DISH NAME : STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES

Preparation Time : 45 minutes

Cooking Time : Baking time -20 minutes

Chilling Time : assembling time-20 minutes

Description

Strawberry shortcake is the combination of biscuit, fresh strawberries and cream. The scones or biscuit has a buttery flavour & crisp exterior.
alsamic vinegar is made from a reduction of cooked white grape juice and not a vinegar in the usual sense. Traditionally balsamic vinegar is aged for years. Balsamic vinegar of Modena (a place in Italy), an inexpensive modern imitation of the traditional product is widely available and much known. This is commonly used in salad dressing with oil. Balsamic vinegar is available in supermarkets . Though its a bit expensive, its worth trying.

Note

1) The scones/biscuit may have a cracked top, but that`s ok.
2) The butter should be cold.
3) Add the liquid to the dry ingredients & mix quickly, but lightly.
4) Ideally the scones are to be assembled shortly after coming out of the oven. But it may not be very easy. So my tip is, make scones the previous day & assemble just before serving. Lightly warm scone in the microwave. Don`t overcook.
5) Double cream has 40% fat and will whip well. Or use powdered whipping cream. Always beat cream, keeping the bowl on ice cubes.

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 200 C.
2) Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a bowl.
3) Grate the butter into these dry ingredients and use your fingertips to finish crumbling the butter into the flour.
4) Whisk the egg into the cream and pour into the flour mixture a little at a time, using a fork to mix. You may not need all of the egg mix to make the dough come together, so be careful.
5) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll gently to a thickness of about 2 cm. Dip a 6 cm. cutter in flour and cut out as many rounds as you can. Work the leftover pieces back into a dough, re-roll and finish cutting out-you should get 8 in all.
6) Place the shortcakes about 2 cm. apart on the baking sheet, brush the tops with the egg white. (You can cover and refrigerate the scones at this stage for up to 2 hours).
7) Bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden-brown, and let them cool for a short while on a wire rack.
8)To assemble, crush the strawberries with sugar and the balsamic vinegar/ lime juice. 9) Whip the double cream, till it forms peaks.
Usually shortcakes are eaten while still warm.Split each one across the middle (horizontally) and cover with a spoonful of the crushed strawberry mixture, then add some whipped cream on top, and set the top back on.

Serving Suggestions

Serve warm.