Celebrate National Blueberry Month with a Blueberry Shortcake!

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to realize that shortcake does not have to be served only with strawberries! Blueberry shortcake is a perfect a way to to serve up this delicious summer berry. It’s a simply wonderful dessert fit for a casual dinner at home or get together with friends.

The Cake in Shortcake

There are different schools of thought about shortcake desserts. Some like a cake base: pound cake, angel food cake or a cake dessert shell. We like to serve shortcake with a lightly sweetened biscuit, similar to a scone.

Sweet Biscuits

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or a fork or pulse several times in a food processor until it resembles coarse crumbs. Combine the cream and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup. Make a well in the center of the flour and and pour the cream mixture into the well. Mix with a fork until the dough is evenly moistened and just combined. Gently knead by hand five or six times to create a loose ball.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into an 8-inch square, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Put the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment or silpat, cover with plastic and chill for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 425ºF. Remove the dough from refrigerator. Cut the dough into 9 even squares and place them on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until the biscuits are medium golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes.

Whip it Up

I prefer making whipped cream fresh at home. It’s quite simple and tastes so good. I find that to really get the cream to set-up it helps to chill the bowl and beaters for a few minutes in the freezer. I put about a cup of heavy whipping cream into my chilled bowl, add a couple of tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar and beat on high until the cream is thick and fluffy.

Split open a sweet biscuit, spoon on some fresh blueberries and top with the whipped cream. Enjoy!