A childhood friend revisited

When I was more wee than I am now, I loved Strawberry Shortcake. You know, the dolls. I had quite a few of them. I even preferred them over my Barbies. I adored how the dolls smelled like their names (strawberry for Ms. Shortcake, blueberry for Blueberry Muffin, etc., etc., etc.).

In my organic delivery this past Wednesday, I received two clamshells of strawberries. I ate over half of them out of hand but wanted to do something simple but special with the remaining fruit. After rifling through The Vault for about an hour, I found an old recipe for brown sugar biscuits. Strawberry shortcake coming right up!

As always, I cut the recipe in half so that if I had a big 'FAIL' I didn't waste a bunch of flour. Lord, I hate it when that happens. Happily, this conversion was a success and I made myself sick while gorging.

I gave one to The Man but he didn't like the texture. I simply looked at him and said, "this isn't angelfood cake, dumbass. It's a biscuit. REAL strawberry shortcake." His response? "Oh." I got the same reaction from another gluten-eating friend. They said it was very good, but they're used to strawberry shortcake with angelfood cake or those little dessert cup jobs you can buy in the grocery store. Naturally, that's what they prefer.

Me? I prefer this.

Brown Sugar Biscuits
Adapted from a Vault recipe

2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 tbsp butter, cut into pieces and chilled
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream + additional for brushing biscuits
1 tbsp turbinado sugar

Whisk together the flours, xanthan gum, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and use your fingers to rub the butter in until it becomes a coarse meal. Gradually add the cream, tossing with your fingers until moist clumps form. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the fridge and gently pat it into a round disk about 3/4" thick. Using a 1-1/2" to 2" biscuit cutter, cut 4 rounds (gathering scraps and forming the disk again as needed). Place the biscuits on the prepared pan and brush the tops with cream. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before serving.

Like I said, I stuffed two of them with mashed strawberries and whipped cream last night, but I ate one with jam this afternoon and damn, was that good.