Strawberries

The beginning of strawberry season is here in California. Last night we had a friend over for dinner. For dessert I wanted to make something with strawberries. Something kind of light and bright after having a ricotta & Swiss chard tart, grilled rib eye and asparagus on arugula with shaved Parmesan.

Now what should I call this...Strawberry Shortcake with Brown Sugar Biscuits and Lemon Curd.
So I whipped up some Brown Sugar Biscuits that I found on Epicurious. The original recipe made 8 servings but I cut it in half. Even after cutting the recipe in half I got 6 biscuits.

Brown Sugar Biscuits

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes, chilled
1/2 cup whipping cream, plus additional for brushing biscuits
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl; whisk to blend. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms. Gradually add 1/2 cup cream, tossing until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; shape into 4 1/2-inch round on parchment or foil. Chill 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut dough into four 3-inch rounds, gathering scraps and reshaping as needed. Place rounds on prepared sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool completely. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. If desired, rewarm in 350°F oven 5 minutes before using.)

Strawberries

1 container of strawberries, hulled and quartered
a sprinkle of sugar
lemon zest of whole or half a lemon
The juice of half a lemon

Mix all in a bowl and wait for biscuits.

Lemon Curd
Bought it. I would love to tell you that I made my own lemon curd, but I did not. Fresh lemon curd is a lovely thing indeed. I have made it in the past, but it was not in the cards yesterday. The other thing that made this dessert come together was Creme Fraiche.

Assembly of dessert
Cut a biscuit in half and spread a dollop of lemon curd onto bottom half of biscuit. Spoon strawberries on top. Add a dollop of creme fraiche and crown all this goodness with the top half of the biscuit. Serve extra strawberries on the side. Just in case everyone needs more and they will.

The biscuits are buttery and slightly sweet from the brown sugar. The lemon curd adds sweetness and a burst of flavor. The fresh strawberries love them some lemon curd and they both play nicely together. The creme fraiche adds a tang that counter balances the sweetness of the whole dessert. This dessert was a success in my mind. I love the biscuit as opposed to short cake or angel food cake. The biscuit is not as sweet and lets the fruit bring the sweetness. Serve this at a brunch because this would be fabulous with a mimosa.

I know, I know...no pictures. All I can offer is that my computer is media challenged at this time. There is no joy in my technology. The Mac, Ipod, and Iphone are not speaking to each other right now. This means I have to make an appointment with the MacIdiots at the Apple store. Have you ever dealt with these so called geniuses? Phooey...I haven't met a genius yet and after every visit the problem gets worse. The frustration is too much, but I am going to have to make an appointment. Pure dread, but it has to be done. This poor blog has been languishing the past few months because of it. Of course there is part of me that believes that Apple just wants you to buy a bigger, stronger, faster computer when your hard drive fills up. It's an evil plot I say! That's my rant for the day. Now I am going to enjoy a little reprise of last night's dessert. That will make the day right for sure. Now if I only had Orange Juice I would make me a mimosa too. Yeah Monday morning take that!