Strawberry Shortcake / Plum Cobbler

From the book The Basic Gourmet by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, Kathleen Taggart, and Georgia Vareldzis

Ingredients

Biscuits

Whipped Cream

Steps

Strawberry Shortcake

1. With a sharp paring knife, remove the hulls from strawberries. Cut berries in half (or in quarters if they are large) and place them in a medium bowl. Warm strawberry preserves in a small saucepan or in the microwave until melted. Pour melted preserves over berries and stir gently with a rubber spatula to blend. Preferably do this several hours in advance so the berries render a bit of juice. Cover and refrigerate the berries. Pull from the refrigerator about an hour before serving.
2. Preheat oven to 450°F. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into small pieces (about the size of a whole almond) and drop into the bowl. Working quickly, blend butter into flour with your fingertips until it is the texture of coarse meal. In a small bowl, mix together egg and milk with a small fork. With the same fork blend the egg mixture into flour and stir until all the moisture is absorbed. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface (a smooth, clean kitchen counter is fine). Pat the dough into a circle ½ to ¾ inches thick. Cut the biscuits with a 3-inch round cookie cutter and place them on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until nicely brown, 12 to 14 minutes.
3. Not long before serving, lightly whip cream with sugar in a medium bowl using an electric mixer. Whip until you just begin to see the marks of the beaters in the cream. To serve, split each hot biscuit in half, top with a generous tablespoonful of berries. Top with the other half of the biscuit, more berries, and then a large dollop of whipped cream (or as much as your conscience will allow). Serve immediately before biscuits get soggy.

Plum Cobbler

1. These biscuits can be used to top any number of cobblers. For a plum cobbler, use 2 pounds of ripe plums. Cut each into eighths and place in a large mixing bowl. Toss with 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Place this mixture in a 2-quart baking dish. Top with the biscuits, overlapping a bit if necessary. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven until the biscuits are brown and the plums are bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serves 6.

Notes

• The biscuits can be made and baked ahead of time. Reheat gently in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes. They may also be frozen, well wrapped, for a month. Bring to room temperature and then reheat as suggested above.

This content is from the book The Basic Gourmet by Diane Morgan, Dan Taggart, Kathleen Taggart, and Georgia Vareldzis.