Recipe of Today: Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:

• 2 pints ripe strawberries
• ½ cup sugar
• 4 cups flour
• 3 tbsps sugar
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 5 tsps baking powder
• 1 ¼ cups butter
• 3 cups whipping cream
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Rinse and stem the strawberries. Cut in half or slices according to their sizes. Gently crush about a quarter of the strawberries with a fork to release their juices. Mix with remaining strawberries and ½ cup sugar, adding more sugar if necessary. Set aside, covered, for about half an hour for the flavors to develop.

• Preheat oven to 450°F.

• Sift together the flour, 3 tbsps sugar, sea salt, and baking powder in the mixing bowl of your Kitchenin KM50 Stand Mixer. Add ¾ cup softened butter and knead into the dry ingredients as you would for a pastry. Add 1 ¼ cups cream and mix to form a soft dough. Knead dough for a minute on a lightly floured pastry board, then roll it out to about ½-inch thick. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out an even number of rounds - 2 rounds per serving.

• Grease a baking sheet with a little of the butter. Put half of the rounds on it. Melt the remaining butter and brush a little on the rounds; place the remaining rounds on top. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

• Remove from the oven, and pull the shortcakes apart. Brush the inside with some leftover melted butter.

• Whip the remaining cream with Kitchenin KM50 Stand Mixer until thickened. Then add vanilla extract and beat once more until thickened.

• Place the bottom half of a shortcake on each plate. Top with one tbsp of strawberries. Cover the top half, add some more strawberries, and top with whipped cream. Serve immediately and enjoy!