Building Blocks

Building blocks come in many different shapes and sizes.  The important thing about playing with blocks is to make a strong and sturdy foundation when stacking your blocks.    When it comes to making strawberry shortcakes it is important to make good shortcakes to build your layers upon.  This is my favorite recipe for biscuits.   I promise you won’t be disappointed.  

Fresh picked strawberries direct from Candela's

Touch of Grace Biscuits

Recipe by Shirley Corriher,author of BakeWise and CookWise

• 2 cups Tenda-Bake® Self-Rising Flour (I used the type found in the local grocery store and it worked just fine)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons shortening
• 2/3 cup cream
• About 3/4 cup buttermilk or more as needed
• 1 cup Tenda-Bake® All Purpose Flour, for shaping
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine self-rising flour, sugar and salt. Work shortening in with your fingers until there are no large lumps. Stir in cream, then buttermilk, until it resembles cottage cheese. (Very sticky) Add more buttermilk, if needed.

Spread all-purpose flour in shallow pan. Scoop dough (use a #30) into flour. Coat with flour, gently shape into a round, shaking off excess flour. Place biscuit into prepared pan, do not leave space between biscuits. Continue scooping and shaping until the pan is full.

Bake until lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Brush with melted butter, invert onto plate, then back onto another. Cut biscuits to serve. Makes 12 to 14 biscuits.

If you really want to switch up your biscuit trying making them with chocolate (add two tablespoons of good unsweetened cocoa powder to the mix).

So now that you have the foundation made.  Let’s start to stack the layers.

Start with a pretty dish

Place your foundation

Strawberry Filling:

·          1 quart strawberries, hulled and cut into bite size pieces

·          1/3 cup of sugar

·          1 tsp. vanilla extract

·          2 tbsp. lemon juice

Make sure your berries taste good. Strawberries can be misleading; they often look scrumpdelicious and taste bad. In a pinch you can use frozen ones too, but fresh really does taste the best.  Clean, cut and mix above ingredients and let them set for 10-15 minutes. Once you add the sugar to the berries they will make their own juice. 

If you find they look a little dry or didn’t make much of their own juice you can add 2-3 tablespoons of one of the following liquids: 

·          orange juice

·          balsamic vinegar

·          wine

·          Liquor of your choice. 

Or switch it up entirely by using a different berry such as, raspberries, black raspberries, black berries, cherries, etc.

Top with berries.

Add a layer of ice cream.

Toppings:

Your favorite vanilla ice cream

Vanilla pudding

Whipped Cream

Toppings come in many choices as well.  Why not try a layer of vanilla or chocolate pudding, your favorite ice cream.

Why not?  Add yet another layer of berries.

Top with whipped cream.

Top with one lonely berry.

Decorate with a chocolate covered strawberry, chocolate shavings, or chocolate jimmies’.  

I hope I have inspired you to experiment when making your strawberry short cake and that you enjoy the end results.  



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From the bottom of my heart..............