Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Tongue-tied



I'm probably dating myself, but who else had a Strawberry Shortcake doll (when they were first popular)?  I had Strawberry and Apple Dumplin'.  My sisters had various other dolls.  Brianna doesn't have any of the dolls, but she has a number of Strawberry Shortcake books.  They're a parent's worst nightmare.  Don't believe me?  Then you try reading one aloud some time! =)  Here's a sample:

"When Strawberry Shortcake visits Seaberry Beach, she daydreams about a little mermaid named Pearlberry who wants to live on land more than anything in the world.  A Berry Fairy offers to make Pearlberry's wish come true--but only if Pearlberry promises to leave her home in the ocean forever."

Lots of berry this and berry that, and crazy character names.  And these things are long!  It makes me tired just thinking about it.  All I have to say is, thank goodness Brianna can now read them for herself.  And she actually enjoys reading to Gillian, too, which is good for both of them.  Not to mention it gets me off the hook at least some of the time. =)

Now one strawberry shortcake I don't have any trouble talking about is the one we made for Tuesdays with Dorie this week.  My awesome and funny blogging friend, Cathy of The Tortefeasor, picked Tender Shortcakes for us this week.  It's a wonderful choice for this time of year, with lots of fresh berries in the stores.


Several people noted on the P and Q that Dorie’s shortcakes must have been rather large, and that they reduced the recipe. I decided to cut it in half. One thing I’ve been doing recently is converting all my measurements to grams; it’s easier when measuring and adjusting recipe yields, since I don’t have to bother with fractions. I realized last weekend that I’ve finally gotten reasonably comfortable with metric measurements--I was watching a baking show on the Cooking Channel that used grams, and the measurements actually made sense to me. So what I ended up with was:

270g (2 cups) all-purpose flour (King Arthur)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspooon table salt
42g (3 tablespoons) vanilla sugar
85g (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
170g (6oz) cold heavy cream

Shortcakes are basically biscuits, so they were quick to make. You whisk together the dry ingredients, then rub in the butter (I did it by hand; you could also do the whole thing in the food processor if you want), then add the cream and stir with a fork until the dough starts to come together. Then you knead it just a bit to bring it together the rest of the way. I used my #16 scoop (1/4 cup) to divide up the dough and ended up with 9 shortcakes.  I baked them for 14 minutes.

The only change I really made to the recipe (other than reducing it) was to substitute vanilla sugar for the granulated sugar. I love Dorie’s direction to rub citrus zest into sugar and have taken to doing that with vanilla beans as well. A few weeks back I did that with some sugar and then realized that I didn’t need it for a recipe. So I had a bunch of vanilla sugar on hand. I put some in the shortcakes, sprinkled some over the cut up strawberries, and used some to sweeten the whipped cream.


The verdict? Wow. This was a fabulous dessert. The shortcakes ended up being the perfect size. As several people commented, the biscuits are tasty enough to eat on their own, though the fruit and cream didn’t hurt. =) Mine didn’t taste strongly of vanilla, but it was a subtle presence in the dessert that was quite good. Everyone’s plates were quickly cleaned.

For the full recipe, head over to Cathy’s blog (plus she writes the most entertaining posts!). And be sure to check out the Leave Your Links page to see what everyone else thought of this week’s recipe.



22 comments:

  1. My girls had Strawberry ShortCake Dolls. Too cute! But stay away from the storybooks. This was a great dessert. We loved it. Thanks for the cookie scoop idea. I will use it next time. I know it's not rocket science but I learn so much as I read TWD blogs. Thanks

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  2. Isn't it wonderful that so many people had such success and liked these. Yours are pretty, to top it off.

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  3. I'll admit to having a strawberry shortcake doll! I loved the way it smelled! I also caught that same baking show over the weekend! Those cooking students creaming butter and sugar by hand was crazy. I'll stick with my kitchenaid! Your shortcake looks wonderful!

