- [John Kanell] Hey bakers!
John Kanell from "Preppy Kitchen" here.
Today we're making Strawberry Shortcake.
This classic is so easy to make
and just beyond delicious.
Let's get started!
We're going to do this whole thing in the food processor.
Starting off with 480 grams of all-purpose flour.
That's four cups if you're not measuring it out,
using a scale.
Oh, so close.
There we go, 480 grams.
Now a quarter cup of sugar.
You can add a little bit less,
a little bit more.
I think this is the right amount for the shortcake.
One and a half tablespoons of baking powder.
Sprinkle that in there.
And then a teaspoon of Kosher salt.
There we go.
Okay, normally I'd whisk this up,
but since its a food processor,
we're just going to pulse it up.
All right , so lets get this on there
and move it along.
This motor is so heavy.
Must be very high-quality.
Pop that on.
And lets just pulse it up to mix everything up.
(food processor whirs)
Just checking.
(food processor whirs)
Into a medium bowl, I'm adding a cup of milk
that I soured with like two to three
teaspoons of lemon juice.
Look at that, yeah, curdle.
You can also use buttermilk.
But I never have enough buttermilk on hand.
Its really annoying.
Adding in a quarter cup of cream.
And one egg, with no shells.
Do you see this happened.
There we go. Lets just whisk that up really quickly.
This will get poured on top.
But in the mean time,
we're going to add in half a cup of cold cubed butter.
So, I just cut it into little
less than an inch sized cubes.
Sprinkle those around.
Now, lets pulse this until we get like a course mixture.
(food processor whirs)
Take a look.
Totally want to stick my fingers in there,
but I know better.
Now, lets pour our wet mixture on top.
And...
pulse it a few more times.
We're going to roll this out,
but we need to get a floured surface ready,
get my biscuit cutters,
ovens preheated to 425 fahrenheit.
So, lets get this prepped.
I'm working on a pastry mat.
Its a great way to be able to move things around
and not worry about stuff getting stuck
to your counter.
Give it a nice flouring.
Dump your dough out onto the pastry mat.
It's going to be messy. Just telling you ahead of time.
I'm not going to knead it,
I just want to make it a bit more cohesive.
So, I'm going to press it together,
sprinkle it with some more flour,
and lets roll it out.
That's good.
So move it around too, make sure it doesn't get stuck.
Dip your pastry cutter in flour
and press straight down.
Pop it on to your baking sheet.
So basically, no twisting,
just press down, you don't want to seal the edge,
you want it to get nice and puffy.
Then every time (laughs) flour your cutter.
There we go. Makes it so easy.
Okay, so I have five nice ones
and a lot of dough left over.
We're going to press it back together.
This one isn't going to be your beauty shot.
If you care about these things.
It's going to be the one with a lot of personality.
With all those wrinkles on top.
See, like, there's just no getting
around the cracks that form, but it's okay.
This last one is just going to be just for snacking.
It's not going to rise up properly.
It has a lot of form issues,
but it will taste good still.
Okay, so I'm going to pop that one over here.
Okay, the last thing we want to do
is make sure everyone is
kind of tight together,
because, biscuits that are baked together,
rise up high together.
I'm going to brush the tops with a little bit of cream.
You can also use an egg wash,
or you can mix an egg yolk in.
The world is your oyster here.
This will just help them kind of brown up
and become a little bit more golden.
(upbeat music)
Let's cap this off with a little bit of sanding sugar
just for some sprinkle and crunch
they'll look really pretty.
That's optional though.
All right into the oven for about 15 minutes at 425.
They'll cook nice and golden brown, really pretty.
Got a bunch of strawberries here.
How many you use is kind of up to you.
Like, do you want to pile it high with strawberries?
Or have like just a couple layers.
So you decide, but, a good rule of thumb
is like that much strawberries need
like that much sugar (laughs).
To help them macerate or release their juices.
So, first up, let's cut the heads off,
and then slice vertically.
Just nice pretty slices.
That will look great in our dessert,
and also release their juices much more quickly.
(do do do)
Don't mind me I'll just be doing this more a while (laughs)
So pretty, oh my gosh
it's like the nicest thing to do.
Once winters over,
just drown yourself in berries.
If you have a smaller strawberry
you can also quarter it.
So it looks kind of pretty like that too.
So, just vertically like this,
and you have like nice little strawberry wedges.
I'm going to toss these strawberries
with several tablespoons of sugar.
Should be about a quarter of a cup
but you can reduce kind of reduce that if you want.
And what's going to happen is that sugar
is going to make all the juices start leeching out
and you'll have this like amazing concoction.
But, you're going to add a few tablespoons of Cointreau.
You can use Grand Marnier or whatever
orange liqueur you'll like.
I think it's a really tasty companion to the strawberries.
Let's mix that around.
Cover this up, leave it in the fridge
until you're ready to assemble. At least 20 minutes.
And you'll have a delicious, delicious treat.
When your biscuits are cool,
and your ready to assemble the shortcakes.
We're going to make some whipped cream. So easy.
One and maybe one and a half cups of heavy whipping cream.
Depends on how high you want to pile those shortcakes.
And for me I want to pile them pretty high.
So, one and a half cups.
Then a drizzle of sugar,
maybe like two tablespoons or so.
You can add that in there,
vanilla will go in last.
(mixer whirring)
Teaspoon of vanilla.
(mixer continues)
You're going to watch it carefully.
If it goes over--
speaking of which, you got to watch this carefully
because if you over whip it, you're done.
And whipped cream doesn't grow on trees.
So here, perfect consistency, nice whip.
It was almost going to go over.
Got to be careful with that.
All right, now its time to assemble.
I'm going to grab the strawberries from the fridge
where they've been chilling.
To assemble these delicious biscuits
we're going to cut them in half.
Ooh they are fall apart tender, look at that.
Now, we want a big dollop of whipped cream.
This is why we made so much.
How could you say no to this already?
Like, hello, what's going on here.
All right, now I'm using my hand.
Start placing your strawberries.
You want them poking out a bit,
so people know something really delicious
is happening inside of here.
And you can even, if desired,
just stick them in for a little bit of extra depth.
I think that looks really pretty.
I mean if you want, you can add in
just a little bit more whipped cream on top.
Add that layer over here (laughs).
That looking good?
And should we put some more whipped cream
and strawberries on top?
Yes, that's what's going to happen.
And...
I mean that's not the most beautiful dollop
I've ever seen in my life, but it's okay.
Last little bit of garnish
just for some contrast.
And a nice botanical infusion is a sprig of mint.
Perfect! What kind of monster would say no to this?
That biscuit,
is crispy on the outside,
ultimate fluff inside.
Inside and on top. Clouds of whip cream.
So creamy and delicious.
If you like this recipe,
click up here for my ultimate chocolate cake.
It is so rich, fluffy, fudgy, delightful.
Your minds will be blown.
And if you want a bigger strawberry cake
with a crazy decoration scheme on.
Click down here for my strawberry cake recipe.
It will be a delight for the mouth and the eyes.
Thanks so much for watching and Bon Appétit.