Today’s post for Tuesdays With Dorie--Baking Chez Moi are Strawberry Shortcakes Franco-Amercian Style (pages 338-340 and 424-425). They are basically a ladyfinger dough, piped onto a baking sheet. Two cookies/cakes are sandwiched with fresh whipped cream and berries. Dorie’s recipes has a great filling with a strawberry compote as well as another option for roasted strawberries. My family likes fresh berries, so I made the cakes, whipped some fresh cream and washed some berries—raspberries, blackberries and strawberries and let everyone choose what they wanted.
It was fun to make the ladyfinger batter, which I hadn’t done before. The simple dough is made with whipped egg whites added to minimal ingredients of the yolks, a little flour and sugar and some cornstarch. So easy and I liked doing something new. The dough is put in a piping bag and piped into three inch circles and baked for a short time. The cookies are tender and cake-like. I tasted a little piece of one. They could easily be made with a gluten free flour and organic sugar. I will try that next time.
If I have learned anything from all my years baking from Dorie’s cookbooks with TWD, it is mise en place—everything in its place. I love getting everything ready to go before I begin assembling a recipe. The parchment is ready to go and the piping bag.
Quite the simple batter and piping is easy—don’t be afraid of it. Yes, filling the bag gets just a little messy, but that’s what baking is all about, right?
Baked to a perfect golden color, the shortcakes are ready to go with whipped creamy goodness and fresh berries!
I set up a quick dessert station and let my family have at it.
