Kasey Wilson: Local strawberries herald summer’s arrival

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Our global supply chain makes strawberries available all year long, but the local crop — red throughout and dripping with juice — is worth waiting for each year. They are grown in every province of Canada, and for many of us they are the first taste of summer.

Strawberries marry well with stone fruits and are delicious sliced and sweetened as a side to custards and cakes, stirred into plain yogurt or spooned over vanilla ice cream. My recipe for Strawberry Loaf shows that their jammy goodness shines in baked goods, too.

The quintessential preparation is, of course, strawberry shortcake, and you owe to yourself to make Anna Olson’s classic version at least once this season.

Classic Strawberry Shortcake

The shortcakes are best served the day they are baked, but the dough can be portioned and frozen (wrapped in plastic wrap, together or individually) and thawed in the fridge before baking. (Adapted from Bake with Anna Olson, Appetite by Random House.)

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Shortcakes:

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour

¼ cup (50 mL) sugar

1 Tbsp (15 mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5 mL) finely grated lemon zest

½ tsp (2 mL) baking soda

¼ tsp (1 mL) salt

¼ cup (50 mL) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2/3 cup (160 mL) buttermilk

1 egg, whisked with 2 Tbsp (30 mL) water

Filling

1 cup (250 mL) whipping cream

2 Tbsp (25 mL) sugar

½ tsp (2 mL) vanilla

2 cups (500 mL) sliced fresh strawberries

Icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 375°F (180°C). Line a rimless baking tray with parchment paper.

For the shortcakes, measure flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl, and whisk to combine well. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarsely crumbly (it will not look dramatically different). Stir in the buttermilk just until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Flatten and fold the dough over itself repeatedly, working in any dry flour mixture as you fold, until it all comes together. (This will produce a flaky shortcake.)

Shape the dough into a rectangle about 10 by 6 inches (25 by 15 cm) and ½ inch (1 cm) thick. Cut it into 8 equal rectangles and place them 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the prepared pan. Brush the tops with the egg wash.

Bake shortcakes for 18 to 20 minutes, until the tops are an even golden brown. Slide them, still on the parchment paper, onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

For the filling, whip the cream to soft peaks, adding the sugar and vanilla at the end.

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One at a time, split each shortcake in half horizontally. Place the bottom half on a dessert plate and dollop on a little whipped cream. Spoon strawberries over top and gently rest the top of the shortcake on the fruit. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.

Serves 8

Strawberry Loaf

This bread freezes well and makes delicious toast on the second day after baking or thawing.

2 eggs

½ cup (125 mL) butter, at room temperature

1 cup (250 mL) sugar

½ tsp (2 mL) almond extract

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour

1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

1 cup (250 mL) chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-by-5-inch (2 L) loaf pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with greased wax paper.

Separate eggs, setting yolks aside. In the small bowl of an electric mixer, beat whites until stiff and set aside.

In the large bowl of the mixer, beat the butter, sugar and almond extract until light and fluffy. Beat in the yolks just until combined.

Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a third bowl and whisk to combine well.

Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with strawberries, beating after each addition just until combined. Fold reserved whites into batter.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake for about 50 minutes, until bread tests done with a skewer or thermometer (see Kitchen Hack). Cool in pan for 10 minutes before unmolding onto a wire rack to cool completely.

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Makes 8 to 10 slices

Kitchen Hack: Thermometers aren’t just for meat

With a digital thermometer you can catch your quick bread at peak doneness — neither underbaked and doughy nor overbaked and dry. A few minutes before the baking time has elapsed, remove the pan from the oven and stick a thermometer straight down through the centre of the loaf, stopping just before it touches the pan bottom. Gradually draw it out, checking readings along the way. You’ll see the temperature drop as the probe moves from bottom to centre, then rise again as you start to withdraw it. When the bread is perfectly done, the centre will register between 200°F and 205°F, and no part will be below 200°F.