WEEK 2: YOUR BEST STRAWBERRY RECIPE
Strawberries with Lavender Biscuits
Photography by Sarah Shatz
BY SARA | SERVES 8
A&M: This dessert is a clever riff on strawberry shortcake. The biscuits contain whole wheat flour, but you won’t believe how feathery and tender they are. Sara said: “The strawberries are from the farmers’ market and stay pretty much unadulterated. You can adjust the sweetness factor to your specific batch of berries and taste!”
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
4 to 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lavender flowers (or ½ tablespoon dried)
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing
Turbinado or raw sugar
2 quarts small fresh strawberries
6 to 8 tablespoons crème fraîche
Fresh mint sprigs and lavender flowers, for garnish
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Combine the flours, 2 tablespoons of the light brown sugar, the baking powder, salt, and lavender flowers in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple of times to mix. Drop in the butter, one tablespoon at a time, while pulsing. Mix until the dough resembles coarse meal. Slowly add the cream, pulsing, until just incorporated. (The dough will be tacky.) Drop 8 large scoops of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush the tops with a bit of heavy cream, sprinkle with a little turbinado sugar, and bake for 18 to 20 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.
- While the biscuits are baking, prepare the strawberries. Rinse the berries and stem and hull them. (I usually cut them in half because they are small to begin with.) Toss the berries with a few tablespoons of brown sugar—this part is a matter of taste. Try not to handle the berries too much—you don’t want to mush them, but you do want their natural juices to come out. That’s it.
- Now it’s time to assemble. Cut your biscuits in half. Lay the bottom of the biscuit in a bowl and spoon some berries and their juices over the biscuit. Add a dollop of crème fraîche (this too can be sweetened a little, depending on personal taste—I like the sourness) and top with the other half of the biscuit. I like to garnish with some fresh mint and a lavender flower.
Photography by Sarah Shatz
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
Sara added that the biscuits “can morph into many forms—used for sweet or savory dishes. I’ve also shaped them like scones and passed them off that way.”
If you can’t find lavender, substitute an equal amount of fresh thyme.
ABOUT THE COOK
Sara is a food and health counselor and chef. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet cooking school in New York City, she lives in Brooklyn.
Her favorite cookbook: “The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver.”