Deconstructed Strawberry Shortcake!

I know it may be a little too early to be talking about strawberry picking for some of you, but here in South Carolina, we are deep into strawberry season. We typically have 105 baseball games each weekend but a few weeks back we had one day off and so I decided to take the kids strawberry picking.  I love any excuse to visit a farm!

Several years ago, I made strawberry shortcakes with my good friend George.  This year, I wanted to try Ina Garten’s Deconstructed Strawberry Shortcake from How Easy is That?  With new martini glasses in our shop, I wanted to give this recipe a try and make it just like Ina does it. 

Strawberry Shortcake is always delicious, especially during strawberry season, but I love this deconstructed version and really like how chic the dessert looks in our Simon Pearce Martini Glasses! 😍  I served Eric and I in the real thing but served the the kids in our Rectangular Stacking Dishes.  AND... If you eat gluten free, just skip the shortcakes. It’s still a delicious treat!  Cassandra-

 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

Granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup cold heavy cream

1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water or milk, for egg wash

2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and thickly sliced 

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier liqueur

Sweetened whipped cream

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, the baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Combine the eggs and heavy cream in a measuring cup and, with the mixer still on low, add to the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. The dough will be sticky.

Dump the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough 1/2 to 5/8 inch thick. You should see lumps of butter in the dough. Dip a 2-inch plain round cutter in flour and cut 16 to 18 biscuits. Place on the sheet pan, brush the tops of the biscuits with the egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops are browned and the insides are fully baked. Cool on the pan.

To serve, toss the strawberries with 1/3 cup of sugar and the Grand Marnier in a medium bowl. Place the berries in 6 martini glasses, top each with a dollop of whipped cream, and serve with 2 or 3 shortcakes on the side.