HOME TOUR

Yesterday my friend and I gathered up our six littles and tried a new-to-us farm, Tougas Family Farm in Northboro. We were hoping for some excellent strawberry picking. It was a relatively easy, 40 minute drive with ample parking and amenities. Farm store, playground, animals and a lovely farm over some rolling hills. Scroll below for my Strawberry Shortcake Recipe.

We picked quite a few strawberries and then I purchased more in the farm store. I was hoping for a bunch to wash and freeze in our favorite, non-plastic bags. After watching The Plastic Detox on Netflix, I’m trying to hone in on where we get exposure to microplastics. And all those frozen fruit bags I buy for my kiddos smoothies is a big one for us. I figured if I spent more on local agriculture and froze berries myself I could cut down on exposure. Plus it is a fun summer activity with kiddos. So we came home with A LOT!

FAVORITE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

For the Shortcake

2 1/2 C All-Purpose Flour

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 C Granulated Sugar

6 Tbsp Cold Unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces

1 Large Egg

1/2 C + 2 Tbsp Oat Milk (Whole Milk and Half and Half work well too), add more if needed to pull the dough together

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

For the Strawberries

2 Pints Fresh Ripe Strawberries

Zest of a Lemon, Squeeze of Juice to taste

1/2 C Powdered Sugar

DIRECTIONS

Start by washing and cutting up your strawberries. Place them in a bowl and top with powdered sugar, lemon zest, a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice and stir to combine. You’re going to let them sit and get juicier and delicious while you make the shortcake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients: all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar and stir to mix. Add in the pieces of butter and using a pastry cutter, mix into the dry ingredients until you’ve got pea-sized pieces of butter. In a liquid measuring cup, measure out your milk (we use oat milk but any will do). Add your egg to the milk and whisk until combine. Add your vanilla extract and dump liquid mixture over the dry ingredients. Mix until combine, if it’s too dry add a bit more milk, and turn out onto lightly floured counter.

I turn my dough 4 times which creates a nice fluffy, layered shortcake when it bakes. This is simply patting out the dough until it is roughly 2-3 inches thick and folding it in half. Pat it out again to the same thickness and fold it in half again. Repeat two more times. Pat it out into a rectangle, roughly 2 inches thick and using a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter, cut out shortcake.

Place on lined baking sheet, I use my Silpat liner but parchment paper works too. Brush with a little milk and sprinkle generously with granulated sugar. Bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly golden brown.

We either make homemade whipping cream (simply heavy cream, a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and vanilla extract whipped until fluffy) or Trader Joe’s Vanilla Ice Cream. Or both if you’re really in the mood!

Assemble your shortcake by simply breaking the shortcake in half, topping with strawberries, a scoop of ice cream and/or a dollop of whipping cream.

This Strawberry Shortcake is delicious and the perfect summertime treat! And a lovely reward after picking so many strawberries! Enjoy!