Howdy,
I am still on a cherry kick. Picking 10 pounds of cherries, I have a lot of recipes to come up with. Though I am happy to say that they are pretty close to being gone. I have about 2 more pounds left. Not to bad. I just love cherry season. It’s the sign of summer, though you wouldn’t know it here in California. It’s been weird weather. We got a heck of a rain storm on Saturday and the wind has been crazy, plus we went from 90 degrees to 68 the next day. Crazy weird weather. Anyway, today I made for you one of my favorite desserts of all time, next to Angel Food Cake which is my Cherry Shortcake.
This Shortcake is amazing. Plump, sweet juicy cherries on a fresh homemade biscuit, topped with homemade whipped cream. So good. I didn’t add that much sugar to the recipe because I am not an overly sweet person, unless it comes to chocolate. The recipe is such a breeze to make too. I had it all together in under 30 minutes. Not to shabby.
I started out by making my biscuits. I love making biscuits. For some odd reason I get pure enjoyment making them and oddly enough I find it relaxing. The biscuits are made with simple ingredients; flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, butter and non-fat milk. I used my new pastry blender to break the butter into the flour mixture. I felt like a chef. I normally use my hands. I went light on the sugar and using non-fat milk helps with the fat content and calories. Once I made my dough, I just plopped it on a baking sheet and baked in the oven. They turned out light and fluffy. I have to admit I think they are the perfect biscuit.
While the biscuits were baking, I made the cherry sauce. I took 4 cups of pitted cherries and added a pinch of almond extract, 2 tablespoons of sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch and heated it in a skillet until it was thick and juicy. About 5 minutes or so. I could eat the cherries with a spoon. And you know what? I did. he he
When everything was cooling I made my homemade whip cream. I used Trader Joe’s whipping cream. I just beat it until it was light and fluffy. I didn’t add any sugar, but you could if you wanted too.
I put everything together in a snap. My Husband was patiently waiting. This was our Sunday breakfast. Well I look at it this way, you have fresh fruit, a biscuit, which is like toast, ok not really and just a dollop of whip cream. It’s kind of like breakfast? I just did a nice simple layer of cherries and whip cream over my biscuit. Yummy!
- 2 cups flour
- 4 tsp. baking powder
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 4 tbsp. butter, unsalted, chilled
- 1 cup non-fat milk
- 4 cups cherries, pitted, cut in half if big
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 8 fl. oz. heavy whipping cream
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl, add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; mix until combined. Cut in chilled butter until it forms course crumbs. Mix in milk until a dough forms, and pulls from the side of the bowl.
- Evenly drop 8 mounds of batter onto baking sheet. Place in oven and cook for 10 - 12 minutes, until lightly brown. Let cool on baking sheet for two minutes then remove to a cooling rack.
- While biscuits are cooling, in a large skillet over medium low heat, add cherries, almond extract, lemon juice, 2 tbsp. sugar and cornstarch. Stir constantly until thick and bubbly; about 5-8 minutes. Let cool.
- In a bowl, beat together the whipping cream (add 1 tbsp. of sugar if desired) until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Put the shortcake together, by topping shortcake with cherries and add a dollop of whipping cream. Another option is you can cut the shortcake in half, horizontally, add cherries and whip cream, to half the biscuit; top with other half of biscuit on top to make a sandwich. Top with more cherries and whipping cream if desired.
I am drooling as we speak. Such a perfect dessert for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. You can make everything in advance and serve it up at your next BBQ. I would just warm up the biscuits again before serving so they crisp up a bit. Biscuits are best the day you make it, but warmed in the oven they taste just as good.
Have a great day!
Toodles,
Jennifer
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Feel free to leave a comment :)