Receta Balsamic Strawberry Shortcakes from Joanne Chang of Boston's "Flour" Bakery and Cafe
It’s strawberry season in the Hamptons
and they’re truly flawless this year.
Nothing could be more welcome after our rainy, cold spring than these
beautiful, bountiful berries. And
nothing says June like their arrival.
But time isn’t on our side. The
season is fleeting and the chance to put fresh local strawberries on the table
is right now. Out here, there are any
number of road side strawberry fields where you can pick your own, a fun way to
spend an afternoon with the children in your life. We opted to go the lazy man’s route and
bought our strawberries at our local farm stand down the road. We brought the
brilliant red berries home and out came Joanne Chang’s “Flour” Cookbook, one of
Andrew’s go-to sources for truly unbeatable baking recipes. Use the search function on the left side of
this page and you’ll come up with no less than 6 recipes from Ms. Chang, every
single one of them a winner in our kitchen and with our friends. This is no exception.
The garden strawberry has a rich and
quite recent history. The French started
moving wild strawberry plants from the woodlands into their gardens in the
1300s. It wasn’t until the 1750s that
two cultivars from the new world, the fragaria
Virginia from the Eastern North America was crossed by the French with a
variety from Chile called fragaria chiloensis
to create the strawberry as we now know it. This “new” variety has almost
completely replaced the woodland strawberry in commercial strawberry
growing. The United States production of
strawberries outstrips any other country in the world. In fact about ¼ of the strawberries grown
worldwide are grown here—a whopping 1.3 million tons of them in 2011 alone. But wherever they are grown, they are highly
prized worldwide—everywhere from the Philippines to Morocco.
Published in 1843,
Miss Leslie's Receipt Book
contained the first
known US recipe for
Strawberry ShortcakeThe shortcake
is a British invention. It gets its name
from
the adding of shortening or butter to a dough which makes it tender. Calling lard or fat “shortening” comes from
the 15th century term "to shorten" which meant, "easily crumbled". Although shortcakes can be used with all
manner of fruits, they have been linked
to the strawberry in this country since 1850.
The arrival of the transcontinental trains meant that strawberries could
be shipped coast to coast surrounded by ice to keep them fresh. Strawberries and shortcake signaled the
arrival of summer across the country.
And they still do today. Joanne Chang’s
recipe gives you a traditional scone-like shortcake. But the real difference is the way she treats
the strawberries. The balsamic vinegar
and the grated lemon zest are a perfect counterpoint to the sweetness of the
berries and the lushness of the whipped cream.
It’s a wonderful treat on an early summer day or night. Don’t let the strawberry season pass by
without tasting these. Here is the
recipe:
Joanne Chang’s Balsamic Strawberry
Shortcakes from “Flour”
Makes
8 individual Strawberry Shortcakes.
Active time 20 minutes. Total Time 50 – 60 minutes.
2
- 1/2 cups (350 grams) unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/2
- cup (100 grams) plus 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2
- teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4-cup
- (1-1/2 sticks/170 grams) cold unsalted butter
- 1/2-cup
- (120 grams) heavy cream
- 2
- pints (600 grams) strawberries
- 2
- teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 2
- teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (about 2/3 lemon)
- 6
- tablespoons (75 grams) plus 1-tablespoon sugar
- 1-1/4
- cups (300 grams) heavy cream
- 1-teaspoon
- vanilla extract
- To
- make the shortcakes: Position the rack in the center of the oven, heat the oven
- to 350 degrees F.
- In
- a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the flour, 1/2 cup
sugar, baking powder, and alt on low speed for 10-15 seconds or until combined.
Scatter the butter over the top and beat on medium low speed for a
bout 30 seconds or until the butter is brown down the mixture get sort of
mealy.
In
a small bowl, whisk together 2 of the eggs and the cream until thoroughly
mixed. On low speed, pour in the egg mixture all at once and beat for 10 to 15
seconds, or until the dough comes together.
Dump
the dough out onto a floured work surface and press it out into a circle about
8 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out
circles, rerolling scraps as necessary to get 8 circles total. Place them on an
ungreased baking sheet several inches apart.
In
a small bowl, whisk the remaining egg until blended. Brush the tops of the
dough circles with the egg. Sprinkle evenly with the 1-tablespoon of sugar.
Bake
for 35-40 minutes, or until light golden brown. Let cool on pan or on wire rack
until cool enough to handle, then transfer to a rack to cool until warm.
Meanwhile,
stem the strawberries, and cut each berry lengthwise into four or five slices.
In a medium bowl, toss the strawberries with the vinegar, lemon zest, and the 6
tablespoons of sugar and let macerate for about 30 minutes.
Using
a handheld mixer or whisk, whip the cream wit the 1-tablespoon sugar and the
vanilla just until it hold soft peaks.
Split
each shortcake in half horizontally. Set the bottom haves, cut sides up,
on individual services plates. Divide the strawberries and their
syrup evenly among the bottom halves, then top the strawberries wit the whipped
cream, again dividing evenly. Balance the top halves on the whipped cream and
serve immediately.