If there is anything I remember seeing at the Farmers Market lately, it’s berries – especially strawberries. Go grab yourself some strawberries or blueberries this weekend and surprise your loved ones with this amazingly simple shortcake. This recipe can be used with either strawberries or blueberries… or even peaches, though I’ve never tried those… yet! I would recommend making the vegan whipped cream ahead of time to get it nice and cold in the fridge. It will last up to 5 days!… If it lasts that long!
Vegan Strawberry Shortcake
To make the biscuits:
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2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or use 1 cup whole wheat pastry + 1 cup unbleached flour)
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1/4 cup raw sugar
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2 tsp baking powder (non aluminum kind, like Rumford)
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1/2 tsp salt
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3/4 cup water (using warm water makes it mix easier)
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1/4 cup coconut oil
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1 tsp vanilla extract
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1/2 tsp almond extract
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the coconut oil, water and extracts. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just mixed but no floury pockets.
Carefully pat the dough out about 1/2″ thick onto some parchment paper. (I almost just used my 1/4 cup to scoop the biscuits out because the dough is very delicate, but if you have some parchment paper, you should be able to pat it out very gently and use a biscuit cutter okay. I got 8 biscuits but could have gotten 9 if I had made them a teency bit smaller.)
Bake 12-14 minutes on a parchment lined baking sheet until golden and allow to cool.
Shortcake biscuits, waiting to be cut and served!
Make the sauce:
- 1/2 cup of chopped berries
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Place maple syrup, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of the berries in a saucepan. Simmer on low, stirring, until the mixture thickens, crushing some berries during the process. Set aside to cool slightly.
To serve:
Cut a biscuit in half, top the bottom piece with whipped cream, then sauce and then garnish with fresh berries. Top with remaining biscuit (opt). DEVOUR! (If your little one likes to help in the kitchen, stacking these sweet treats together can be quite a sweet treat for them!)
This biscuit was made with tofu whipped cream
Oh yeah… one more thing – I ran across this great little article on vegan baking tips from Vegan Pastry Chef Fran Costigan. It’s a quick, print-worthy/stick it in your cookbook – kind of read! Check it out!
Your Vegan Neighbor 