Strawberry Shortcake - Heirloom Recipes

by Lauri Griffin | More from this Blogger

19 Apr 2007 07:51 PM

One of our favorite family desserts is Strawberry Shortcake. We make it the old-fashioned way. The cakes actually look more like biscuits, and are truly just sweetened biscuit dough. I love knowing that my great grandmother made this same dessert for her family, and maybe she even had it as a child. I love that by eating this yummy dessert, we are passing on family heritage. And I love teaching my children to make a family recipe. Someday, maybe, they will tell their children that their great-great grandmother made this for her family.

Here are some interesting facts about strawberries to share with your kids. Did you know that strawberries have been around a long time? They were documented in Italy as early as 234 B.C. And some of the first European settlers to North America found wild strawberries growing in Virginia, too.

You want to cut up several cups of strawberries. Kids love to wash the pretty red berries. Buy a few extra so they can eat a few. A child who is okay with a knife can help hull and slice the berries too. We like to put a couple of tablespoons of sugar on the berries and let them sit to get juicy.

The recipe: Take two cups of white flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt and mix in a large bowl. Cut in ½ cup butter. (I use the pastry attachment on my mixer, but I have shown the kids how to use a pastry cutter). Add ¾ of whole milk. Stir. (Kids love to stir, but explain that biscuit dough doesn't like to be stirred hard, it likes to be barely mixed). Knead the dough a couple of times until it's workable. Let the kids pat out the dough to about ¾ of an inch thick and cut with a large biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass. Bake a lightly greased cookie sheet for 10 to 12 minutes at 450 degrees F until they are barely brown.

Split the cakes, spoon strawberries on the bottom cake, add a dollop of whipped cream, and stack on the top. If you want to be very fancy, add a tiny dollop of cream to the top and place a sliced strawberry or two on top. That's another good job for your kitchen helpers.

I know you and your family will enjoy this taste of spring and very old-fashioned dessert. And be sure to pass on your own heirloom recipes. I'd love to hear about them!

Different Recipes:

Strawberry Shortcake (a different recipe)

Simply Sensational Strawberry Shortcake

More on Cooking With Kids: Cooking With Kids

Letting Toddlers Cook

Learn more about Lauri Griffin

Lauri lives in Colorado with her husband and three sons. Amidst all the laundry and packing of lunches, she tries to keep parenting fun.

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