Strawberry Shortcakes (Nigella + Joy of Baking)

After reading about my Strawberry Bread, Katong Gal had suggested that I try Nigella's Strawberry Shortcakes (from HTBADG).  I confess that I've read that recipe several times and lingered over the beautiful picture of the strawberry shortcakes, but never felt inclined to try it because it is one of those recipes where Nigella tells you quite vaguely that you "may not need all of the eggy cream to make the dough come together, so go cautiously."

I have a problem with inexact instructions when it comes to baking (see my first attempt at baking Nigella's Essential White Loaf).  Unlike with other types of cooking, one needs precise instructions when baking, especially when it comes to pastry or bread, or the product could turn out poorly.  And, when Nigella writes that the dough must "come together" or she warns you to "go cautiously", and red lights go flashing in my head. I think, "recipe for disaster!"

Getting ready to go into the oven.

So why did I finally decide to attempt this recipe? Because the Joy of Baking (JOB) website has a video on how to make strawberry shortcakes. So, I could observe how my dough was supposed to look like.  YouTube is a God-send.  I think we can learn quite a lot from recipe books.  However, nothing beats having a personal demonstration.  YouTube isn't exactly a personal demonstration class, but it helps you see what you're supposed to be making, in the comfort of your home.  This cuts down on some of the uncertainty when you base your cooking purely on recipes.

While the recipe I used is largely Nigella's, I followed the method demonstrated in the JOB video.  Strawberry Shortcakes, for those of you who have never had one before (and this included me), are essentially strawberry and cream scone sandwiches.  So first you have to make the scone, then prepare the strawberry filling, then assemble it with cream.

I wasn't expecting them to rise so much.

I started with the strawberry filling first, as JOB recommends allowing the strawberries to mascerate for about 30 - 60 minutes.  The scone was next.  Nigella recommends grating the frozen butter in the flour, which I thought was a neat trick.  However, the problem in this hot climate is that the butter gets all soft and gooey when it sits in the flour anyway.  So I ended up cutting the grated butter into the flour with two knives (as suggested by JOB).

Overall, it was not as hard as I had thought it would be, though at points I did feel a bit tense, wondering if I had overworked the dough.  I didn't have to worry as the scones turned out beautifully light and fluffy.

Strawberries and cream.

I did have a problem with the cream filling, though.  All I had to do was to whip the cream to soft peaks. But I think the heat and humidity made it incredibly hard to achieve the right balance.  In my first attempt, the cream split.  In my second attempt, the cream was too liquid.  In my third attempt, the cream stayed in peaks for a couple of minutes, but slowly dissolved into a soggy mess.

Scone split, ready to be assembled.

Finally, I decided to whip my cream in parts (which is what JOB recommended): whipping it till it thickened, but not yet forming peaks, then refrigerating it (and the whisk), allowing it to harden somewhat, before whipping it to soft peaks.  But if you leave the strawberry shortcakes out for too long in this weather, the cream will liquefy again.  So I assembled my shortcakes to order, and ignored the advice to eat them warm.

Prepped and ready to be enjoyed!

I am glad I made this.  They are really gorgeous.  I had some problems figuring out how to eat them though.  Do you take the two halves apart?  Or do you eat it like a sandwich, which is not quite possible unless you have a huge mouth?  My sons licked the filling off, then started on the scones (oreo-style).  The mascerated strawberries are lovely and sweet, making it a perfect filling for the scones.  I would make this again, just for the scones.  My sons loved the scones so much, they were quite happy to eat them without the strawberries and cream.  In the end, I was left with quite a bit of strawberry filling and cream to be used with pancakes.

Cracker Barrel Buttermilk Pancakes (with homemade strawberry syrup - inspired by Nigella)

I love Cracker Barrel's Buttermilk Pancakes.  They have to be the best pancakes in the world.  No other pancake comes close.

The love affair started in Aug 2006, when our family relocated to Montgomery, Alabama in the US for a year.  My first meal in Montgomery, was breakfast at the Cracker Barrel restaurant at Exit 11 of the I-85.  Junior and I had just arrived after an exhausting 30 hour journey from Singapore, to join my husband who had already been in Montgomery for two months.  The husband brought our tired and hungry bodies to this wonder of a restaurant and I remember feeling terribly happy.  I don't think we had the pancakes that day.  I recall eating some grits and biscuits and not taking to them quite so well.  But I loved the atmosphere and everything else I was eating.  After spending many lazy Saturday mornings brunching here, I grew to enjoy the grits and biscuits, but not quite as much as their pancakes!

