Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake

IT'S STRAWBERRY SEASON here in Nova Scotia, and anybody in his or her right mind is eating as many fresh strawberries as possible. When the local restaurant and farm store advertised home-made strawberry pie on its roadside sign, the pies disappeared within a few days. You have to move fast during strawberry season.

The best strawberries, big and deep red and full of flavor, should be eaten right out of the box. If you rinse them first, you have more self-discipline than I do.

If you want to gussy them up a bit, a bowlful with a bit of cream and maybe a dab of sugar is fabulous and not too hard on the waistline.

But for sheer strawberry bliss there is nothing like our strawberry shortcake, which is traditionally served at "strawberry suppers" held in churches all over Nova Scotia. The ingredients are simple:

• Biscuits made with extra sugar.


• Strawberries. I slice them and add a quarter cup of sugar per pint. At our local church, most of them are mashed (I'm not sure whether sugar is added), a few are sliced, and some are left whole with the green tops on. This makes for a very attractive presentation.


• Whipped cream. I usually add some powdered sugar to the cream as I'm beating it.

And devour! A big bowl of this is so filling, and so delicious, that some nights this is all Tim and I have for supper. And we consider ourselves very well fed.

Here in Nova Scotia, home-made biscuits go on sale as soon as the first strawberries become available (and are often offered right next to the strawberries). Being far too lazy to roll out and cut biscuit dough, I don't make my own even though a neighbor generously shared her family recipe. I'm not going to give out that recipe, either. However, those of you not lucky enough to be Maritimers should pick your favorite biscuit recipe and add half to a full tablespoonful of sugar for each cup of flour. A basic "shortcake biscuit" recipe from the Joy of Cooking calls for:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 5-6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup half and half

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl. Cut in butter. Add half and half. Mix until most of the dry ingredients are moist. Knead dough 5-10 times. Roll dough about 3/4 inch thick and cut into squares or rounds. Place on a large ungreased baking sheet, about an inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes until biscuits are golden brown.