Cuter than a shortbread biscuit

Strawberry shortcake banana split!  We think your team is full of--shake it to the left!  Shake it to the right!

Did you ever sing this song as a kid?  Did you giggle at how 'shake' made the adults think you were going to say shit?  I did!  And all summer long, I have been giggling, scheming, and searching for the best shortcake recipe.  Alas school has started and despite what the calendars say, that means summer's over for millions of kids.  Thankfully, my mom came to visit this past weekend and gave me an awesome reason to get quick in the kitchen with this recipe on Friday night.

Most of the recipes I found weren't really cakes, per se, more like biscuits.  I think the biscuit thing is really hot right now, especially for Knoxville, which is home of the International Biscuit Festival.  Also biscuits seem more rustic than cake and we are in the middle of this movement (buzzwords are 'local,' 'sustainable,' 'homemade,' 'don't eat it if your grandmother wouldn't recognize the ingredients,' etc)...let's face it folks, cake ain't that earthy--but biscuits... 

Berry Shortbread Biscuits
I am using the biscuit recipe for Very Berry Shortcakes from Vegetarian Times.

Biscuits
3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp canola oil
3/4 cup almond milk, plus more for brushing tops of shortcakes
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup turbinado sugar, optional

Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and coat baking sheet with cooking spray.  Put your metal mixing bowl and whisk attachment into the freezer.  Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl.  Stir in oil until mixture resembles coarse meal.

In a separate bowl, whisk together almond milk and vanilla extract.  Stir almond milk mixture into flour mixture until soft dough forms.

Turn out dough onto floured work surface, and roll to 1-inch thickness.  Cut out 8 shortcakes with 2 1/2-inch round cutter.  Transfer to prepared baking sheet, brush biscuit tops with almond milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar if using.  Bake 12 to 15 min or until biscuits are golden brown.  Cool 10 min.

While the biscuits are cooling make the whipped cream.  Get your frosty bowl and whisk attachment from the freezer and using your mixer (or by hand...ouch!) whip heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Add sugar and vanilla.  Whip until stiff peaks form (until it looks like whipped cream).

What about the berries?  Some recipes call for a berry compote or something fancy like that.  I just microwaved a frozen mixed berry blend (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries) until thawed.  In between nukes I mashed the berries a little with a fork to extract more juice for drizzling.

Assembly required:  Using a serrated knife, split the biscuits in half.  Place the bottom on your plate, top with berries and a touch of whipped cream.  Cap with biscuit tops, a generous heap of whipped cream, more berries & berry juice.

Shameless Plug:  Balancing Flow is still at 7:45pm on Tuesdays at the Glowing Body AND starting in September, I will be taking over the Karma Yoga I class on Sundays at 1:00pm.  Karma Yoga is donation based.  See you there!