuits: Place the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in the food processor. Pulse until well combined, about 5 times. Scatter the butter around the flour mixture and pulse until the butter pieces are about the size of peas, about 10 times. It's okay if there are a few larger chunks.
• Drizzle in the heavy cream while pulsing the machine a few times until the dough appears dry and crumbly with a few large pieces of butter.
• Transfer the dough to a work surface. Work the dough with your hands until it just comes together and no longer appears dry. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to an 8-by-6-inch rectangle. Using a bench scraper or spatula, fold the rectangle into thirds, like a letter, then roll out the dough again to an 8-by-6-inch rectangle. Cut out 6 biscuits with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter. Using the bench scraper or spatula if needed, transfer them to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart. You can gather the scraps and repeat the process with the dough to cut 3 or 4 "ugly biscuits" (I call them that because they're usually not as uniform as the first batch). Transfer them to the baking sheet if there's room, otherwise bake them after the first batch.
• In a small bowl, beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush onto each biscuit then bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
• Meanwhile, for the berry sauce: Place the 1/2 cup raspberries, 1/2 cup strawberries, sugar, and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add 1/4 cup of the orange liqueur. Simmer over medium to medium-low heat until the berries start to break down, about 5 minutes. Pour into a blender (see Disclaimer), add the remaining 1 tablespoon orange liqueur and blend on high until smooth. Strain the sauce through a sieve into another small bowl set in an ice bath to cool.
• When the sauce is cooled, add the mixed berries and stir, then set aside for plating.
• Meanwhile, for the whipped cream topping: Whip the cream, confectioners' sugar, and orange liqueur with a handheld electric mixer in a large bowl.
• To assemble the shortcakes: Open each biscuit and spoon a few tablespoons of berries and sauce onto the biscuit bottom. Add a dollop of whipped cream and cover with the biscuit top. Add a touch more of the berries, sauce, and whipped cream on top. Serve and enjoy.