Ben Ford's Summer Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

Preheat the oven to 425°. In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, granulated sugar and salt. Add 6 tablespoons of diced butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3/4 cup of cream and process until the dough just comes together. (Be careful not to mix too long or the dough will become tough.)

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 3 times. Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a floured 2 3/4-inch round biscuit cutter, make 8 shortcakes, cutting the biscuits as close together as possible. Transfer to a large baking sheet. Brush tops of shortcakes with cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake shortcakes for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

In a bowl, beat the remaining 2 cups of cream with the mascarpone, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.

If strawberries are at the peak of ripeness, toss the berries with 5 tablespoons of sugar. For less ripe fruit, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet. Toss the berries in a bowl with 1/2 cup of turbinado sugar and the lemon juice. Add mixture to melted butter in skillet and cook over high heat, stirring, until the fruit begins to release its juices, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

To serve, cut the shortcakes in half horizontally. Set the bottoms on plates. Top with fruit. Add a large dollop of whipped cream to each shortcake bottom. Place the top half of the shortcakes on the whipped cream and berries, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes

This recipe may appear slightly modified from what you've seen on television.