Monday 20 September 2010

Strawberry Shortcake


With strawberries so tasty and such good value at the moment, I am always on the lookout for new ways to showcase those plump red gems. Of course, strawberries are great on their own, but they are great with other things too. They're fantastic with the ricotta hotcakes I made recently, but they are also great in a strawberry shortcake - an old fashioned, classic dessert.

I actually made this strawberry shortcake for my mum-in-law as she was visiting for Singapore. She loves trying new types of foods, but she doesn't eat eggs, so this recipe was perfect for the occasion. Delicious along with a dollop of double cream or creme fraiche as part of a special afternoon tea or dessert.


Strawberry Shortcake
Recipe adapted from AWW's Sweet Old-Fashioned Favourites

This recipe made quite a lot of mixture for the base so I had leftovers. I used my leftovers to make little shortbread biscuits and stored them in an airtight container. Just refrigerate any leftover dough for a couple of hours and then roll it out and cut into desired shapes.

Ingredients
250g unsalted butter
pinch salt
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c caster sugar
1/3 c rice flour
1 c self raising flour
250g punnet strawberries (washed, hulled and halved)
1/2 c strawberry jam

Method
1. Lightly grease a tart tin approximately 25cm in diameter.

2. Have butter at room temperature. Beat butter, salt, zest, juice and sugar until creamy, but not too fluffy as you would aim for if making a cake. Stir in sifted flours in 2 batches. Press ingredients together gently, knead lightly until smooth. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour.

3. Roll out dough and lay over tin, pressing it in neatly. If the dough breaks whilew doing this, don't worry too much, just continue pressing it in until you have a thin even layer. Prick the base with a fork, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for another hour.

4. Remove tart base from fridge and remove clingfilm. Bake in a moderate oven (180-190 degrees celsuis) about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in tin.

5. Transfer tart base onto serving plate, decorate with berries. Warm jam in a small pan (or even the microwave briefly); strain and brush evenly over the strawberries.



And to sweeten Monday just a litte bit more, I am please to announce the winner of my 1st Birthday and 100th Post Giveaway.

Congratulations to Jen of Truffled Pink!
You have won a copy of '200 Cupcakes' by Joanna Farrow :)

Thank you once again to all of you, my valued readers. I appreciate each and every one of you, and I hope you all have a fantastic week!


Ladybird x

12 comments:

  1. I know!! i saw in woolies...a punnet was $1.50 i was like :O Your shortcake looks beautiful!! so vibrantly red with such a perfect crust!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yay! First time I've won a giveaway. Thank you!
    Your tart looks so comforting and elegant at the same time. Perfect for the weather lately. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks delicious, I am loving the strawberry season at the moment!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes so true about the strawberries at the moment, they look fabulous! :D What a great end to the sweet strawberry :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Our fridge is stacked with strawberries, after my mum and dad went on separate trips to the shops and bought home cheap strawberries....haha. Only half of them don't taste that great (that's probably why they were so cheap!) so I happily use them for desserts =) I love the vibrant red colour of strawberries, especially in desserts- this shortcake looks so pretty! And delicious too....The base looks really really yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your version of shortcake sounds and looks lovely! Very nice presentation...

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is one Good Looking Tart! Yes strawberries are brilliant at the moment, though I find the sizes in punnets can vary quite a bit, so you really big ones and normal ones :P

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your tart looks so perfectly cooked and shaped, great use of strawberries. Also congratulations to Jen.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This looks delicious!! Loove how the strawberries look jammy and sticky... mmm I love it when strawberry season comes around too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. $1.50 a punnet is the cheapest I've seen them for a while. This is when I buy them and stock the freezer., but I guess I can spare a few for a dessert like this.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ooh, can't wait to get my hands on some fresh strawberries and whip up this shortcake. Those beautiful glistening berries in your photo sold me.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails