With milder temperatures, longer days, and more sunshine the British berry season is now in full swing, and naturally leading the way is the good old Strawberry.
Although strawberries were in plentiful supply throughout May the season will reach its peak in June and July, and if good weather continues from July you can expect to see British strawberries until the end of September.
The best thing is that strawberries can be enjoyed when dining al fresco as part of a main course or dessert, straight from the punnet at a picnic, or just simply with cream or ice cream. Strawberries – a great accompaniment to summer!
With this in mind it didn’t take us very long at all to come up with a recipe this week, so here is a really delicious recipe for Fresh Strawberry Biscuits With Basil Butter. Not quite savoury and not quite sweet.
Ingredients
About a pint of fresh strawberries, cleaned and cut into roughly quarter inch pieces
2 Tsp. sugar
Basil chiffonade- about six large leaves, divided if making basil butter
1 Cup AP flour
1 Cup WW pastry flour
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter frozen and shredded
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
About one cup chilled Yogurt or buttermilk
2 tablespoons softened salted butter (optional, but highly recommended, for the basil butter)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Toss the cut berries with the sugar and then spread half the berries on a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper and roast until they are just soft and releasing their juices and the house smells like berries (about 15 minutes). Toss the fresh berries with about half of the basil chiffonade and set aside.
3. When the berries are done roasting allow the pan to cool and add the fresh berries to the cookie sheet, spread out with as few pieces touching as possible. Freeze until firm.
4. In the meantime whisk together the flours, salt, and baking powder. Throw in the freezer while you shred the butter. Combine the frozen butter with the flour mixture.
5. Up the oven heat to 450.
6. Combine the remaining basil and the softened butter and stir to thoroughly combine.
7. When the berries are completely firm toss them with the butter flour mixture until the berries are coated.
8. Add the yogurt or buttermilk and stir until just combined, adding more liquid as necessary until the dough just holds together.
9. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, turning to knead a couple of times to form a cohesive dough. Roll out to about an inch thick. Lightly coat the tops of the biscuits with the softened basil butter mixture, cut into your desired shape and bake on a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper until golden brown. About 15 minutes.
10. While the biscuits are baking refrigerate the basil butter to just firm it up.
11. Serve warm or at room temperature with the basil butter.
For this and more great recipes please head on over to recipefiction.com