Strawberry Shortcake

There are a few things that seem to shout "summer", and one of those is strawberry shortcake. This is one of the simplest desserts to throw together, and you probably have all of the ingredients for the cream biscuits on hand. Pick up some fresh strawberries, and you have the perfect summer dessert. I also firmly believe in eating leftover strawberry shortcake for breakfast, so that's an added bonus.

Strawberry Shortcake
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream, plus additional for brushing
strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced
sugar
whipped cream

Place sliced strawberries in a medium bowl and sprinkle with sugar to taste. Stir together to coat strawberries, and let sit, covered, while biscuits are baking.

Put a rack in middle of oven and heat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly butter a baking sheet.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Add cream and stir just until a dough forms. Gather dough into a ball and gently knead 6 times on a lightly floured surface.

Pat dough into a 10-inch round (1/2 inch thick). Cut out as many rounds as possible with lightly floured cutter and invert rounds onto buttered baking sheet. Gather scraps, pat out dough, and cut out more rounds in same manner, for a total of 8 rounds.

Brush tops of rounds with cream and bake until pale golden, 15-20 minutes. Transfer biscuits to a rack to cool.

Split biscuits with a fork and arrange on plates. Spoon strawberries over the biscuits and top with whipped cream.

source: recipe from The Gourmet Cookbook

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend! Caleb was sick last week, so we were thankful for a 3-day weekend for him to catch up on some rest and get back to feeling normal. We had a pretty low-key weekend at home: relaxing, getting a few things done, watching a movie, getting outside to enjoy the pretty weather, etc. We finished the weekend with a nice Easter lunch with some friends after church. My contribution was dessert, so I made this tart that has been on my "to-make" list for over a year now. I was pleased with how it turned out--it's a nice, light dessert that's perfect for spring or summer.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart

for the crust:

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups flour, plus more for dusting

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp salt

8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

for the ganache:

2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

for the filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp milk or cream

for the topping:

fresh strawberries, sliced (approximately 12 oz)

melted bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, for drizzling (optional)

To make the tart shell, whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl; set aside. Place flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Process briefly to combine. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; process to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses. With the machine running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together, about 12 seconds. Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. (If refrigerated for more than an hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable.) Unwrap and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart pan. Mold the dough to the sides of the tart pan and remove the excess off the top. Set the dough-lined pan on a large plat and freeze for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to middle position. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Set the dough-lined pan on a baking sheet, press a 12-inch square of foil into the frozen shell and over the edge, and fill with pie weights. Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil and weights. Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5-8 minutes longer. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let sit 1-2 minutes to melt the chocolate. Whisk together until a smooth ganache forms. If there are still bits of unmelted chocolate, microwave in 10-second intervals, whisking in between, until the ganache is completely smooth. Whisk in the butter. Spread the ganache in a thin even layer over the bottom of the cooled tart shell. Allow the ganache to set before proceeding.

To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a bowl on medium-high speed until smooth. Blend in the vanilla and milk or cream. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled ganache in the tart shell. Starting from the outside and working toward the center, place the sliced strawberries in concentric circles. Gently press the berries into the cream cheese mixture to help keep them in place. Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired. Chill until ready to serve. Serves 8.

source: recipe from annie's eats