16-10: Strawberry Shortcake

Just to show you how far behind I’m running with entries these days: I’m finally cracking into what I made for Mothers’ Day this year (MD2018) with 16-10: Strawberry Shortcake. You know…back in May. We were growing a ton of strawberries in the yard this year, and a few of them even made it into this dish.

Last year I attempted a Simply Delicious-inspired Mothers’ Day brunch (MD 2017), complete with fancy pastries and attempts at complicated sauces. This year, I kept it somewhat more simple in the interest of time spent and calories consumed. ?


I probably could have stood to pay attention to that note under the TIPS section–I have a tendency to overwork my dough, and my biscuits definitely didn’t get as flaky and moist inside as they should have.


Ingredients. I mentioned that we used some of our garden strawberries, but the bulk was still composed of store-bought. I had already broken down the oranges for 15-37: Elegant Strawberries, so orange components will have to do. 


Breaking down strawberries into even slices.


Prepped to “marinate” in the juice and sugar.


While the strawberries soak, I prep the biscuit dough in the food processor. This may be why they ended up a bit “overworked”. 


Adding in the sour cream. 


I used a biscuit cutter to make the rounds. Here’s another problem I had: I cut a dozen biscuits, but the recipe only calls for 6 servings. No wonder my biscuits didn’t rise–they were WAY too thin. 


They rose, but they’re only going to go so high when you don’t give them enough dough to rise with. Looks like I’ve pre-split them at this point. Another drawback from this is that they ended up way too hard and dry.


While I figure out what to do with my biscuit pucks, I whip the cream. 


I always throw a rag over the mixer while it starts whipping cream, otherwise little specks and flecks end up everywhere.


Looks pretty solid. Instead of adding sugar, I decide to add something else to the cream instead. 


You might have been able to see it in the background of the last picture–I added Kahlua liqueur to the cream to give it a coffee-flavored kick instead. 


I treated the biscuit pucks like thin rounds instead and started piling the strawberries on top. I had hoped they’d soften by letting them sit with the fruit and juices soaking in for a while. 


(Almost) final plating. I made a strawberry dessert platter (this recipe along with 15-37: Elegant Strawberries) for the table after brunch, which consisted of a much simpler DIY waffle bar and breakfast potatoes.

I’ll have to try the biscuit recipe again and find out if doing them the proper way results in the right type of biscuit–not hockey pucks. 

Grade: B