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  4. These look scrumptious. You did a great job with the challenge. The recipes you feature keep me coming back. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  5. Pretty, pretty! I had a Strawberry Shortcake doll, too. But no books...it sounds like those could wear a person out! Your shortcakes look delicious!

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  6. They look so good and I really want more now!

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  7. Vanilla sugar is such a great idea, Di! I was actually too old for Strawberry Shortcake dolls and you're making me glad I was. Your shortcakes look absolutely perfect!

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  8. I had a strawberry shortcake doll!! Your shortcakes look perfect and delicious!! Yum!

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  9. Your shortcakes and berries look fantastic! I'm dating myself, but I think I am too old to have had a Strawberry Shortcake doll! I did get talked into reading one of the books to a grade 1 class, and never again! I was stuttering and stumbling!

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  10. I didn't have a strawberry shortcake doll, but I was the girl pulling heads off Barbies :P Kudos for converting to grams - that way works so much better, doesn't it?

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  11. Hi Di,
    Love your Strawberry Shortcake doll remembrance. I too love the little tasty morsels. They are simply pure and just so comfy. How can you go wrong. I actually halved the recipe too. The ones I put in the freezer overnight came out this morning, baked and went to work with me. My new baker friends loved them. It was a joy to share. The freezer works well.
    AmyRuth

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  12. I don't remember having a Strawberry Shortcake doll but that's not terribly surprising as I have the worst memory ever :) Your shortcakes look really yummy! Sort of makes me wish I hadn't eaten all of mine. I am really intrigued by your idea of converting everything to grams to make it easier to scale recipes. This may be a dumb question, but where are you finding the conversion data?

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  13. Never had the Strawberry Shortcake doll, but I do remember liking her quite a bit. Those books sound painful...similar to all of the Spiderman and Batman books I've been facing lately! Your shortcakes look spectacular!

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  14. Yum! These look absolutely awesome! I had a Strawberry Shortcake doll...and game...and shoes, too, I think! It sounds like I'm pretty lucky that my little one isn't quite old enough to know about Strawberry Shortcake books yet...yet! =)

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  15. I cannot wait to make these (late). I haven't seen anyone yet who didn't like this. Look wonderful.

    I was too old for SB shortcake and My dau didn't like. Lucky me!!!

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  16. Rubbing sugar and vanilla bean together is a wonderful idea I've never heard of before. Love it. Filing away for future use.

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  17. i still remember the way those strawberry shortcake dolls smelled:)

    these are lovely little cakes, aren't they? i bet the vanilla made them extra nice.

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  18. I need to remember to use my vanilla sugar. Great idea to use it in these. They look beautiful.

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  19. i think the doll made a comeback a few yrs ago, but maybe catered more to the nostalgic crowd.

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  20. Hahaha - YES, I had a Strawberry Shortcake doll (and some others whose names are escaping me right now!) And when we traveled to CT last year, my girls found them in my parents' basement, so guess where they are now? I don't think I've seen any of the Strawberry Shortcake books, but they sound like a complete nightmare. Although Elizabeth just got a Zhu Zhu Pets book from the Scholastic Book Club, and they can't be worse than that. (on the subject of kids' books - just an aside. I read to Elizabeth every night for over 5 years, and it never made her remotely sleepy. Now she is starting to read to me, and I zonk out within 20 seconds. It's sad, really.)

    I am SO HAPPY that you and your sweet family loved these, Di!! I have to admit that I didn't expect them to be as great as they were. Yours look perfect!! Thank you so much for baking with me this week, my friend!!

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  21. Sure, go ahead and make a comment about dating yourself with something from the eighties... ...make me feel really old!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_characters_in_1980s_Strawberry_Shortcake

    Lovely food, great pictures, even better memories. The 'cakes are the secret, I think.

    Thanks!

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  22. So happy you all kept on me to make this as I might have not made it without all that encouragement on Twitter. I thought they would be more like biscuits and was surprised that they were more like a butter cookie in taste. YUM. Yours looks fantastic...maybe I should make some again this weekend.

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