David Lee's Biscuits, Perfect for Shortcakes

By kelsa94

If you're looking for a good biscuit recipe to make shortcakes with, this recipe is for you! Give it a try, you’ll never go back to traditional butter-and-milk biscuits again! Recipe also includes how to make Maine-style strawberry shortcakes, yum!

Ingredients

• 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) Perfect Pastry Blend or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, enough to make a cohesive dough
• 1 to 2 tablespoons melted butter

Details

Servings 10
Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 40mins
Adapted from kingarthurflour.com

Preparation

Step 1

If you use unbleached all-purpose flour, substitute 1/4 cup (1 3/8 ounces) cornstarch for 1/4 cup of the flour.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Stir in enough heavy cream to moisten the dough thoroughly. You'll probably use about 1 cup in the summer, 1 1/4 cups in the winter, and 1 cup + 2 tablespoons at the turn of the seasons. You want to be able to gather the dough together, squeeze it, and have it hang together, without dry bits falling off.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and very gently pat it into an 8" circle about 3/4" thick. Use a sharp biscuit cutter (we use a 2 1/4" cutter) to cut rounds. Dip the rounds into melted butter, and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired; this is a nice touch if you're going to use the biscuits for shortcake.

Bake the biscuits in a preheated 425°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes, till they're golden brown. If you have any melted butter left over, brush it on the baked biscuits. "Serve hot!," says David. Yield: 10 large (about 2 1/2"), ultra-tender biscuits.

To make Maine-style strawberry shortcake: Trim and slice 1 quart fresh strawberries. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar, stir, and set aside at room temperature for several hours; or refrigerate overnight.

Whip 1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream till it barely holds its shape. Sweeten to taste with granulated sugar.

Split oven-warm biscuits in half. Top the bottom half of each with whipped cream, strawberries, more whipped cream, then the top half of the biscuit. Add a dollop of whipped cream and a slice of strawberry on top, as a garnish. Yield: 8 to 10 shortcakes.