Starring my Grandma’s baking powder biscuits made with either gluten-free or all-purpose flour
There’s nothing like strawberry shortcake to kick off summer and I am hoping that this dessert signals to Mother Nature that it’s time to warm things up. I added a simple cooked rhubarb strawberry jam to fresh strawberries for the filling and topped them with some sweetened whipped cream. These biscuits can easily be made with either a gluten-free flour blend or all-purpose flour.
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients:
3 cups gluten-free flour blend
2 tbs. baking powder
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter (or butter substitute such as Miyokos brand plant based butter), cubbed
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 unsweetened non-dairy milk mixed with 1 tbs. white vinegar or lemon juice)
1-2 tablespoons buttermilk or cream (to brush on top of biscuits)
2 tbs. coarse sugar for topping (often called “sugar in the raw”)
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling:
3 cups rhubarb cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 cup strawberries, halved and quartered (and another 2 cups of fresh strawberries, sliced, to add to the cooked mixture)
1/3 cup granulated sugar or honey
1/4 tsp. salt
5 tbs. of water divided
3 tbs. cornstarch
juice of 1/2 a lemon
Sweetened whipped cream or non-dairy whipped cream
Method of Preparation:
For the Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Place the flour or gluten-free flour blend, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl or bowl of a food processor. Whisk or pulse to combine. Add the cubed butter and “cut” into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or pulse the mixture in the food processor. Your mixture will have coarse crumbs and look like sand. If using a food processor, dump the dough into a large bowl.
- Pour the buttermilk over the dry flour and butter mixture and combine with a spoon. Do not over work the dough. You want it just to come together.
- Pour this “shaggy” mixture out on a floured board and press together using floured hands. At this point, you can either press the dough into a round 1/2″ thick or use a floured rolling pin. Cut the dough into rounds using a 2.5 to 3″ cutter or floured glass. Place the rounds on a parchment lined cast-iron skillet or baking sheet. You should have approximately 8-10 biscuits. It is important to crowd them together (so they are touching) in the pan so they rise more fully.
- Brush the tops with the buttermilk or cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until they are lightly brown on top. Cool.
Strawberry Rhubarb Filling:
- Place the chopped rhubarb, 1 cup of chopped strawberries, 2 tbs. of water, sugar and salt in a small sauce pan. Let this mixture sit for 10 minutes to release the juices of the strawberries.
- Place the pot over a medium high burner and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook the rhubarb and strawberries until they begin to soften.
- Place the remaining three tablespoons of water in cup and whisk in the cornstarch.
- Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the cooked fruit and cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the lemon juice. Cool.
- Add 1 cup of sliced strawberries to the cooled cooked mixture.
Assembling the Shortcake:
- Carefully, slice each biscuit in half horizontally. Place the bottom of the biscuit on a plate, top with strawberry rhubarb mixture, whipped cream and then the top of the biscuit.
