Bright-red, fragrant, juicy strawberries make mini strawberry shortcake the quintessential springtime dessert.
Instructions
1
Macerate the strawberries
2
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Mash or slice the strawberries, and place them in a large bowl. Mix in 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Set the bowl aside, letting the sugar draw out the berries' juices. Editor's Tip: What is maceration? It's when you add a few ingredients to help draw out the juices and add sweetness to the fruit. You can use vinegar, liqueur, wine, fruit juice or, as in this recipe, sugar to macerate strawberries and other fruit.
3
Mix the dough
4
In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Cut in the butter just until the mixture becomes crumbly. In a small bowl, beat the egg and milk. Gradually stir the liquid into the flour mixture until moistened. Editor's Tip: Many bakers use a pastry blender to cut in butter, but two knives or forks can achieve the same result—small chips of flour-coated butter. You can even use your fingertips, but that could warm the butter too much while you work it into the flour. To avoid the butter getting too warm in general, refrigerate the cubed butter, flour and bowl until cold.
5
Bake the shortcake
6
Fill eight greased muffin cups two-thirds full with the shortcake dough. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. Remove each shortcake from the pan to cool on a wire rack.
7
Build the layers
8
Just before serving, split the shortcakes in half horizontally. Spoon the berries and whipped cream between the layers and over the top of each shortcake.
