Spiced strawberry shortcakes

Strawberry season has arrived

My wife made this dessert for our eighth wedding anniversary.

Strawberries

• 2 pints fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, halved
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp rose water
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom

Shortcakes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Whipped cream

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tbsp sugar

For strawberries mix all ingredients and refrigerate, stir occasionally.  For shortcakes, preheat oven to 400 and grease baking sheet. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add butter, using a fork or pastry blender cut the butter into the dry mix until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir in milk and cream until a soft dough is formed. Don’t overdo it. Drop dough in six equal portions onto the baking sheet. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Cool on rack. For whipped cream, beat sugar and cream with mixer until soft peaks form. To assemble, cut shortcakes in half. Top each shortcake with a scoop of berries and a spoonful of whipped cream. Cover the top with the other half of the shortcake. Spoon berries and juice over the top and finish with another scoop of whipped cream.

On another note a number of great food blogs have been featuring some tasty strawberry recipes. The Baker’s Laboratory recently featured strawberry shortcake parfaits and ramekin strawberry cobbler. And check out the strawberry pizza over at The Boogie Blog.