Strawberry Shortcake

It was Devin's Grandpa's birthday yesterday and I volunteered to make dessert! I don't know what it is about making something sweet, but I love it. I have wanted to make Strawberry Shortcake with scones instead of angel food cake and yesterday was the day!!! I found awesome strawberries at Walmart and made the scones from scratch! I found this recipe on joyofbaking.com. It turned out wonderfully. This recipe was so easy as well. I had my my niece and nephew help me mix and cut the scone dough. We all had fun! 

Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients

Scones:

2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup (76 grams) cold unsalted butter

1 large egg,

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) cream, half and half, or milk

Filling:

2 pounds (900 grams) fresh strawberries

1/4 cup - 1/3 cup (50 - 65 grams) granulated white sugar(or to taste) ***

Topping:

1 cup (240 ml) cold heavy whipping cream (double cream) (35-40% butterfat)

1 - 2 tablespoons (15-30 grams) granulated white sugar (or to taste) ***

Directions:

Scones: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven.  Line a cookiesheet with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.  Whisk together the egg, cream and vanilla extract and add to the flour mixture, mixing just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat or roll the dough into a 7 inch (18 cm) round. With a 3 inch (7 cm) round cookie cutter, cut out rounds and place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with a little cream. Bake for about 15 -20 minutesor until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. Transfer to a wirerack.

Filling: Wash, hull, and slice the strawberries. Place about one third of the strawberries in a large bowl and crush them with a potato masher or fork. Add the remaining sliced strawberries, along with the sugar. (The amount of sugar used will depend on how sweet the berries are.) Set aside to macerate at room temperature for about 30 to 60 minutes.

Whipped Cream: Chill the bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 15 - 30 minutes. Place the cream and sugar in the bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. The whipped cream can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for a few hours.

To serve: Cut the scones in half and place the bottom half of the scone (soft side up) on a dessert plate. Top with some of the strawberries and whipped cream. Place the top half of the scone on the strawberries. Top with whipped cream and a few more strawberries. If there is any juice from the strawberries, drizzle a little over the top of the scone. Serve immediately.

Serves about 6-8 people.

***I did make a few changes to the sugar levels. I put in two tablespoons of sugar in the sliced strawberries. I put in a 1/4 cup of sugar into the whipping cream and added a touch of vanilla. But put as much sugar as you think needs to be added. Make it the sweetness you like. 

Caprese Salad

In April, my uncle made this awesome italian salad/side dish. So I decided that we would make it. It is so simple and so tasty! My brother in law served a two-year mission for the LDS church in Italy, and it reminds me of him! I am sure he would enjoy it. The ingredients are as follows:

Caprese Salad

Mozzarella Cheese

Tomatoes

Fresh Basil

Olive Oil 

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

You want a soft mozzarella for this dish (preferably one in a long roll) and slice it up. (Into as many circles as you want) Then slice the tomatoes as thin or as thick as you would like. The basil is torn up into same size pieces as the tomatoes.  Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over each piece. End it with some salt and fresh ground pepper. It is such a simple recipe and it can be made however you desire it. With as much or as little amount of each ingredient! 

I bought the mozzarella and tomatoes at Costco! So if live nearby a Costco, go pick some up! ;) The mozzarella comes 2 to a package. It is a perfect and light salad for summer! I hope you all enjoy! 

A Summer Treat- Lemon Lime Cupcakes

One of the main reasons I decided to start this blog was to document the fun memories with cooking and baking. I plan on using these recipes to create fun memories with all of my family; especially, my children. I hope that when they are older they will look back at these recipes and have fond memories.

My husband has a little business where he makes videos for companies, family, and friends. So, we together made a little cooking video featuring this recipe.  It was a lot of fun and look forward to creating a few more down the road. :)



*Thank you to Canadian Living Magazine for the recipe
Lemon Lime Cupcakes
1/2 C. unsalted butter
3/4 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 T. grated lemon or lime zest
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 C. milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. In a large bowl, beat butter with granulated sugar until fluffy. Add in eggs 1 at a time. Then add in lemon and lime zest and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix into butter mixture alternately with milk. Spoon into cupcake liners or cups. Bake cupcakes for 20 to 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let them cool before frosting.

 Lime (Or Lemon) Buttercream
1 stick of butter
2 C. confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 T. fresh lime juice
1/2 T. fresh lime zest

Directions:

Using a mixer, beat the butter until it is nice and fluffy. Ad in the confectioner's sugar and vanilla, continue to mix till smooth. Wash the lime and zest the whole lime using the zester. Mix the lime zest with the buttercream. Cut the lime in half and squeeze out the lime juice. Add the lime juice with the buttercream and mix well.

** If you want a Lemon Buttercream, just substitue the lime ingredients for the lemon.