Red, White, and Blue Mixed-Berry Shortcake
With so many fresh berries available in Texas, shortcake is the perfect way to take advantage of summer’s bounty — and your cooking time will be short too. If you can’t choose between which berries to use, do what I do — don’t! There’s no law saying you can’t make shortcake with strawberries and blueberries. Here’s an easy guide.
Blueberry Sauce
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Method:
Place blueberries in a small saucepan and crush with a potato masher. Add sugar, lemon juice, and salt and mix well. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat and let boil for one minute. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and place in a bowl in the freezer for a quick chill.
Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients:
1 pint fresh strawberries, stemmed and quartered
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Method:
Place strawberries in a bowl and mash with a potato masher. Set aside. In a small saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, and water until smooth and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the strawberries and lemon juice. Place in a bowl in the freezer to chill.
Fried Shortcake
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cinnamon-nutmeg sugar
4 slices of angel food cake
2 tablespoons salted butter
Method:
Beat eggs, then beat in milk and 2 tablespoons of spiced sugar. Preheat a skillet on medium-high heat. Coat each side of the angel food cake with the egg mixture and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Melt butter in the skillet and add each piece of the cake, cooking 3-4 minutes on each side. The sugar will caramelize and form a kind of crust on the outside.
To Serve
Put the shortcakes on four plates and drizzle with the strawberry and blueberry sauces. Then all you need to add is a couple of scoops of your favorite vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream and you have a celebratory dessert on your hands.
© 2013 Texas Farm Bureau Insurance
