Look what we had for supper yesterday evening! Amanda made a double-batch of shortcakes to go with our freshly-picked strawberries, while Erica made a bowl of cream cheese whipped cream to glop on top. To complete the red-white-and-blue triumvirate we added some store-bought blueberries. Don’t all the ingredients look delicious, layered together to create a sort of berry cream sandwich?

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Recipe for Red, White & Blueberry Shortcake

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
5 tablespoons sucanat (or granulated sugar)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon half-and-half or whole milk
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
sliced fresh strawberries, sweetened lightly with maple syrup or sugar, if desired
fresh blueberries
Cream Cheese Whipped Cream (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Combine the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sucanat, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Drop the chunks of butter into the flour. Cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal. If you own a large food processor, you can cut down on your prep time by using it to cut the butter into the flour — it only takes about fifteen one-second pulses to sufficiently mix the dough.
2. Mix the beaten egg with the half-and-half. Add to the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until large clumps form. Turn the dough out onto a flour-dusted work surface, and knead gently until it comes together.
3. Use your fingers to pat the dough into 9 by 6-inch rectangle, about 3/4-inch thick. Be gentle with the dough, so the shortcakes won’t turn out tough! Use a 2 3/4-inch biscuit cutter to cut out 6 rounds of dough. Place the rounds on a small cookie sheet, one inch apart. Brush each biscuit with beaten egg white, and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sucanat. At this point, the rounds may be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 hours before baking.
4. Bake the shortcakes for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup maple syrup
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Using an electric beater with whisk attachment, combine cream cheese, maple syrup, and salt at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat until combined, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer running on low speed, add cream in a slow, steady stream. When cream is almost fully combined with the cream cheese, increase the mixer’s speed to medium-high and whisk the ingredients together until the mixture holds soft peaks, 1-2 more minutes.

Both of these recipes are adapted from Cook’s Illustrated — one of my favorite cookbook publishers!