Strawberry Shortcake

I wanted to bake something chewy last week and I found a recipe for flapjacks. However I must have messed up the ingredient measuring because when I baked it, after 15 minutes it was still moist and when I left it in the oven some more, it burned black. I blamed my getting out of practice after not baking anything in a long time so for the next project, I chose something foolproof. I've already made muffins and I've already made cookies but I've never made shortcakes, a kind of cake that is small and cut out into round shapes and assembled vertically.

Spending the weekend at the cottage, I was far away from the wonders of culinary present such as oven, cookie cutters or regular scales. Nevertheless, I attempted to make a strawberry shortcake since it's the strawberry season. While I had all the necessary ingredients ready, I didn't have the oven to bake the cakes in. I used a large remoska which can't regulate its temperature and I'm sure that it doesn't reach the prescribed 200 degrees C. Instead of risen cakes, I ended up with cookie-like pieces that weren't tall enough to be cut in halves and filled with strawberries.


But it didn't matter in the end. I gave four shortcakes to our neighbours, they liked them, and I kept the rest for the after-lunch dessert time :) They were, however, better the first day.

Strawberry Shortcakes
for 12 shortcakes you will need:

• 350g all-purpose flour
• a tablespoon of sugar
• half a teaspoon of salt
• a tablespoon of baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 100g butter, chilled
• 200ml buttermilk
• 300g strawberries
• whipped cream optional

1. An hour before you start baking, clean the strawberries and mash them with two tablespoons of sugar. Leave them be so that the sugar drains the strawberries of juice.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a tray with baking sheet.
3. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients and add the butter cut in cubes and the buttermilk. With an electric mixer with hook attachments knead the ingredients into a nice fluffy dough.
4. Divide the dough into 12 same sized balls and roll those into 2 cm thick discs. Place the discs on the baking sheet and bake until puffy and golden, about 12 minutes.
5. When the shortcakes are done, transfer them on a wire rack and let cool.