Strawberry Rhubarb Shortcakes
The mercury is rising, and the days are lengthening. It is the season of backyard barbecues and farmers markets. We find ourselves craving Strawberry Shortcakes this time of year, and wanted to remake this classic dessert to feature the seasonal bounty. To highlight the first stalks of rhubarb and early strawberries, we made a tangy strawberry rhubarb sauce, sweetened with handfuls of fresh strawberries. For shortcakes with bright flavor and fantastic crunch, we mixed together a dough dotted with citrus zest and crisp cornmeal. Top these lovely Strawberry Rhubarb Shortcakes with heaps of fresh whipped cream, and your family and friends will thank you. This recipe is adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts.
Yield: 10 shortcakes
Ingredients:
Shortcakes:
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 2/3 cup sugar for batter + 1/3 cup sugar to top shortcakes
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Zest of 1 orange, reserve juice for sauce
Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce:
- 1 pound chopped rhubarb, washed and trimmed
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 2 pounds strawberries, washed, trimmed, & sliced
- 1/3 cup sugar
Topping:
- Lightly sweetened whipped cream
Steps:
- For the shortcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a baking sheet with either a thin coat of butter, a silicon baking mat, or a sheet of parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the shortcake's dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt).
- Quickly add the cream, lemon zest, and orange zest to the dry ingredients and stir together with a spatula until the shortcake mixture just holds together. Do not overmix.
- Divide the dough into 10 equal portions, and form each into a rough ball. Roll each ball in the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar before spacing evenly on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 25-27 minutes, until lightly golden and baked through (a toothpick inserted comes out clean). While the shortcakes are baking, prepare the strawberry rhubarb sauce.
- For the strawberry rhubarb sauce: In a medium pot, combine the rhubarb, orange juice, sugar and half of the strawberries (1 pound). While this may seem like insufficient liquid, both the strawberries and rhubarb will juice quickly as they cook to create a loose sauce. Cook covered over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the rhubarb has broken down and is tender. Reduce heat as necessary to avoid the sauce boiling over. Once finished cooking, remove from the heat. Puree until smooth.
- Add the remaining 1 pound of fresh strawberry slices to the pureed sauce. Stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Serve shortcakes within 1 day of baking, with a dollop of whipped cream and generous spoonfuls of strawberry rhubarb sauce.
Roasted Rhubarb Strawberry Oven Jam
Every year, in the hot months of summer, my Oma would make oven jam. My Opa would buy her bushels of fresh apricots and plums from the farmers markets, and she would slow roast the fruit until they caramelized and the juices thickened, creating silky fruit jams that she tucked into layers of her torte cakes for celebrations throughout the year. In the years since she died, I find myself craving the custardy texture, and caramelized fruit taste of her jams. I started experimenting with my own oven jams recently, and found them to be simple, fail-safe, and delicious. My favorite is this tangy spring rhubarb strawberry jam, with rhubarb fresh from a friend's garden.
Old-Fashioned Rhubarb Strawberry Jam Bars
We made these Old-Fashioned Rhubarb Strawberry Jam Bars five times in the last two weeks. Each time we swore to ourselves it would be our last. But then another picnic would pop up on the calendar. Each time we turned to the jars of crimson hued roasted strawberry rhubarb jam perched in the fridge, tempting us. And so another batch of Old-Fashioned Rhubarb Strawberry Jam Bars would hit the oven, followed by much happy gobbling.
Rhubarb Strawberry Cake
Madeline is quite focused on her Papa these days. We hear her little voice calling out 'Papa' from her crib when she wakes up in the morning; she sits riveted in her highchair in the middle of the kitchen to watch Paul cook; she babbles on early morning walks with Paul, trying out her new words of the day; Madeline bangs on the door when Paul is working, shouting 'book... Papa;' and she maintains a steady chant of 'Papa....home,' as we drive home after an overnight at her grandparents. My favorite though, is her own made up game of Marco-Polo with her father. Throughout the day, Madeline will frequently interrupt her playing, eating or reading to say; 'Papa?' with a questioning lilt. Paul will respond 'Yes, Madeline.' and she will give a small nod of satisfaction, and go back to her play.
This year our Father's Day celebrations will be spread over both this weekend and the next, as we plan to welcome our new baby next Friday. For me, celebrations bring to mind cakes, and given my dislike of baking, fool-proof is a requirement. This Rhubarb Strawberry Cake has a rustic moist vanilla base, with jammy pools of cooked strawberry and rhubarb dotted on top, and a sweet crunch of caramelized sugar.
Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal
Mornings around our house typically involve a lot of bleary-eyed animal wrangling with infrequent interludes of serene calm involving both breakfast and the news. Last week, Paul upped the ante when he started classes for his second Masters degree, this one in Public Health. Between full time work, a 2 hour commute each day and now evening classes, we needed a new weekday breakfast strategy. Enter Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal in jars. In this smartly conceived dish, Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal is cleverly baked up in small canning jars, which, when cooled, can be lidded and refrigerated for up to a week for later reheating. This is a winner breakfast that we warm-up in the morning with a dash of milk, perfect for eating on the go. For those of you who are unfamiliar with baked oatmeal, it is somewhere between a less sweet fruit crisp and porridge (oatmeal) and thanks to being chock full of whole grains and nuts, it makes for a substantial breakfast. We found the addition of strawberry and rhubarb at the bottom of the jar to be a good incentive to keep digging into our baked oatmeal. Warmly spiced with cinnamon and orange, Strawberry Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal is a filling, healthy, and make-ahead way to tackle morning meals for busy week-days.
Strawberry Citrus Shortcakes
We often get a hankering for these Strawberry Citrus Shortcakes after a long day of house projects. These rustic shortcakes have a lightly sweetened biscuit-like crumb, enlivened by citrus, with a craggy sugar top and subtle crunch of cornmeal. I made these Strawberry Citrus Shortcakes for weeknight guests with our first of the season local strawberries from our CSA. A beautiful way to showcase these delicate berries.
