With Strawberries and Cream
I hope everybody had a pleasant week. I had a good one, even though spring has taken a break, again, and the temperatures have dipped. We are now sort of used to it taking a break. We don’t get shocked anymore.
I rarely watch Dr. Oz show, but somehow, this week, I was hanging about doing nothing so I decided to watch Oz and anything else that followed for about 4 hours (4 hours of loafing about). I caught this segment that talked about “the 8 germiest places in your kitchen” (my word dictionary does not recognize-germiest-is it a word?). Anyway the following germiest things caught my attention so I thought I should share with you:
When is the last time you washed your can opener? as far as I know, I usually wash mine immediately after use, drench it with hot water, wipe it and dump it back in the drawer, so I can find it when I need it again (I have only one can opener), I don’t know why, I have just never thought of buying two or three. Okay after Oz and his team tested can openers from regular houses like yours and mine, they found Salmonella, E.coli, yeast and mold. I tried to imagine how the E. coli could have or might have gotten onto a can opener, but I couldn’t find a sensible reason to explain. Here is the remedy taken directly from Oz.com: “If it’s dishwasher-safe, place the can opener in the dishwasher after each use. If hand washing, wash the opener in hot soapy water, rinsing thoroughly with clean tap water before air drying after each use. Pay special attention to the area around the cutting blades to be sure all food residue is removed.”
Rubber Spatula: oh yes the one you use for scrapping the sides of your mixer-bowl when you are mixing cakes and other goodies and in the end you lick it off gleefully, partly because the raw mixture tastes nice and partly because you are excited the cake is finally going into the oven. Oz and his team found the following germs on it: E.coli, yeast and mold. E.coli again, are some of us changing diapers in the kitchen? Here is verbatim remedy:“For two-piece spatulas, separate the handle from the spatula portion and, if dishwasher-safe, place both sections in the dishwasher after each use. If hand washing, wash in hot soapy water, rinsing thoroughly with clean water. For one-piece spatulas, toss in the dishwasher or hand wash thoroughly in hot soapy water, paying special attention to the area where the handle joins the spatula. Rinse thoroughly and dry.”
Knife block: (the ornamental thing that you use to show off the knives on your countertop): I need your help here, coz mine is made of wood and I never imagined I should be washing wood??? How to Clean It Properly: First remove any knives stored in the block. Turn the knife block upside down and shake lightly or use a can of compressed air to remove crumbs and other loose debris. Hand wash the knife block in hot soapy water, using a small brush (like a baby bottle nipple brush) to scrub out the knife slots. Rinse thoroughly with clean water. These three caught my attention most, for the rest follow the link in the first paragraph.
Today I want to share with you a recipe for strawberry shortcakes. I had mine for dessert, with strawberries and cream and a drizzle of honey. No, I think it was more like an avalanche of honey. Sometimes, I crave honey. Anyway it tasted very nice. Hope you’ll like it, too. Here we go…and please, stop thinking about germs, we are now talking about food, desserts to be precise.
Strawberry Shortcakes
Recipe from Woman’s own Cakes and Bakes, By Gina Steer
Ingredients
- 225g (8oz, 2 cups minus 2 tbsp) all purpose flour
- 175g unsalted butter
- 75g castor sugar
- 300ml (1¼ cups) whipping cream
- 225g (8oz) strawberries, washed and hulled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C) 10 minutes before baking. Line two baking sheets (trays) with parchment paper.
- Sieve the flour, add the butter and sugar. With cool hands, and keeping the fat in one piece, gradually work in the flour and sugar until the mixture forms a ball in the centre of the bowl and the sides are clean.
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface (don’t use too much flour) until smooth and free from cracks.
- Roll out to ¼ in/6mm thick then cut into 20 6.5mm (2½in) rounds with a fluted pastry cutter. Place on baking sheets, spaced slightly apart to allow for spreading. Prick lightly with a fork and bake for 15-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Allow to cool for 1 minute then transfer to a wire rack to cool. (I divided dough into two and rolled between two parchment papers.)
