Strawberry Shortcakes

Ingredients: 

• 3 1⁄2 cups AP flour, plus more for surface  (15.75 oz)
• 1/3 c. + 1 T. granulated sugar SEPARATED  (2.36 oz)
• 4 t. baking powder
• 1 t. fine sea salt
• 1 1⁄2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces  (6 oz)
• 1 large orange zested and juiced 
• 1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing  (8.4 oz)
• 1⁄2 cup whole milk  (4 oz) 
• 2 T. turbinado sugar
• 2 pints strawberries hulled and quartered lengthwise
• 2 1⁄2 c. whipped cream

DAY ONE

1. In a heavy-duty mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, add flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix on. Low speed to combine.

2. Add butter and zest, and mix on low until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 2 minutes.  Add cream and milk and increase speed to medium; mix until the dough comes together.

3. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface, lightly knead a few times, and shape into a rectangle about 3⁄4” thick.  Cut out dough circles using a 3” round cutter and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  

DAY TWO

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

5. Lightly brush tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  

6. Bake until shortcakes are golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool (can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days)

7. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine strawberries, orange juice, and remaining 1 T. granulated sugar.  Gently stir together. Set aside.

8. To serve, halve shortcakes horizontally with serrated knife.  Place bottom halves on individual serving plates and top each with a dollop of whipped cream, some berries, then another dollop of whipped cream.  Top with remaining shortcake halves.

FRESH WHIPPED CREAM

• Yield 4 cups
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1 t. vanilla (optional)

METHOD

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine heavy cream and sugar.  With either a hand or stand mixer, beat the mixture together on a lower level.  After a minute, increase the speed and continue to beat mixture until very soft peaks form.

2. If you are using whipped cream as frosting, beat it for an additional 30-­60 seconds or until soft peaks form.

3. If you are using vanilla, stir in by hand with a whisk at this point.

4. Best if used immediately.  Can be stored for up to 24 the hours in a refrigerator.

Preparation:

This baking adventure was a challenge because I did not have the proper equipment to make the baking product. I did not have a heavy duty mixer. I replaced the heavy duty mixer with my hands. I was able to get the right measuring tools. I had a measuring cup and measuring spoons. These measuring tools were able to help me measure the right amount of dry ingredients needed. The mixing method I used was the Biscuit method. The goal is to create a product that will be tender. I cut(mixed) the butter into about half of the flour. Half of my flour granules would be coated with fat to prevent the formation of gluten while the other half will be able to combine with water to develop gluten. The goal is to create a product that will be tender. I added too much butter. The butter was not mixing well with the flour so I decided to add more butter to ensure that my baked product will not develop a substantial amount of gluten. I did this because butter is a fat. Fats make pastry products tender and that's the goal of the biscuit method. At this point, I was mixing the butter into the flour with my hands. After the butter was mixed into the flour, my mom poured water into the flour in small increments while I continued working the dough. flour granules that were formed are not able to bond with water. Granules did not form on the other half of the flour so that was able to bond with water and bring the dough together to allow me to knead the dough and also roll it out. This part was tough but my mom was able to help me a lot because she had past experiences using her hands to work with dough. So I relied on some tips she gave me in order to make sure that the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. The dough would occasionally become very sticky. In this situation, I remembered Mrs. Wilson helping my group out when we accidentally made our dough really sticky during our Strawberry Shortcake lab. This problem was fixed when a lot of flour was sprinkled on the dough and knead. I decided to do that and it worked. The next problem I ran into is that I did not have a round cutter. I improvised and used a plastic cup we had. The plastic cup was a good size and it worked well. This Strawberry Shortcake is the only one that turned out well. The other ones were burned. The temperature of the oven was set to the recommended temperature by the recipe. The required baking time for the shortcakes are 20 minutes but my shortcakes were in the oven for much longer. I was carefully monitoring the Shortcakes but then I had to take care of my niece. I had to attend to the need of my niece and when I went to go and check on the Shortcakes, they were burnt. Seems like something bad happens every time I try to make something new. Making the fresh whip cream was the hardest part. Again I do not have a heavy duty mixer so I used a wooden spoon to whip the cream. It took me half an hour. It only took us about 15 minutes in class. I was glad that I was able to get the structure of the soft peak after a while. At Cub Foods, I couldn’t find fresh strawberries, so I bought frozen ones instead. Making these Strawberry Shortcakes was a challenge well accomplished.

Critique: The other Shortcakes had a dark brown color because they were burnt. But this Shortcake had a golden brown color. The butter allowed the insides to have good gluten development because they were soft but not too soft. The even mix of flour granules coated with fat allowed the inside of my shortcakes to be soft and the outside to be tender even though they were burned. The butter protected the outside of my shortcakes from burning but the bottom of my shortcakes received the most amount of heat because it was very well burned. The top of my shortcakes were able to break apart but the bottom of my shortcake was really stiff and hard to break. It stuck together no matter what I did to try and break crumble it. AP Flour has 10-12 percent of protein content. This determines the level of structure and how tough your dough or your baked product will be. The higher the protein content, the more gluten will develop when the dough is worked. The Shortcake was soft but it also had some crunch to it. It also had a nice buttery taste to it. Since this Shortcake did not burn, it had a nice buttery and crisp smell.

Assessment:  Overall I would say that this lab was a success. I was able to make the shortcakes from scratch without the use of a heavy duty mixer. Although most of them were burnt, I was able to make a couple shortcakes the proper way. I learned that things can still be accomplished without the use of equipment, but it’s just twice as hard. I would not try this lab again because I do not have a heavy duty mixer and I do not like Strawberry Shortcakes.