Next weekend is the Aspen Food and Wine Festival. We will be going back there again this year with Jena Gardner's Black Book of Travel. Jena's company represents Keyah Grande and she is graciously allowing us to share her table during the morning Grand Tastings on all three days. So if any of our readers will be there please stop by and say hello. Or email us and we'll try to get together in Aspen.
Last year we gave away Vanilla Salt. This year we wanted to do something a little bit different. We opted for a finishing sugar. We took a coarse sugar and infused it with toasted sezchuan peppercorns and cardamom to create Sugar&Spice. It is a wonderfully aromatic sugar and we are using it in many different applications in our kitchen. Most recently we were inspired by gorgeously sweet and tender strawberries. Having already made a strawberry pie delicately balanced with an elderberry syrup we wanted something a bit more traditional. The solution was strawberry shortcake and since we had the sugar at hand, we sprinkled it generously over the biscuits. They were tender, flaky and delicate with just a hint of crunchy, spicy sugar to balance out the juicy flavors of the berries. The biscuits themselves are amazingly easy and then all you need are pillows of softly whipped cream and the freshest berries you can get your hands on. Frankly, if there's good shortcake on the table, who needs dinner?
Shortcake Biscuits
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces of cold, diced butter
3/4 cup of heavy cream
Combine everything except the cream in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to the texture of coarse cornmeal. Pour in all of the cream and continue to pulse until the mixture comes together as coarse crumbs of dough. You may need to add an extra spoonful or two of cream. Turn the dough out onto the counter and gently press it together. It will look like like firm streusel topping. Pat it out to about a thickness of a half inch and cut out circles in whatever size you prefer. You can reform the trimmings and use them once more. Place them on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet and scatter them with coarse sugar. Bake in a 350-degree convection for 12 minutes rotating once until they are golden brown. Using a non-convection oven, turn the heat up to 375-degrees and watch the baking time. It may take a few minute longer. Let cool for at least five minutes before serving.
