Shortcake with Vanilla Whipped Cream and Berries

A Joke

A farmer was driving along the road with a load of fertilizer. A little boy, playing in front of his house, saw him and called, "What've you got in your truck?"

"Fertilizer," the farmer replied.

"What are you going to do with it?" asked the little boy.

"Put it on strawberries," answered the farmer.

"You ought to live here," the little boy advised him. "We put sugar and cream on ours."

The Recipe

Shortcake

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 / 2 cup sugar + extra for topping

2 tbsp shortening

2 tbsp unsalted butter + 1 for topping

1 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 450.

In a large metal mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add butter and shortening, do not mix, and set this and a fork in the freezer for half an hour.

Cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture with the frozen fork. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the heavy cream. Using a spatula, fold the cream into the flour until the dough just comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Fold the dough into itself a few times then pat the dough out till it is about 3 /4 of a inch thick. Using a 3” biscuit cutter, portion the shortcakes.

Remove to a parchment lined sheet pan. You will want to set them so the are gently touching sides. Brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 450 for 10 to 15 min or until golden brown.

Split and top the bottom with berries and whipped cream. Place the top back on and repeat.

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream

2 cups heavy cream

1 vanilla bean

1 / 3 cup sugar

Measure the cream into a medium size metal mixing bowl. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape most of the seeds into cream. Wisk the mixture to combine then set in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours.

Measure the sugar into a small zip top bag and add the vanilla bean and remaining seeds to the sugar. Seal the bag and rub the mixture together then set aside.

After the allotted time has passed, remove the vanilla bean from the sugar. Mix the cream on low while slowly adding the sugar. Once the sugar is added increase the speed to med-high and mix until stiff peaks are formed.

Berries

3 pints berries (whatever looks good)

1 /2 cup sugar

Wash Berries and slice the strawberries if there are any. Toss them with 1/2 cup of white sugar. Set aside. This is best done the day before. That will give the berries time to develop a nice syrup.

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finish with no evil - vanilla bean cheesecake

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Nilla Wafer Crust and Fresh Raspberry Sauce.

True store…well, not really.

But what was that smudge on his jacket, she wondered. It looks like cheesecake. But no, Harold loves my cheesecake. He would never eat just any hussy’s dessert. He would always come home for hers, she told herself as she picked up his shirt. But as she stared at that red stain on the collar of his dress shirt she knew. She knew it was worse then her worst nightmare ever dreamed of… Raspberry sauce.

Later that night when Harriet confronted Harold, he admitted right to it.

“You said you were bored with vanilla, Harold. Do you remember telling me that? Hmmm?”

“That wasn’t the vanilla I was talking about, Harriet.” He sighed. “This is natural vanilla. With those wonderful little specs of …er, um….of wonderment.”

“I’m sorry, Harold. But just because my cheesecake isn’t as good as Lucinda Applebottoms, doesn’t give you the right to run around behind my back!”

“You should see the crust she makes, Harriet! You should see it…She makes it out of Nilla wafers.”

“Nilla wafers, Harold? Really, how old are we?” Harriet spat.

“See, Harriet. I knew you would never understand. That’s why I am leaving you.”

“Don’t Harold! Don’t say that!” Harriet pleaded as Harold picked up his fork and left. Harriet knew where he would be going. Lucinda Applebottom. Damn you, she screamed inside herself. Damn you!

If only Harriet would have had this recipe. Don’t be like Harriet. Don’t let your relationship fail because of sub-par cheesecake. Go make your loved one one right now! Go, run like the wind!

Vanilla Sugar – It all starts with vanilla sugar

2 cups sugar – This is more then you need, but it never hurts to have some extra on hand. Vanilla sugar is good in tea.
1 vanilla bean

Place the sugar into a zip top bag. Slice the vanilla bean and scrap down the bean with the back of a knife to remove the inside seeds. Place seeds and bean into the bag, seal, shake and store.

This can be done several days ahead of time, but two weeks would be even better.

Nilla Wafer Crust

50 Nilla wafers
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Vanilla Sugar

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Brush some of the melted butter around a 9 by 3-inch cake pan. If you opt for a spring form pan, make sure to wrap the bottom and sides with tin foil before it enters the pool. The one down side to spring forms are that they leak.

Adhere parchment to the bottom and a long strip around the side.

Take the Nilla wafers and place into a large zip top bag. Crush. If there are still plenty of big pieces left, good. That adds a nice texture to the crust.

In a small bowl, combine crushed Nilla wafers, the remaining melted butter, and the 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool.

Cheesecake Batter

20 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vanilla sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
2 eggs
3 yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream

In the bowl of your mixer, beat sour cream for 10 seconds. You are going to want to get it on the beaters and around the bowl. This will help the batter come together. Add the cream cheese and sugar and mix on low for 30 seconds. Once the sugar is wet you can turn it up to medium. Thoroughly scrape down the side of the bowl.

In a separate container, combine vanilla, the insides of a scraped out vanilla bean (seeds), eggs, yolks, and heavy cream. With the mixer on medium, slowly pour the mixture into the mix. When half of it is in, stop and thoroughly scrape.

Continue adding the mixture until the rest of the ingredients are in. Once completely combined and smooth, pour into the cooled crust.

Lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F. Place the cheesecake into a preheated water bath and bake for 1 hour.

** If you are using a spring form pan, I can’t stress enough the importance of sealing the bottom of your pan with tin foil. Your cheesecake will be in the pool for a minimum of two hours. That is a lot of time for it to leak. **

Turn the oven off and open the door for about one minute to let some of the heat escape. Now close the door and let it be for one more hour. It may not look completely done when you turn the oven off, don’t worry. It will firm up in the next hour.

Remove the cheesecake from the pool. Dry off the bottom and place in the refrigerator for a minimum if 6 hours before serving.

Raspberry Sauce

12oz fresh raspberries
¼ cup vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon lemon

Place the raspberries, lemon juice and sugar into the bowl of your food processor and puree. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl. Enjoy now or cover and set in the refrigerator.