Strawberry Shortcake

It's June. Local strawberries are in season! These (pictured) are picked from my own garden. :)

Ingredients

¾ lb strawberries, stemmed and quartered (or sliced)

4 Tbls sugar

1 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

¹/₈ tsp baking soda

scant ½ tsp salt

¾ C heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.

Mix strawberries with 2 tablespoons sugar and refrigerate while juices develop, at least 30 minutes.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add heavy cream and mix until just combined. Divide dough into 3 or 4 portions; drop each portion of dough by large scoops onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown on tops.

Remove shortcakes from baking sheet and place on a rack to cool slightly. Split each piece in half horizontally.

Spoon some of the strawberries with their juice onto each shortcake bottom. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and then the shortcake top. Spoon more strawberries over the top and serve. If desired, garnish with a dollop more whipped cream and mint sprigs. In the photo, some mint leaves were minced and added to the berries with the sugar in the first step. It's not leaves from the strawberry stems. :)

Whipped Cream:

1 C  heavy cream

3 Tbls  powdered sugar

½ tsp  vanilla

Combine ingredients in mixer bowl and beat until thick.