Perfect Shortcake Weather

Today it's hot.  Everyone is saying it's not that bad, because apparently last week when we were in California, we missed the worst heat wave ever, but for me, this is the first super hot day of the year!  That made cooking and baking not seem all that fun, but I did notice when I was cleaning out the refrigerator that we had four containers of strawberries.  This seems to happen to my family a lot.  I think we just automatically grab huge containers of berries whenever we go shopping.  Also strange is that we never do this with blueberries; just strawberries.  Just another weird Tucker thing, I guess.  Anyway, the 4 containers of strawberries, along with the fact that Mom specifically asked for strawberry shortcake the other day, made it pretty easy to decide what to make today.  My mom is a tough critic, and so when she asks for something, it's a good idea to make it.  Plus, strawberry shortcakes are one of my favorite desserts as well.

I went to my blog idol, Annie's Eats, and was happy to see that she had a recipe for berry shortcakes.  She likes to add blueberries to make it more patriotic for the 4th of July, but Mom, being a purist, asked for just strawberries.  The recipe calls for the cakes, a berry sauce, and whipped cream, so I made all three.  The biscuits were pretty easy actually; you mix the ingredients up in a bowl with a fork, make a log out of the dough, and cut  it into 6 shortcakes.  Then the strawberries get chopped, a fourth of them get mashed with a fork, and confectionary sugar is added for just a bit more sweetness.  I also made whipped cream, again with theconfectionary sugar, which I thought was interesting.  We've always just used regular sugar here.  I loved this recipe, and so did Mom.  I will say that if (when) I make it again, I will double or even triple the whipped cream recipe.  It only calls for 1/2 cup of heavy cream, and that is supposed to make enough for 6 shortcakes!?  We only ate 3 cakes and ran out of cream.  It's definitely a keeper recipe, though, and perfect to eat on a hot, steamy June night.

Recipe:
berry shortcakes