Berry Nice

A few weeks ago, I was invited by two of my lovely coworkers to go berry picking on Sauvie Island, one of Portland's main attractions....and somewhere I have never been in my six glorious years of living here. Weird, right? At least that's what I'm told. I was unfortunately not able to join them due to an early shift after a late night, but one of the girls was kind enough to share some of her loot with me. This particular morning was right at the onslaught of Portland's first heatwave of the summer, and the berries reflected that marvelously- they tasted as if they had been warmed through by the sun.

Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries....oh, my my my.

I confess: I let the berries sit around in my fridge for far too long. They were like a tupperware treasure chest full of the most gorgeous jewels in all the world that greeted me with their luminous, rich colors every time i opened the door. I became quite attached to them. So i kept them around for a week or so.

Eventually I snapped to reality and realized that the reason the berries had been sitting around for so long is actually because I was being a lazy and neglectful home cook. A lazy, neglectful home cook who overthinks and over-engineers every recipe in her head, cataloging and considering every single possibility that a berry holds. I didn't have enough for jam. A cake seemed like it would shut the berries up too much, and what a shame that would be. Pavlova crossed my mind several times. I was very drawn to the idea of using them for popsicles, but I have no molds, and dixie cups seemed a little too....unfancy. And so, the berries sat.

And sat.

Until I discovered that they were over-ripening before my very eyes. Not only that, but my window of time to return the tupperware containers to their owner and still remain a responsible adult in her eyes seemed to be closing. I'm only in my mid twenties so I'm still learning the Rules of Borrowed Tupperware and Serving Plates, but let's just call it a hunch.

Something had to be done, and fast.

So I made a batch of shortcakes, a recipe that has been in my repertoire since last summer. They're pretty killer... nearly foolproof, quite adaptable, cute looking, perfectly fine on their own or toasted with some jam, and just plain scrumptious.

To say that these shortcakes are "pretty killer" might be a little too modest. In the interest of communicating just how good they are, let me just say this: shortly after I made them last summer, in a game of charades where the character Strawberry Shortcake was written on the slip my friend Joey pulled, he pointed to me in an attempt to help his team guess the answer. And it worked.

What makes these this recipe especially outstanding is the abundance of cream and butter called for...what you get is more of a biscuit than a cake, and the pebbly-yet-sturdy crumb structure holds up to the addition of whipped cream and juicy berries terrifically. I found the recipe on the blog Honey & Jam. It looked lovely right off the bat, just like the rest of her blog, which is bursting at the seams with honest and inviting recipes. The only adaptation I made was swapping part of the sugar called for for Swedish pearl sugar. It's a lovely little droplet of snowy white sugar that- get this- doesn't melt when it comes into contact with liquids. It stays intact and therefore lends a lovely little crunch to whatever you use it in. Belgian pearl sugar has a larger grain, if you will, and is used in Belgian-style waffles and though I have never had the pleasure of sampling one in the country of origin, it's a pretty unreal experience to eat a waffle that is at once fluffy and crunchy because of SUGAR. These shortcakes share that property, and in my mind, that is what makes them extra special. I found the pearl sugar in my local specialty grocery store, but it's also sold at Sur La Table and online at Lar's Own, which is the brand of the stuff.

These shortcakes would also be great with any fruit you have on hand. I'm planning on picking up some stone fruits from the Farmer's Market later today, and I bet they would be delightful with roasted pears in the Fall, maybe using partial whole wheat flour or cornmeal to add a more rustic, autumnal flavor. A note on the flavor of these shortcakes....due to the whopping 2 Tablespoons of baking powder used to leaven the dough, the finished product does have an ever-so-slight tangy, mineral taste. While this is by no means a bad thing, it does pique my interest in using a blend of different flours to see what other flavor profiles I can achieve. If any of you experiment with this, please let me know! I will do the same for you. Promise.

Pearl Sugar Shortcakes with Mixed Berries

adapted from Honey & Jam

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons Swedish pearl sugar

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and sugars together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter, and toss to coat the pieces of butter with the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is evenly distributed and the mixture resembles very coarse cornmeal.

Pour the cold cream over the flour and butter mixture and toss gently until all ingredients are incorporated. The dough should be very soft, and be careful not to over mix...this will toughen the shortcakes. That being said, a few dry or crumbly spots in the dough are perfectly fine.

Using a measuring cup or an ice cream scoop, divide the dough into 1/3c portions. Space about 3 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and pat down gently until each mound of dough is about 3/4 to 1 inch high.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the shortcakes have puffed and deepened in color just a bit. They should yield slightly when pressed gently with your fingertip (or the underside of a small spoon, if you have heat-sensitive fingertips). Allow to cool.

To make the berry-or-whatever-kind-of-fruit-mixture, just cut the fruit into bite-size pieces (if necessary), and sprinkle with as much sugar as desired. The point of the sugar is both to draw out some of the fruit's natural juices and to add any sweetness the fruit may lack, so use your own judgement here, even if it's just a tiny bit. I used about 1 Tablespoon to 1lb of mixed berries. I should also note that the 1lb of berries was enough for about 6-8 servings, whereas the shortcake recipe yields 16 cakes. Which is to say, you're gonna need more than a pound of fruit to accommodate the whole batch of shortcakes. But don't worry, they store wonderfully in a zip lock bag or any airtight container.

Also, please please please make your own whipped cream for this occasion. The store-bought stuff is just plain not worthy. It takes mere moments to whip up, tastes way better (in my opinion) and will even keep in your fridge for a few days. I used about 1 cup of cream, 1 Tablespoon of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I came out with just enough for the aforementioned 6-8 servings with this ratio, so if you're feeding a crowd or want to have extra around for the rest of the cakes, double or triple the amounts to your liking. I am certain this dessert would also be wonderful with ice cream, though I haven't tried it that way....yet.

To serve, cut the shortcakes in half crosswise, and dollop whipped cream on the bottom half, creating a little indentation with your spoon for the berries to nestle in. Spoon berries into/over whipped cream and top with the remaining half of the shortcake. At this point, I like to drizzle a little bit of the juice from the berries on top of the whole thing.