Strawberry Shortcake

I know I have kept this a secret, but I have been in mourning for quite some time. I don’t normally get particularly attached to food, but this thing I was attached to. The Strawberry Shortcake at Copeland’s was the one restaurant dessert I loved dearly. And then they stopped making it.

This was not just any Strawberry Shortcake. First, it was huge. Nearly as big around as my head. Yet, I could find a way to eat the entire thing by myself. It was that good. Well, that and Husband and I would grab a burrito or something at Taco Bell, then go have dessert at Copeland’s, me with my beloved shortcake and he with the Mile & A Half High Ice Cream Pie. Second, it was not a spongy, soggy thing, It was sweet and light and crumbly, but not too much. It was almost like a biscuit, but not.

Oh, I tried to find a replacement. I tried to substitute. I even tried to make my own. To no avail. I would even periodically call the restaurant and ask if they’d added it back to their menu or if they secretly still made it and just didn’t advertise it. The response? “No, but we have cheesecake you can put strawberries on.”

Do I even need to explain how that is not the same thing at all?

So, the search has continued. I decided I’d make a pound cake with strawberries and Cool Whip for our Bible Study group last Wednesday. Then on a whim, I thought I would try to use the rest of the buttermilk I had in the fridge and looked on the marvelous Internet for a shortcake recipe.

I was in a time crunch, so I didn’t spend a lot of time looking. I found one in the first few links and it looked simple enough. So I made them.

And this is what they looked like.

Ya’ll. They looked so good. I could only hope they were the biscuity, crumbly sweetness that I was missing. And they totally delivered.

So yummy.

I came home from a baby shower I helped hostess on Saturday with a bunch of fresh fruit – strawberries, kiwi, etc. I seriously contemplated making more just to go with that fruit. But I didn’t have any buttermilk, and didn’t want to go to the store to get some. But today is grocery day. I can pretty much guarantee there will be buttermilk in the cart and some shortcakes in the oven tonight.

The beauty is, you can make them too! Here’s how:

Buttermilk Shortcakes

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder (Yes, a whole tablespoon!)

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter, chilled and cut into pieces

3/4 cup buttermilk (plus maybe a little more)

1 tsp vanilla extract (You could also use Vanilla bean if you have some)

Preheat oven to 400.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Drop the butter in and use a pastry cutter or use your fingers to mix the butter in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla until the dough comes together. Add an additional tablespoon of buttermilk if the dough is slightly dry.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Special thanks to bakingbites.com, for that’s where I found the recipe.

See? Easy. And so good! Give it a try and let me know how it turned out for you!