- Whip the cream until soft peaks from, spoon into a piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle. Pipe the cream on to half the biscuits. Pipe a rosette in the centre of the remaining biscuits. Arrange strawberries on the cream covered biscuits. Place a whole strawberry in the centre of the rosette of the cream. Sandwich biscuits together and eat on the same day.
- Plain biscuits can be stored up to one week in an airtight container. You can substitute 75g flour with wholemeal flour and 50g caster sugar with brown sugar.
- For cup measures: spoon the flour into the cup, heaping it up over the top, then slide a knife across the top to level off the extra. Be careful not to shake or tap the cup to settle down the flour or you will have more than you need. I use a 240ml, American cup.
Points to Note:
- Please note that oven temperatures are given as a guideline only. You may need to add or reduce the suggested temperature depending on your oven. I baked the shortcakes at 360°F (180°C) for 19 minutes, but some were over browned, so next time I shall try 350°F (175°C), maybe for 15 minutes.
- I divided the dough into two and rolled lightly between two parchment papers. If dough is too sticky due to over handling, place in the fridge, before rolling again.Last Updated: January 2, 2019
myfavouritepastime.com
Step By Step Photos
Remember to always assemble ingredients before you start baking.
Sift the flour
Add the butter and sugar to the sifted flour.
With cool hands and keeping the butter or margarine in one piece, gradually work in the flour and sugar until the mixture forms into a ball in the centre of the bowl and the sides are clean.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface (don’t use too much flour)
Roll out to ¼ in/6mm thick then cut into 20 6.5mm (2½in) rounds with a fluted pastry cutter. I divided the dough into two then rolled it lightly, between two parchment paper and then cut into rounds.
Place on two baking sheets, spaced slightly apart to allow for spreading. (I didn’t use parchment paper, but I advice that you do because they were too brown at the bottom)
Prick lightly with a fork and bake for 15-25 minutes at 360°F (180°C) or until lightly golden brown.
Allow to cool for 1 minute then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Whip the cream until soft peaks form, spoon into a piping bag with a fluted nozzle. Pipe the whipped cream on half the biscuits as shown.
Arrange strawberries as shown above.
Pipe a rossette in the centre of the strawberries as shown.
Place a shortcake on top of the arranged strawberries and pipe another rosette on top of the shortcake as shown.
Place strawberries on top of the rosette as shown. Repeat the process until you have 10 strawberry shortcakes.
We ate the shortcakes for dessert.
They were delicious.
We even drizzled some honey on top. It tasted really nice. Hope you enjoy it too.
myfavouritepastime.com Last Updated: January 2, 2019
My Favourite Pastime 
These look lovely! 🙂
Thank you!
Liz
A favorite dessert in the summer months especially when Michigan strawberries are available 🙂
I did enjoy eating it, and I love strawberry. Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely week!!!
Oh these look amazing! So dainty, so summery!
They were very nice, while they lasted. Welcome back!
These look lovely! Thanks for the recipe, I can’t wait to make them.
Enjoy them if you do make them. Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks for joining the conversation. I love talking to people. Have a wonderful week and hope to see you more often.
You’re very welcome! I absolutely love teatime treats and your shortcakes are so charming. Your blog is great, and I’ll definitely be back! 🙂
Hi Lilian
Thanks so much for the compliments..I feel honoured. Your blog is great too, I have just been there and noticed you just started but just keep on posting regularly. I like what you have posted so far. Thanks again. Hope to see you more often. LIz
I’m so glad you like my blog! That means a lot coming from you, your blog is very impressive, and if I get even half the success you have I’d consider myself very fortunate.
Thanks for the compliments. You’ve started very well, just make sure you post regularly, slowly and surely it will grow, but remember everything takes time to grow. I know yours will be very nice in a few months time. Thanks for stopping by several times. Enjoy the rest of the week!
