Homemade Strawberry Shortcake

What's better to eat in the summer than homemade strawberry shortcake with homemade whipped cream? If you're sans a hand or stand mixer like I am, there's no harm in saving your hands and buying whipped cream from the store (Whole Food's in-store whipped cream is particularly good).

Strawberries (cleaned and sliced/quartered)

1/4-1/2 cup sugar

Short Cake

-3/4 cup of cold butter

-3 cups AP flour

-1/4 cup sugar

-1/2 tsp salt

-5 tsp baking soda

**If using self-rising flour, omit salt and baking soda.

Whipped Cream

1 1/2 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1/4-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

I don't have a hand or stand beater, so I use a metal whisk and metal bowl to make whipped cream---both chilled in the freezer while I made the strawberries and shortcakes.

Clean and dice the strawberries, add sugar and cover. Set in the fridge while preparing the rest of the recipe.

Preheat oven to 425-450.

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. Cut butter into the flour until well incorporated. Add cream and stir. The dough will start to form and become hard to stir, at this point you will want to use your hands and briefly knead the dough together.

Remove the dough (or sections of the dough) to a lightly floured surface and roll out to 1/4-1/2" thick. Use a circle cutter to cut out biscuits and place on a greased cookie sheet. Add melted butter to the tops of the biscuits.

Bake 12-18 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Remove and let cool.

I have never really been a big fan of whipped cream, particularly the crap that comes out on a canister. As an adult though, I have learned to appreciate well made whipped cream from scratch. It's a lot easier to make whipped cream than you might imagine and also has a lot of customizable potential. For instance, you can sub out vanilla extract for another extract flavor or other ingredients that lend flavor to the whipped cream.

Pre-chill your metal bowl and whisk. While the shortcakes are baking, pour the whipping cream, sugar and extract into the bowl and begin whisking. It can take around 5 minutes for the cream to begin to thicken and you'll likely want to throw it out and start all over several times, but keep at it. Take brief breaks, no longer than a few seconds, when needed, and continue whisking until soft peaks begin to form.

The whipped cream can go into the fridge until needed, but will likely need another quick whisk before topping off your shortcakes.

When your biscuits are ready, top with the strawberries and whipped cream. The biscuits will stay good for several days if stored in an airtight container.