Shortcakes for Strawberries and Other Fruit

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 mashed hard-cooked large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly butter a baking sheet.

Sift the flour, 1/4 cup of the sugar, and the baking powder into a bowl. Add the butter pieces. Using your fingertips, work the butter quickly and lightly into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of very fine crumbs or sand. Add the cream and egg yolks and stir with a fork until the dough just holds together.

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead briefly, just until it forms a smooth dough. Do not overwork. Pat or roll out the dough to a thickness of 3/4 inch. Using a floured 2 1/2- or 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 4 rounds of dough. Gather up dough scraps, reroll, and cut out 2 more rounds.

Put the rounds on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and firm to the touch.

Transfer the biscuits to a rack and let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before splitting and serving with berries and fresh whipped cream.

This recipe comes from the An American Place cookbook by Larry Forgione. It is my favorite recipe for biscuits to have with strawberry (or any berry or fruit) shortcake. The biscuits are best day of but are ok the next day too. Day three, not so much. I suppose you could try freezing them, but leaving them out, they just turned too mushy.

from Megnut