I appreciate this advice a lot and will do my best to follow it. It’s easy to get discouraged at the beginning because you wonder if your efforts are going to be in vain and no one will be interested in what you have to say. But sometimes you just have to take a chance, and it’s a very nice feeling when I get positive feedback from very successful bloggers like yourself. I also enjoy that you are a fellow Canadian blog. 🙂
Oh no..I just celebrated four months of blogging a few days ago so I am still just a beginner like you, but a few months ahead of you. I still don’t deserve to be called a veteran. Not yet. I am still learning a lot of things…I have a long way to go. I am yet to start a Facebook account for the blog.. i hope to do that this week.
Now I didn’t even know your blog is Canadian, Can I add your blog to the list of Canadian blogs here? If you give me your coordinates and approval. Okay I need to go to sleep now, it’s almost midnight and yesterday I slept beyond midnight. Thanks and goodnight!
Yes of course you can add me, I’d be honoured! I’m from Ontario. I’m also amazed that you’ve only been blogging for four months, I’d never have guessed that. It definitely inspires me to keep on going. Is it worth buying your own domain? I was wondering about that and noticed that you have your own website. Are you on pinterest? I’m still figuring out how to even use wordpress, but it gets really fun when you start talking to people 🙂 I just have to remember to go to bed! I can’t believe the time, I guess I should say good night too! 🙂
I did go to bed yesterday and today I took a small break from blogging so I didn’t check my posts at 6.00 am the way I normally do. I think you should buy your domain it costs less than $20 a year and that means you own the name of the blog, nobody can claim it. Right now someone else can register the name “searching for sugar plums” because it’s not registered as a domain (you don’t really own it even though you are using it). I am not yet on Pinterest, Facebook, twitter, Food-gawker etc (I have to figure out how they work) and they are not my top priority right now. With time, I’ll be in all of them. I have figured out WordPress maybe 50% I still struggle with things here and there. Just remember to be consistent in whatever you do. I shall add your blog on Ontario page as soon as I finish answering the comments on my dashboard. Have a great day, It’s very sunny and pleasant today. My windows are open!
You’re right, I should definitely consider buying my domain then. I definitely respect your commitment to blogging, getting up at 6 and checking posts show some great work ethic. It’s no wonder your blog is taking off. I should do something similar because there are always so many distractions and things to do during the day. It can be hard keeping up with wordpress comments alone, it’s crazy how many social networking sites there are to juggle as well! I have my own pinterest just for fun so I’ll definitely follow you when you’re up there 🙂 And I had my windows open yesterday too 🙂 Loving this warm weather! Hope your day has been a good one!
If you want to blog for a long, consistent time then just get your own domain. I try to commit as much as possible but sometimes It does take a toll on me and I end up sleeping late for days because I have other things to do besides blogging. I like answering posts in the quiet of the morning, before I start getting distracted. The networking sites are too many that’s why I am not in a hurry to join, it will just mean more time off your daily schedule. I’ll let you know when i join other networks, probably this weekend my favourite pastime will be on Facebook. I have been saying that for weeks though…today’s weather is great too, my windows are open. Thanks for being here. I’m glad I met you. Take care and enjoy the rest of the week!
Beautiful & appetizing delights! Excellent treats to enjoy! MMMMMMMMMMMM!
Thanks for liking many of my posts. Thanks for stopping here. Have a good day and a fantastic weekend. Hope to see you more often! Liz
😀
These are beautiful and look delicious as well! Thanks for posting.
Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!
These shortcakes look so beautiful and delicious, Liz!
A friend of mine loves doing themed potlucks. Something like Bollywood Brunch (she got the idea after watching the movie “The Mistress of Spices”) or Berry Good Ice Cream Movie Night (it’s a wordplay – replacing “very” with “berry”, all the treats we brought must contain berries).
I think I should chime in with the idea of “teatime ala Alice in the Wonderland” and then I make with these shortcakes. It’s gonna be a fun teatime! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! 😀
I enjoyed eating them so much and the strawberries were humongous and very sweet. Please let me know how it went if you make them. Have a pleasant week!