I was very sad to leave Montgomery and my favourite pancakes.  Fortunately for me, Cracker Barrel sells their pancake mix in their stores and online.  Wonderful friends in the US would bring them to me by the boxes, and I would be very happy.  I don't know what I would do without my pancake mix!

Why do I love them so?  First, they taste awesome!  No styrofoam tasting blandness for you.  These pancakes pack a powerful punch in flavour.  Slightly sweet and salty, and terrific drenched in maple syrup, or on its own.  Second, they have a fantastic texture.  The pancakes are nice and thick, yet light and fluffy on the inside, with a crispiness all around.  I can't replicate all this in my own kitchen, but what I produce is good enough for me!

My children love the pancakes as well.  I normally have the pancakes with maple syrup (real maple syrup, not some corn syrup imitation).  Since I had some slightlty sour strawberries left from my strawberry baking exploits, I decided to do a modification of Nigella Lawson's blueberry syrup recipe for pancakes from her book Nigella Express, using strawberries instead of blueberries.

It's an easy peasy recipe - just boil maple syrup and strawberries in a pan until the berries soften.  Then pour over the pancakes and enjoy!

Strawberry Bread (Joy of Baking Recipe)

Since we have loads of strawberries right now, I thought I would try another strawberry recipe.  This time, it is Strawberry Bread, from joyofbaking.com.

Unlike Banana bread, where the ingredients are pretty much stirred together (great for lazy cooks like me), Strawberry bread is made quite like a cake, i.e., the butter and sugar are creamed before the flour is mixed in. This meant that my Kenwood Major would get its first use!

The ingredients are pretty much the same as a standard banana bread, except of course one uses strawberries instead of bananas.  It also uses sour cream or yoghurt  (I used yoghurt).  I received a little help from my boys, but they spent most of their time watching the Majoy whirr away...

My strawberry bread came out a little too brown.  In fact, the crust was ever so slightly burnt at some spots.  My oven might have been a bit too hot, though I don't know why since my oven thermometer showed the right temperature. I had even turned it down slightly when I thought it was getting burnt.

The crust was thick (which I suppose was the result of the hot oven).  But, the insides were nice and soft! It was not as sweet as a banana cake, which is fine by me. The softness of the cooked strawberries contrasted beautifully with the crunchy walnuts (which were toasted before chopped roughly and added to the batter).  This was very nice!

This recipe received positive reviews from my tasters.  One neighbour also asked me for the recipe, after declaring its deliciousness.

Between this and the Strawberry-Banana Muffins, however, I think I prefer the muffins.  The strawberries in the muffins were not as cooked as those in the bread, and so were still nice and jammy.  Those in the bread had been cooked much longer, and had given up most of their flavour and colour to the bread.  I'm not saying that I don't like the Strawberry Bread though, coz it is certainly very yummy!

Strawberry-Banana Muffins (Joy of Baking Recipe)

Fresh out of the Oven

It's the school holidays and I finally found some time to bake!

I had a couple of very ripe bananas sitting in my kitchen and the Joy of Baking website (one of my go-to sites) was featuring a Strawberry-Banana Muffin recipe.  I thought it sounded much more interesting than the usual banana or blueberry muffin recipes that I do (although I think plain ol' banana or blueberry muffins are quite yummy).


It was a simple recipe, using regular ingredients.  Of course, it's a bit more work than a regular banana muffin as the strawberries need to be cut up. But I had help from the boys with the mixing and mashing and spooning out.

Strawberry goodness oozing out...

There is quite a lot of batter to make 12, so each muffin cup was filled quite well.

The boys couldn't wait to try it, even though Jr really dislikes strawberries.

Once done, I noticed that the muffins had risen beautifully, and the strawberries had cooked into a juicy and jammy goodness which oozed enticingly out of the muffins.

A very soft and tender crumb.

The muffins were beautifully moist, soft with a nice tender crumb.   There was a slight tartness of the strawberries which made it quite lip-smackingly moreish...yummy.

What a brilliant way to use strawberries which are just a bit too sour to eat in large quantities.  The supermarkets have berries on promotion right now.  I'll probably be making this recipe again soon. I might also explore other recipes that use strawberries.