Tender Shortcakes

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Cathy of The Tortefeasor. She chose the Tender Shortcakes, which are the perfect base for berry shortcake. You can get the complete recipe on Cathy’s blog. You can also check out how all of the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers fared with this week’s recipe. I’m looking forward to seeing all the interesting fillings that people came up with for these shortcakes.

I don’t think that I have made shortcakes before. They remind me a lot of making scones, as you use heavy cream to bring the dough together. They are very crumbly and when I put them in the oven I was hoping for the best that they would come together as cohesive shortcakes. I shouldn’t have worried as they came together beautifully. They were very quick to make, too. I had planned to make them Monday, but I realized that the berries I had bought were starting to go. I made them up Sunday night and served them in about 35 minutes.

The shortcakes were so good. They were crispy and crumbly and just a tiny bit sweet. I served mine with blackberries, which were pretty good (although my blackberries could have been a little fresher). I would like to try these with caramelized pineapple next time or maybe some other berries. It’s been so cold and rainy here in the Seattle area that I’m not sure that summer berries will ever be ripe! My husband is convinced that these are scones rather than shortcakes. He had one with raspberry jam and whipped cream and declared that they were excellent. I tried a bit of one with raspberry jam and they taste exactly like the Fisher Scones that you get at the Puyallup Fair. Call them what you will, they turned out great!

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 423-424.