I come to office without having breakfast almost every day 😦 … n I’m going through this yummylicious creation at a state like that even today! 😥 I gotta rush n have something sweet or else i’m gonna die for sure 😀
These are amazing creation Liz 🙂
Breakfast is really important so you should make sure you have it…I have had dinner, now I’m going to bed, very full. Had a BBQ this evening. You better go eat something. Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again! Have a pleasant day and a great week!
Thank Liz n u also hv a good rest. C ya 🙂
Maybe now, you are going to bed too? I have just woken up. Have a pleasant day or goodnight, whichever is befitting!
🙂 Thanks Liz…It’s 4 PM here in India…still in office…will be here till 5:30 PM n a good night’s rest is almost 5-6 hrs away 🙂
Hi, thanks for liking my post on “Grilled Summer Zucchini Salad”. I enjoyed this post and this looks delicious!
I love grilled veggies, they are so tasty. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week!
Hey Liz, thanks for sharing this article.i just checked the knife block, OMG! It was nasty.I’ve thrown it in the bin. My palette knife looked good enough though. Thanks for sharing the recipe. It looks lovely.
Hi Peju
Ha ha that sounds hilarious. My knife block is still worth keeping though sooner or later I have to get a washable one. Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you more often. Best wishes!
Sitting here listening to a radio programme about the harmful effect of sugar, and reading your post making me want to eat every single one of those shortcakes. Sugar. No sugar. Dammit, I’m going to have to make these.
I have learnt to eat sugar in moderation. I just can’t do without it but I can moderate it. Thanks for stoping by and thanks for leaving a note. Wish you a fantastic week!!
Too many things in life to worry about. Eat, drink and be merry I say! Have a good week too 🙂
thanks, the body does need some sugar!
These look fabulous – classic, elegant and wonderfully delicious!! What a great thing to do with new season strawberries.
Thanks for stopping here. Thanks for leaving me a note. Thanks for the compliments. I enjoyed eating the shortcakes…the strawberries were delicious. Have a pleasant day. Hope to see you more often.
This looks ridiculously too tasty ! You put some serious work into creating this post – good job Liz, it looks awesome !
It’s very tasty, I loved the salad. Have a pleasant day. And thanks for leaving a comment!
Liz, those are gorgeous!! Wish I had one right now. Think I’ll go out and buy some fresh strawberries tomorrow.
I enjoyed eating them while they lasted. That week we had extra large strawberries in my local store here, and they were very sweet too. Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate. Have a fantastic week! Maybe I can send the electronic version?
love your strawberry cakes .. 😀 , btw thanks for following my blog.
Thanks for liking my strawberry cakes, and thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate. Have a wonderful week!
Dr Oz has a lot to answer for! Scaring us all witless like that. Luckily my can openers can go in the dishwasher, my knives go in a drawer and my spatulas are all in one silicone. That is the unacknowledged ‘joy’? of being gluten-free – you have to be able to boil everything or gluten may lurk. Lol… Love shortbread and really miss it. Shop bought is always the wrong texture and I haven’t nailed it at home either. Yours look so good I am DETERMINED I will crack this one. 😀
LOL, I think I’ll stop keeping my knives in the knife block, and mine is wooden so how I am supposed to wash it? Now this gluten free diet has the added advantage of being germ-free by design. One of the bloggers told me shortcakes taste even better if you add semolina and he gave me this link http://bit.ly/13alz3W for Delia smiths version. Please let me know the outcome. Thanks so much for leaving this message. Have a wonderful week!
These look delicious! The perfect treat with a cup of tea in the afternoon sunshine. Thank you, I will be trying these.
Thanks for stopping here. If you ever try them, enjoy eating them, hope you’ll like them. Have a wonderful week!
These look amazing! I must try them!
They taste amazing too. Thanks for stopping by…have a wonderful week!
Wow so summery! I love strawberries and your shortcakes look so yummy!
They taste yummy too. Thanks so much for taking a break from the sweets. Have a wonderful week!
