Berries and Cream - recipe

Happy Friday!

Who's looking forward to the unofficial start of summer this weekend with Memorial Day? Well, we are!

I recently had a dessert disaster that ended up turning into something pretty tasty that I'm going to share today.

This all came about because were having company over for dinner and I attempted to make popovers for the first time. By the way, I do not recommend making a new recipe when you are cooking for others. I usually test them first to see if I like it but the recipe looked foolproof (ha!) so I gave it a shot. Well, I guess there's something to those special popover pans because I tried making them in a mini muffin tin and it was a complete disaster. They became charred little bits of dough.

Not good.

Our company would be arriving shortly and I needed a replacement dessert - FAST. I had made cream and had some frozen berries for the popovers so I decided to salvage them and make little berry shortcakes. I quickly mixed up some pie dough, baked it and topped it with the cream and semi-thawed berries.

It was a hit.

So, if you find yourself in a bind and need a dessert fast, here's a quick little recipe that's even color appropriate for Memorial Day or the 4th of July!



Ingredients:

This is my grandma's super-flaky pie dough recipe:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
4-6 tablespoons ice cold water
optional: 1 egg yolk and 2 tablespoons whipped cream

Vanilla cream:
1 cup sweetened whipped cream
1 cup prepared vanilla pudding (I used jell-o)

Frozen or fresh berries

Here's what you need to do to make the dough.



Fill a bowl with a cup of water and a couple of ice cubes. Then, sift the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening. I use a fork because that's how grandma always did it. Cut it in until it's mealy.



Then add 3-4 tablespoons of the ice cold water. Mash it in with your fork but don't over mix. If you want really flaky pie dough, the secret is using as little water as possible and not over mixing it.

Once most of the dough starts to pull together, I typically need to add another tablespoon of water and mix a little more. I may be a little extreme in how little I mix my dough, but it works for me.



Then I lightly press it all together and transfer it to a lightly floured surface to roll out. I've read it's best to start from the middle and roll outwards to keep your dough flaky, so that's what I do.



Once it's rolled out, I tear off pieces and put them on an ungreased cookie sheet. You could cut out fun shapes but I like the "rustic" look of the torn pieces.

Now, here's a little trick I learned from my grandma-in-law: mix 2 tablespoons whipped cream with a beaten egg yolk and brush it on top of the dough. This makes it golden and crispy when you bake it!

I also topped it with a little cinnamon and sugar before baking.



Bake it at 350 degrees until golden in color. Transfer your dough pieces to a cooling rack and let cool completely.



Once it's cooked, put a couple pieces of dough on a plate, top with a little cream and then some berries. And, if you're feeling crazy, sprinkle with a little powdered sugar.



Enjoy! And, have a fantastic weekend!!