ADAPTED FROM COOK'S ILLUSTRATED BAKING BOOK
by Deb Bernardini, owner of Forno 413
SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
Strawberries
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2 1/2 lbs. strawberries, hulled
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6 T granulated sugar
Biscuits
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2 cups / 280 g Ground Up Pastry Flour
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5 T granulated sugar
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1 T baking powder
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1/2 tsp salt
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8 T unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, chilled
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1/2 cup + 1 T whole milk or half-and-half
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1 large egg, lightly beaten
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1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Whipped Cream
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1 cup heavy cream, chilled
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1 T confectioner’s sugar
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1 tsp vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
1. For the strawberries: Crush 3 cups of strawberries in a large bowl with a potato masher. Slice the remaining 5 cups of strawberries. Stir sliced strawberries and sugar into crushed strawberries. Set aside until sugar has dissolved and strawberries are juicy, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
2. For the biscuits: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pulse flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined. Scatter butter pieces over top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 15 three-second pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
3. Whisk half-and-half and whole egg together in a bowl, then stir into the flour mixture until large clumps form. Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead lightly until the dough comes together. Do not overwork the dough.
4. Pat the dough into a 9 x 6” rectangle, about 3/4” thick. Using a floured 2 3/4”; biscuit cutter, cut out 6 dough rounds. Arrange biscuits on a prepared sheet, spaced about 1 1/2" apart. Brush tops with egg white and sprinkle evenly with the remaining 2 T sugar. (Unbaked biscuits can be refrigerated, covered with plastic wrap, for up to 2 hrs.)
5. Bake until biscuits are golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let cool, at least 10 minutes.
6. For the whip cream: Using a stand mixer fitted with a whip, whip cream, sugar, and vanilla on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes.
7. To assemble, split each biscuit in half horizontally and place the bottoms on individual plates. Spoon a portion of the strawberries over each bottom, dollop with whipped cream, and cap with the biscuit tops. Serve immediately.
Additional Notes:
*Use pastry flour! If you’ve made biscuits that are hockey pucks, chances are you’re using flour made with hard red wheat (most APs in our region include some hard red wheat). Ground Up’s pastry flour is made with soft white wheat - a more delicate cousin of AP. It’s lower in protein and gluten, so your biscuit rises tall and tastes fluffy and light.
*I hate instructions like “Do not overwork the dough” Yes, overworking the dough will result in tough, not tender biscuits and they won't rise well, but what does overworking the dough mean? (For years, I was so fearful of overworking my biscuit dough that my biscuits didn’t hold together at all and were just a crumbly mess). My suggestion is to mix the dough only in the bowl - don’;t dump it out onto a floured surface. Mix it in the bowl with a wooden spoon or non-stick spatula until it starts to come together, and then use your hands to continue to bring it together further - all in the bowl - until a cohesive mass forms that can be shaped into a rectangle without all the edges falling apart. (You do the rectangle shaping part on the counter!) It’;s a little thing, but I find you are less likely to “overwork the dough” if you aren’t plopping it onto the counter and kneading it like a loaf of bread.
*If you want really sky-high biscuits, check out this technique by Clair Saffitz.
*If you’re looking at my photo and wondering about my strawberries, I made these into a compote. (Truth: I was originally going to make strawberry-rhubarb pop-tarts, but that’s a whole other story...) Compote means I did the macerating part, but then I cooked them down and thickened them with a little flour to make a thick, non-runny, fruit-pie-like filling. I also added a little vanilla and a pinch of salt to my strawberries for a little depth of flavor - and you can too!
*When making whipped cream, put the bowl of your stand mixer and the whisk attachment (or a metal bowl and the stick-in beaters of a hand mixer) into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes before you attempt to whip cream. Also, if you want to make whipped cream in advance you can stabilize your whipped cream with a little gelatin.