Wow summer on a plate. They look delicious. In Scotland they substitute some of the plain flour for semolina which gives the biscuits a wonderfully short and crisp texture. I recently made some using semolina flour and the results were really good.
I must try the semolina version. It sounds very interesting. Can I have that recipe, please? I like trying new things. Thanks so much for stopping by from time to time, your presence is always acknowledged and appreciated. have a lovely weekend!
Hi Liz, here’s a recipe from Delia Smith one of the ‘grand dames’ of British cooking. I find that her recipes always work. Hope you like it… http://bit.ly/13alz3W (shortened using Bitly).
I used to watch Delia Smith cooking, on Tv and loved her books too. Thanks for the recipe, I have already peeped and seen it and I shall try it out. Thanks so much and have a wonderful week!
I learned to cook from her books, literally from scratch. Unfortunately she’s not as charismatic as many of today’s TV chefs.
I don’t really mind so much, as long as the recipe works. thats what really matters. Thanks so much for keeping the conversation going! Have a pleasant week!
Oh no…my can opener is probably very unsanitary. Um, let’s say my family is building our immune system? The shortcakes look so good!
Ha ha, we have been building our immune systems for so long, but I did get freaked out and threw some not so nice looking things in my kitchen drawer. It was time to get some sparkling new ones. Thanks for the interesting post on follow, follow or not I just want to have a conversation. Hope to see you more often. Enjoy your weekend.
True, conversation and comments are more important than follower count. Take care (:
Take care too, and keep the conversation going. Hope to see you more often!!!
Hi Liz… Thanks for your continued support. Have a great weekend!
I have just seen the Spiralling Pearls, Crystals and Seeds Beads, they look very nice. thanks for stopping by and have a happy Memorial Day!
My opener is electric. I wipe down the cutters…but now I am thinking perhaps I need to soak it? But it is electric…ack! As for the knife block … I think I will clean mine now. And I always dishwash my spatula…I do not think the handle and the rubber blade come apart thought.
And…e coli?!?!?!?!
As for the dessert…OH MY GOD Liz….I am thinking you bake professionally now. Those were ABSOLUTLY gorgeous. (Waiiiittt…your ‘Remember to always assemble ingredients before you start baking.’ part did not have the strawberrys. LOL…again, that is one of my favorite parts of your recipe *smiles*)
Hi Katie,
Okay you caught me on that one. I baked the shortcakes one week earlier, and just put them in an airtight container, and so the strawberries came much later, and anyway I always tell my kids “nobody even bothers to see whether all ingredients are assembled”, when I occasionally miss out one, and don’t feel like re-assembling again. Okay you ARE DETAIL ORIENTED, please add that to your CV, The spatulas actually do come apart unless you have rubber spatulas, I tried mine after watching OZ and was so shocked to see them coming apart. The shortcakes were delicious but I did have trouble rolling the dough, I had never made them before. In the end, I was happy with the results, but we are only four right now and we had to eat all the strawberries because they can’t stay overnight. We sort of had a dessert eating competition of sorts. Thanks for stopping by, I always appreciate. When I start laughing loudly, my kids know Katie must have made a comment, I laugh loudest when I read your comments. But you always make my day…thanks and take care!
*smirkles* ….whap me for being a snot!
By the way, I think I will have a go at these one day. (I printed this out.) But now I am craving that tart too now.
Please have a go whenever you can, I can e-mail you the electronic version to eat right now, I think we should invent electronic versions of everything. Thanks for always being here, I truly appreciate. Have wonderful week.
These are so cute!! Love that their individual portions… although I’d probably have to eat at least three…
I ate two, after dinner for dessert, the strawberries were humongous and very filling. Three is not a bad take. Have a fantastic weekend!
Hmm…Now I think I need to go scrub my whole kitchen! 😛
These look absolutely delightful!
I threw so many things that I thought had seen their better days, today I’m going shopping for new ones. Happy scrubbing and have a sun-full weekend. I bookmarked your Mint Ice Cream with Honey Caramel Sauce. It looks so yummy. Hope to see you more often!!!
