Strawberry Shortcakes For 2 (America'S Test Kitchen) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled
5 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

For the shortcakes, use first 8 ingredients: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the rack in the middle position. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a food processor, mix the flour, 5 teaspoons of sugar, the baking powder, and salt until combined (about 3 pulses) then add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal (about 15 pulses).
Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Whisk the half-and-half and the whole egg together then mix into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until large clumps form. The recipe indicates that using regular milk is ok but not as rich as the half-and-half and that using heavy cream makes the cakes too dense.
Turn the mixture onto a floured board and shape the dough into two circles about 2-1/2 inches in diameter and about 1 inch thick.
Brush the tops with the egg white. Then sprinkle the tops with the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Place on prepared cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, turning the pan halfway through cooking.
Cool on wire wrack.
For the fruit use the next 2 ingredients: Crush 3/4 cup (about 3.75 ounces) of the strawberries with a potato masher in a medium bowl. Slice the remaining strawberries and fold them into the crushed berries, along with the sugar. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
For the whipped cream use the last 3 ingredients:
Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium spead until frothy -- about 1 minute. Then turn to high and whip to soft peaks, 1-3 minutes. Of course, store bought whipped cream will work, too.
To serve: Slice the shortcake horizontally. Place some of the strawberries on the bottom half, put a dollop or two of whipped cream on the strawberries and top with the other half of the short cake.