My plans for dinner this week were disrupted slightly by the infamous U.S. 2. My whole household, except me, had gone skiing that day. When a truck lost a very heavy load, it shut down the highway in both directions, and sent my husband and housemates home the long way.
With dinner no longer a good option, I decided we’d have dessert for dinner instead. I scrounged through my cupboards and freezer and came up with a fantastic solution. Shortcake.
I love shortcake. I can not overstate how fond I am of shortcake. I love the thick cake, covered in whipped cream and slathered in berries. While it took me awhile to accept that, yes, you can eat shortcake in winter, it was well worth it.
Making it local was also pretty easy. I have a little supply of local ingredients building up, and it makes it a lot easier to put things together on the fly.
This time, I had flour from a mill in Fairhaven (the wheat is from the northwest, so not necessarily in the state, and it’s all organic), butter, milk and cream from Bow and frozen raspberries from Carnation. The sugar was not local, but I think that’s the only thing.
Also, let’s take a short break to discuss the cream. The whipping cream I used was from Golden Glen Creamery. It comes in the most adorable small, glass bottle that I picked up from the Sno-Isle Co-op. I gave the bottle a little cuddle before I bought it. I also had a tiny sip of the cream before it became whipped cream. Delicious. Not, of course, for pure drinking but it tasted great.
The shortcake ended up being a late night dessert, as well as next morning’s breakfast.
I would certainly use this shortcake recipe again. It’s quick and delightfully simple. Oh, and I also learned that frozen raspberries — unlike fresh — actually need sugar. They are a bit too tart for my taste without it.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 stick butter, chilled
2/3 to 3/4 cup half and half, milk, or cream
Stir together all the dry ingredients, then cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or your fingers. You want it to look like coarse corn meal. Don’t stress about this too much. Just get it close. I promise you a few butter chunks won’t hurt a thing.
Once everything is blended, stir in the milk or cream. Add it slowly, you don’t want to get your mixture too wet. It won’t hold together very well, but don’t worry. Turn it out onto a floured surface and roll it flat — if you’re the precise kind — or just squish it into shape if you’re a more relaxed baker. Use a cookie cutter or knife to cut the cakes into the shapes you prefer. Put the cakes on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes. Check frequently, it’s sad to burn your shortcakes.
Eat warm, with fruit and whipped cream. Or, as I can attest, they taste great the next morning, too.
Also, if you have any homemade raspberry or strawberry jam left over from the summer, it would go brilliantly on this shortcake. Me? I have no self control and my jam didn’t last very long this year. Must make more next year.
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