One Of My Favorite Things...

If you know me even remotely well, by now you should guess that I adore strawberries. OK, maybe it's a borderline obsession, so much so that I cannot ever wait for the local berry season to arrive. Historically California berries have had a reputation for lack of flavor and a wooden-y texture, and coupled with the knowledge that they are coated in many different pesticides, I didn't have much of a problem waiting in the past. But now we have these gorgeous organic dark red gems that are full-flavored, juicy, and delicious...and that go on sale for $2 occasionally. Hey, we live close to the California border, and many of the plants that are sold to growers are produced just a few miles away! That makes me feel better about buying berries before the leaves fully emerge from my own plants.

While I am not extremely picky when it comes to any type of berry, Oregon ones are in a completely different class. Each summer we head north and stock up on several flats of unsprayed strawberries for jam, freezing (we drink a lot of winter smoothies), and many fresh treats with which to stuff ourselves until we can't take it any longer. My mouth starts to water just thinking of them! Alas, we still have two months to wait, and I will happily make do with the store-bought organic variety for now.

I came up with my very own shortcake recipe tonight. My biscuit recipes are a little too heavy to use as a dessert base, and a good vessel for berries needs to be light and fluffy. Many versions exist, but they contain at least twice as much butter as mine, and whipping cream is used instead of buttermilk, which basically results in something you should only have once per year (if at all). I have to be realistic; we eat A LOT of strawberry shortcake, and often it finds itself being eaten for breakfast (only then we use yogurt instead of whipped cream as a topping). This is a super light, fluffy, half whole grain, lower in fat version that is delicious.

Strawberry Shortcake

1 cup cake flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp cold butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch dried lemon zest (or about 1/4 tsp fresh)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Stir together the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into the mixture using a pastry blender until it resembles crumbs. Or, use a box grater (as you would for cheese), grating the butter over the flour and toss to combine.

Whisk together buttermilk, egg, vanilla, and zest. Pour into flour and stir to combine. When a few wisps of flour remain, knead it gently until it all comes together, adding up to 2 tbsp more cake flour if necessary. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Pat into a rectangle and cut into squares. Place on prepared cookie sheet.

Using a bit more buttermilk, or what's leftover in the measuring cup from whisking the wet ingredients together, paint the tops of the biscuits with a pastry brush to moisten. Sprinkle with sanding sugar (or raw sugar crystals work well too). Bake 12-14 minutes, or until tops are just lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool.

Split in half and top with lightly sweetened, sliced strawberries. Add a dollop of freshly whipped cream and serve!

Makes 8 generously sized biscuits.