We couldn’t resist a box of strawberries at the markets last week! A mere $8 bought us twelve 250g punnets of small, sweet fruit – a nice change from the chunky, flavourless varieties which seem so prevalent these days.
Pete turned most of them into his low sugar strawberry jam (with nearly two punnets in each jar), and I used the leftovers to make this simple strawberry shortcake. Please excuse the slightly mad piping – I’d had a glass of wine at lunch (never operate heavy machinery or a piping bag under the influence of alcohol).
The recipe comes from one of my oldest cookbooks, The Australian Women’s Weekly Cooking Class Cookbook, and I first made this dish over twenty years ago. Tempus fugit…
It’s interesting to note how little butter there is in the shortbread – perhaps a reflection of how recipes have evolved over the past two decades.
Edit: one more thing – this is a fairly solid, shortbready base, not a cakey one. Don’t expect the base to rise much, and do keep any eye on it to make sure you don’t overcook it. Once it’s lightly coloured, it’s time to pull it out of the oven!
- 60g (2oz) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 large (59g) egg yolks
- 115g (4oz) plain (AP) flour
- 1 punnet strawberries (about 250g or 8oz)
- ½ cup strawberry or plum jam
- 2 teaspoons water
- whipped cream
1. Wash and hull the strawberries, reserving a few for decoration. Cut the remainder in half. Preheat oven to 175C/350F with fan. Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the egg yolks, beating well until combined. Add the flour and mix on low until the flour is fully incorporated, forming a soft dough.
2. Grease a 20cm (8″) sandwich tin and evenly press the dough into the base. Bake for 15 – 20 mins, or until light golden brown. Remove from the tin and allow to cool slightly.
3. Arrange the halved strawberries over the warm shortcake. Combine the jam and water in a glass bowl, and heat briefly (20 – 30 seconds) in the microwave until hot, then push the mixture through a sieve to form a glaze. Allow this to cool slightly, then brush it generously over the strawberries and shortcake. Refrigerate until serving time.
4. Decorate with whipped cream and the reserved strawberries – I whipped the cream with a little homemade vanilla syrup, but you could use a little icing sugar, or leave the cream plain if you prefer.
Click here for a printable version of this recipe
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 