Lemon Poppy Seed Shortcakes

I made a cake for Easter.

I made a cake and I messed it up. I put room temperature butter in at the beginning instead of melted butter at the end. The batter looked like cookie dough and baked up all flat-like. I mean, it wasn’t gross, but it was ugly. There was even a point where I was standing there looking blankly out the window holding half of one of the flat layers in my hand taking bites out of it and thinking about how I didn’t have a dessert to bring to Easter. Shucks!

So that’s how these shortcakes happened. I’ve had these guys on my mind for awhile, and after the cake debacle I knew I needed to make something I could count on. And I can count on shortcakes. They’re tasty, and perfectly imperfect-looking.

What I’m saying is that these guys are super-good! And all that fruity-goodness and whipped cream make it a lighter dessert, not too heavy at all. So give this a shot! It’s a fun remix to the already awesome original. And sometimes you just need to make a dessert you can count on.

Lemon Poppy Seed Strawberry Shortcake (makes 14)
Recipe adapted from Martha’s shortcakes : this one

Ingredients:

shortcakes –

• 2 (1 lb / 16 oz) containers of strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered*
• 1 cup blueberries, if you want
• 3/4 cup sugar, divided
• zest from 1 lemon, plus more for garnish
• 2 T poppy seeds
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 t baking powder
• 3/4 t salt
• 12 T cold (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into Tablespoons
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large eggs

• 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 t vanilla

* Berries and whipped cream amounts will vary based on how many you’re serving at a time. It makes quite a few so feel free to halve the recipe.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, toss strawberries with 1/4 cup sugar; let sit to bring out their juices. Put in the fridge until time to assemble. Rub the zest from one lemon into the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar.
3. Whisk together zesty sugar, flour, baking powder, and the salt until combined. Add butter, and using a pastry blender or fork incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal but with some pea-size bits of butter remaining.
4. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together 1/2 cup milk and the eggs; pour over flour mixture, and stir until some large clumps begin to form.
5. Pour crumb-y dough onto a clean surface and knead about 7 times, or until dough comes together (like below). Pat dough into a 1-inch high round and cut out using a 2 1/2 inch cutter. Place on the prepared and bake until lightly golden, about 15-18 minutes rotating half way through. Remove from oven when tops are golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 15 minutes.
6. Make whipped cream by beating together the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Beat until soft peaks form when you lift out the beaters.
7. When cooled completely, slice shortcakes in half horizontally. Spoon strawberries and their liquid over bottom halves.  Top with whipped cream, additional lemon zest and a sprinkling of blueberries. Replace top halves of biscuits. Top with another swirl of whip cream and a berry or 2. Assemble just before serving.

Yay! Click HERE for a printable pdf of the recipe above.

Dough f’sho. Starts off crumb-y and ends up pretty good-lookin’.