As a child, we did frequent family dinners at my grandparents home in Massachusetts. They were less about the food and more about the family. Of course I still loved my grandmothers cooking. I remember she would clip out weekly winner recipes in the paper or a holiday special from a magazine. She had many hand written recipes, but her GO TO kitchen assistant was always "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook" filled with those recipe clippings as page holders and hand written notes in the margins.
She handed the cookbook down to my mother. We frequently referred to it in our kitchen. It had become our GO TO cookbook; however, it was most assuredly my mothers when I moved into my own place. Bummer! To my huge surprise, my dad tracked down a 1996 commemorative edition of THE ORIGINAL 1896 Fannie Farmer for my 20th birthday!! Can you see my excitement jumping out of the page??? Don't get me wrong, I love using my food processor for a perfect pie crust or some DELICIOUS Oreo truffles, but the family oriented simple side of me could not have been happier. My dad gets me. He totally gets me. This is easily a top 5 gift in my 28 years!
Keep in mind, this version was written in 1896 without modern updates. Not a great gift idea for someone just beginning in the kitchen, but perfect as a novelty or a usable cookbook if you can interpret and change things a bit. It is so much more than just recipes though, it begins with teaching you about food. What is it? Organic vs. Inorganic. Moving on to cookery and how to build a fire. This book was also monumental in introducing standard measurements in recipes. Something to think about next time you pull out your perfectly sized measuring spoons.
Are you wondering where am I going with this family favorite cookbook story??? Just a little background about where this recipe came from.
We have been actively crossing things off our Spring Bucket List. There is still about 5 weeks left, if you want to check it out for some fun ideas! This week we had an abundance of strawberries so, it seemed only right that we make strawberry shortcake! Cue Fannie Farmer and my two tiny mixers.
Strawberry Short Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar + 3 Tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1 basket of strawberries
2 cups whipped cream
Makes 2 strawberry shortcakes
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and create the shortcake.
Step 2: Mix dry ingredients and sift twice.
Step 3: Add butter in small amounts and work in with fingertips.
Step 4: Add milk gradually and mix.
Step 5: Toss onto floured surface and divide into two parts.
Step 6: Pat and roll out into a rough circle.
Step 7: Bake each in a greased round pan for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Step 8: While the shortcakes are baking, crush slightly and heat strawberries with 3 Tablespoons of sugar on low. Reserve 3-6 strawberries for shortcake topper.
Step 9: Allow shortcakes to cool slightly, slice and butter. Remove strawberries from heat.
Step 10: Once the shortcake has cooled, layer dessert from the bottom up as follows; shortcake, whipped cream, sweetened strawberries, shortcake, dollop of whipped cream, 3 strawberries.
One great thing about this recipe is that it makes two decent sized cakes. One for you and one to share!
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