Mini Strawberry Shortcakes! Perfect small single bite portions, ideal for parties.
Have you ever noticed how people from large families eat quickly?
That’s because if you finish your food first, you can rest assured that there are seconds. In our family, we children have perfected the art of eating quickly with strawberry shortcrust pastry.
Sigh. There is no dessert more perfect than this one.
When my mom asked me to make something for her book club reunion, and with big, juicy, sweet strawberries popping up at markets all over town (even at a street vendor on the corner of my block), I was able to can’t wait to bake these mini shortcakes.
I don’t accept the idea or the name. At an event for Ruth Reichl when she was in town recently, we were served mini strawberry shortcakes and my buddies Garrett and Amber take a look and call them “Sliders”.
Why a slider? Because you can hold it in your hand to eat like a burger slider. They are perfect little finger food shortcakes.
Shortcake cookies are usually very crumbly; The sprinkles simply absorb all the extra juice from the strawberries. But with sliders, you don’t want them to crumble.
So the solution is to add an egg to the dough, give the cookies a little more texture and knead them just a few turns longer than you normally would.
Strawberry Shortcake Slider
* Make sure your baking soda is less than 6 months old or it may be flat and your cookies will be difficult to rise. If you don’t have baking soda, you can combine 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar (a dry acid) with 1 teaspoon of baking soda (a dry base) for the same effect.
ingredients
- Cookies
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2 cups all-purpose flour
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2 tbsp granulated sugar
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1 tbsp baking powder*
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter (if using salted, omit the salt in dry ingredients), cut into small cubes and refrigerated (freezer for 15 minutes or more)
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7/8 cup (that’s one cup minus 2 tablespoons) heavy whipping cream
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1 large egg
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- strawberries
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2 baskets of fresh strawberries, rinsed, stems removed and discarded, sliced (1/8″ to 1/4″ thick)
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1/4 cup granulated sugar
- whipped cream
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1 cup heavy whipping cream
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1 tbsp granulated sugar
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1/2 teaspoon vanilla
method
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Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cut in butter:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder for the cookies. Using a fork or cookie cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture, or pulse in a food processor until the largest chunks of butter are the size of a pea.
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Stir in the cream, egg and vanilla, knead into sponge cake:
Whisk together the cream, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl with a fork.
Make a well in the large bowl of the flour mixture and pour the cream mixture into the center. Mix with a fork until the dough is evenly moistened. The batter mixture should look shaggy. If the batter is too wet, sprinkle more flour (up to 1/2 cup more) onto the mixture.
Knead the dough with your hands about 8 turns to form a ball.
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Flatten the dough, cut into cookie shapes, chill:
Lightly flour a smooth surface. Turn the dough onto the surface and pat or roll out until it is between 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch thick.
Use a 1 1/2 inch diameter cookie cutter (or a juice glass) to cut out round cookie shapes from the dough. (It helps to dip the cutter in some flour before each cut to keep the dough from sticking to the shape.)
Place circles on a baking sheet, leaving them about 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking.
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Bake cookies:
Heat oven to 425°F. Bake cookies on middle shelf for 12 minutes or until risen and lightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
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Macerate strawberries in sugar:
While the cookies are baking, prepare the strawberries and whipped cream. Place the sliced strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Mix gently so that the sugar covers most of the strawberries.
Let stand until the sugar has dissolved and the strawberries release their moisture.
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Whip cream with sugar and vanilla:
To prepare the whipped cream, make sure you start with very cold cream. It also helps to chill the bowl beforehand. Use a hand mixer (you can make heavy cream in a mixer, but be careful; it’s easy to over-beat the cream in a mixer) to whip the cream until it just starts to set.
Sprinkle sugar and vanilla over the cream. Continue beating until thick and holding its shape.
Cover with cling film and refrigerate until it’s time to assemble the mini strawberry shortcakes.
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Assemble Strawberry Shortcake Slider:
When the cookies have cooled to room temperature, gently break them apart and separate the tops from the bottoms.
Place a strawberry slice or two on each base and top the strawberries with a dollop of whipped cream.
Then place the top piece of sponge cake on top of the whipped cream. Voila! You have your slider. Alternatively, you can serve them without a lid.
Links:
Strawberry Shortcake here on Simply Recipes
Whipping technique from David Lebovitz’ latest Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes
Cookie cutters for sale at Amazon.com
