Make this Easy Summer Fruit Shortcake for Father’s Day

By Sandy Hu

Steve is the best breakfast maker. Flaky sky-high biscuits, tender muffins, Belgian waffles, popovers, Dutch babies – he’s a master of them all. Since there’s no way to top his skill, for Father’s Day, I tend to resort to the same celebratory breakfast: simple scones with a make-ahead dough that can be shaped and frozen, so all I have to do is pop them in the oven on his big day.

As Dave and I were planning a Father’s Day menu, I thought about changing it up this year and giving those scones a new identity, as shortcakes with summer fruit and whipped cream. I’ve made and shaped my dough this weekend and the discs are in the freezer. On Sunday, we just need to bake them off, split the scone/shortcakes and fill them with fruit and whipped cream. We’ll just bake enough for the four of us so we won’t be tempted to eat more dessert than we should, and we’ll have the remainder in reserve for another time when we come home with a bounty of fruit from the farmers’ market.

Keeping to the fruit theme, Dave and I are planning to make Citrus Flank Steak “Cuban Style.”  This recipe takes just a half hour from start to finish, plus two hours for marinating. Dave can grill instead of broiling the meat, and if we are lucky with the weather, we just might be able to eat out on the deck instead of shivering indoors, which is a typical summer afternoon in San Francisco. Steve can enjoy a fresh apricot pina colada before dinner. (We’re working on the recipe for this drink as a Special Fork Video Friday post.)

The original recipe for the scone base came from Bev, a co-worker in the test kitchen where I worked. Bev used to make it to celebrate birthdays in the kitchen.

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Summer Fruit Shortcake
2 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar, plus additional sugar for sprinkling
½ cup (8 tablespoons) butter, chilled
1 egg
¾ cup milk
1 egg plus 2 tablespoons water for egg wash

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut butter into ½-inch cubes. With your fingers quickly rub the flour with the butter making flakes the size of peas until the butter and flour are incorporated. Whisk 1 egg with the milk until blended, then pour into the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix just until the flour is moistened. Do not overmix.

Gather the dough into a ball in the bowl and spoon out into 12 balls on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment. Dough will be sticky. Flour your hands, then flatten the balls into small disks about ¾-inch high. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze on the baking sheet. When disks are frozen, remove from tje baking sheet and transfer to a plastic freezer bag with squares of parchment of waxed paper between the disks to keep them from sticking together.

When ready to bake, heat oven to 400 degrees F. Take out as many disks as you need. Set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Make an egg wash by beating remaining egg with water; brush the tops of the disks and sprinkle with sugar. Bake about 20 minutes until light brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Filling:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
About 3 cups fruit (sliced peaches, apricots, nectarines or strawberries or whole raspberries or a combination)

With an electric mixer, beat cream with sugar until stiff peaks form. While the shortcakes are still slightly warm, gently split them in half lengthwise with a serrated bread knife. Fill with about ¼ cup of fruit and whipped cream. Cover with the top of the shortcake. Complete all shortcakes and serve immediately. Makes 12 servings.

Tips:

• If you are not making all 12 shortcakes at once, allow about ¼ cup filling per shortcake.
• If the fruit isn’t very sweet, toss the fruit with some sugar before filling the shortcakes.

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