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Fruit: Strawberry-Orange Shortcake

Source of Recipe

Claduia Fleming


Recipe Introduction

Instead of being like a biscuit, this recipe resembles shortbread: very tender, buttery and not too sweet. This recipe has been adapted from one in Claudia Fleming's fabulous book, "The Last Course" (Random House, 2001). Fleming served for years as the pastry chef at Danny Meyer's Gramercy Tavern in New York and won "outstanding pastry chef" from the James Beard Foundation in 2000.

List of Ingredients

Orange shortbread:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus more for garnish
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons grated orange zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Strawberries:

1 quart strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons honey





Recipe

To make shortbread, combine butter and sugar and beat until well-blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and orange zest. Beat well. Beat in the flour and salt until well-combined. Form the dough into a disc about 1 inch thick, wrap in plastic and chill 3 hours or freeze up to 2 weeks (thaw in refrigerator).

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Roll the dough between plastic wrap or waxed paper into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut the pastry into 12 rounds. Put them on an ungreased baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

Hull berries. Cut up half the berries. Combine them with sugar in a bowl. Let them stand for 20 minutes, then puree them in a blender. Cut up remaining berries and combine with puree.

Beat cream with honey until it forms soft peaks.

For each serving, place a spoonful of cream on a plate, spreading it into a 3-inch round. Cover the round with some strawberries, then a wafer, then more cream, then more berries, then a wafer. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Serves 6.

Nutritional information per serving: 675 calories, 46 grams fat, 6 grams protein, 61 grams carbohydrate, 3 grams fiber.