vrijdag 19 augustus 2011

Strawberry Chocolate Chunk Shortcakes

And what to think of this great recipe, which I am certainly gonna try to make:


Ingredients
For the biscuits
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk (or, use whole milk and omit the baking soda)
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

more buttermilk and granulated sugar, for sprinkling on top

For the strawberries
1 pound strawberries, sliced
a few spoonfuls of granulated sugar
freshly whipped cream, for garnish

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F or 220 degrees Celsius.
Slice the strawberries, place them in a bowl, and mix them with a few spoonfuls of sugar (use more or less, depending on how sweet and ripe your strawberries are). Set them aside to macerate while you make the shortcakes.

To make the shortcakes, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Drop in the chunks of cold butter and, using your fingers (my preferred method) or a pastry blender, rub or cut the butter into the flour until there are flakes, pieces the size of coarse meal, and pieces the size of peas. Add the chocolate chunks and toss briefly with your fingers. Now add the buttermilk and stir lightly a few times with a fork to bring the ingredients together into a dough. Use your hand to gently gather the dough in the bowl into a ball, using the side of the bowl to incorporate any dry crumbs.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and pat out into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut out biscuits; you should get 6 total (you can gather the scraps and cut out the remaining biscuits you couldn’t get out of the first cut.) At this point you can freeze any biscuits you’re not going to bake immediately; just put them on a baking sheet, cover with foil, and place in the freezer until frozen. Transfer them to an airtight container, and when you want to bake them, just bake them directly from the freezer – no need to thaw first – but add a few minutes onto the baking time.
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the tops of each with a little buttermilk, and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake for 14-17 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the biscuits are cooked through.
Let the biscuits cool slightly on the sheet before splitting them with a fork or serrated knife. To serve, spoon some of the strawberries with their juices over the bottom half of the biscuit, top with a generous dollop of whipped cream, and place the top half of the biscuit on top.
Serves 6.
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