Strawberry Shortcakes
Ingredients
Directions
Place a rack in center of oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
Line a rimmed backing sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 4 teaspoons sugar, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl to combine.
Finely grate zest of 1/2 lemon into bowl (saving lemon for later use).
Cut 1 stick cold butter into 1/2 inch pieces and toss with dry ingredient until coated. Work butter into dry ingredient by pinching and rubbing it between your palms until there are lots of flat shards and pea-sized bits remaining. The small uneven pieces of butter create steam pockets as the shortcakes bakes leaving a tender flaky cake.
Combine 3/4 cup of sour cream and 1/3 cup of heavy cream in a medium bowl. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Scrape the cream mixture into the well. Working in circles from inside the well outlays with a rubber spatula, mix the dough until large, shaggy clumps form.
Knead once or twice until it forms a mass and most of the flour has been incorporated into the dough.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface. Pat to a 1″ thick, 6×6″ square.
Cut dough into 4 equal squares, then stack them all on top of each other, creating one very tall tower of dough. Press down on the stack with your hands, fattening dough back to a square. (This stacking method creates lots of flaky layers.) Pat to a 7 1/2 x 5″ rectangle about 1″ thick.
Cut rectangle in half lengthwise, then cut each of those two rectangles into three squares. Transfer the squares to prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle tops with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Freeze 10 minutes to ensure that the shortcakes rise rather than spread out in the oven.
Bake shortcakes until golden brown all over, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Trim and discard stems of 1 1/2 pound of strawberries. Cut smaller ones in half and larger ones into quarters. Transfer to a medium bowl. Squeeze two tablespoons lemon juice into the bowl of strawberries. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar and toss to combine with strawberries and lemon juice.
Pour remaining 1 2/3 cups of heavy cream into a chilled bowl. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 3 tablespoons sugar, and a pinch of salt. Mix using an electric mixer starting on low speed and increasing gradually as cream stiffens. Add remaining 1/4 cup of sour cream.
Let shortcakes cool at least 15 minutes. Gently split shortcakes in half with your hands. Place bottom halves in serving bowls. Divide whipped cream, then strawberries among bottom halves. Drizzle any syrupy juices left in bowl. Finish with top halves of shortcake.
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