Strawberries are in season all year long in Santa Barbara, but in late June, they are everywhere! We hear from our friends that markets across the country and across the world are overflowing with them: sweet, bright red, juicy…. whether they’re small wild berries or large Chandlers or Albions, we are crazy about them.
Between us, we have more cookbooks in our collection than we can count; so we thought we would start to incorporate recipes from some of the lesser known ones, starting with this one, adapted from Lori Longbotham’s Luscious Berry Desserts.
Strawberry and Basil Shortcakes
Ingredients
- Berries:
- 2 pints ripe strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons finely shredded fresh basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons sugar, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Biscuits:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
- Strawberry sorbet or vanilla ice cream (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Berries: Stir together the strawberries, basil, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature while you make the biscuits.
- Biscuits: Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. But in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, pour in the buttermilk, and stir with a fork until a dough just begins to form; it will be very sticky.
- On a well-floured surface, knead the dough very lightly once or twice with floured hands. Pat out the dough to ¾ inch thick. Dip a 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter into flour and cut out 8 rounds, being careful to reflour the cutter as necessary but not to twist it or the biscuits will be tough. Gather the scraps together and pat them out again if needed. Transfer the biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool slightly on the pan on a wire rack.
- To serve, split each biscuit with a fork, and place the bottom halves on 8 serving plates. Spoon a generous portion of the berries over each one, if using ice cream or sorbet, put a scoop on the side, then add the tops and serve immediately.
How I miss Santa Barbara strawberries – Chandlers AND Seascapes (my favorites)! When I make these shortcakes for a dinner party, I mix the dry ingredients together the night or morning before and refrigerate. Then I make the biscuits at the last minute so they’re warm when served. I put them on a rack on a tray in the warming oven until I’m ready to serve them.
Thanx for the idea of pairing them with basil, I’ll have to try that.
You guys are “The Berries”! (couldn’t help myself)
Patty C.
Love the idea of preparing the biscuits in advance. Thanks for a great tip, Patty, and as always, for your encouragement and support!
I always thought that the only place strawberries would bloom all the time would be in heaven! You guys are so lucky to have such wonderful weather. Berry season is over on the east coast, but I think that the basil sounds like a divine addition to a yummy dessert.
Blueberries over too? Well then, only thing to do is hold the strawberries, keep the basil and add pasta! 🙂