Oh, sorry! I had the (wrong) impression that my first comment has been devoured by wordpress… That is why now everything appears twice… It is very cold (too cold for spring time) over here and I am not driving too fast… as a mother of six children that would not be a great idea… 😉 Greetings again! Have a wonderful week-end!
The only comment I seem to remember that my friend utters several times is “fast drivers” am glad you are driving sensibly, am a mother of four so I do everything in a sensible way. Enjoy your weekend too, I think you must be used to the cold by now. Take care!
Yum! These look fantastic! I love strawberry shortcake! I must try these out.
Thanks for stopping by, many times in the last two days. Have a fantastic weekend!
Oh that is gross! Sorry, not the shortcake, it looks delicious, but my can opener is going in the dishwasher too. I usually clean it in hot water but I might have been know to be lazy at times despite being a germophob. Great blog 🙂
I think I should have talked about shortcakes only, now I have diverted everybody’s attention from the cake. But we do use these things all the time when cooking/baking for the blog, so it attracted my attention. Thank you so much for stopping by. And how did you reduce or stop eating sugar? that’s very interesting. I still eat lots of it. I must find out your secret! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!
LOL….it WAS sort of an interesting double conversation…and the photos were sprinkled throughout. But they were BOTH still great bits of information *smiles*
I thought the two went together, don’t we all lick our spatulas and slice our ingredients and open all the canned ingredients to do blog cooking. I have literally thrown everything from my kitchen drawers. I’m starting afresh with clean stuff. But again, what one doesn’t know..and we have survived all these years!!
Well, we all have survived the germs crowding in our kitchen… But now… knowing all this… I’ll be cleaning my kitchen from head to toe! How could you put those wonderfully arranged strawberry minis together with this detailed horror scenario! 😉 Many greetings from far away Germany…
Indeed we have survived all these germs, but this interested me because I use all these things when I am cooking for my blog. “Slice the carrots, scrape the cake bowl, use canned tomatoes”, see that’s why it creeped me and I washed my kitchen, fridge and did a lot of throwing. Greetings from Germany received, your blog looks wonderful. Lovely food!! Greeting from Canada!
Oh my gosh, I just threw my can opener in the dishwasher, I’m going to spray bleach in holes where knives go in the wood block, rinse with hot water and dry upside down and hope it kills all those lurking about e-coli bugs. Yikes!!! On the other hand, I seem to have survived this long! Love love love strawberry shortcake. Yours are real shortcake! How Devine!
Ha ha you are right, we have survived all this time, what one doesn’t know, but now that you know it will definitely bother you. My knife block is wooden, maybe I shall air it out on a bright sunny day? Yesterday I cleaned my kitchen scissors, thoroughly, I noticed some rust. I think it’s high time I bought another one and threw that one away. I have literally been clearing everything in the kitchen and dumping so many things. Thanks for always being here. I love reading your comments. have a good night and enjoy your weekend!!!
We all have survived the germ attack so far, too… But now, reading all this, I’ll be cleaning my kitchen from head to toe! How could you put together those wonderful Strawberry Minis with this horror scenario!? 😉 Many greetings from far away Germany, where spring is an unknown word actually…
Spring is unknown? too hot? too cold? I think probably too cold. I have a friend married to a German and they usually have it really cold over there. And they drive cars very fast on the autobahn. I presume you are a fast driver too! thanks for stopping by.
I have to say thank you back for following my blog! And…..what I get a kick out of is that come tomorrow I will probably just go back to putting the can opener back in the drawer and carry on with the knife block as before….all thoughts of nasty bacterium vanquished to the nether regions of my brain. We are such creatures of habit. LOL
You are absolutely right but at least I have made a lot of changes in my kitchen in the last few days and thrown away all rusty looking things. I shall be buying new and fresh ones. But after a short while of course we continue with the bad old habits. It’s so hard to shed off some habits. Thanks so much for always being here. I’m glad I met you. Take care!!!