Strawberry Shortcake

PLEASE NOTE: This recipe was posted prior to Marty's transition to a gluten-free diet. It will be re-written soon to fit into the gluten-free model of this blog!

This dessert was an all-time favorite growing up. It represented the true return of Summer in the flavor of the sun-kissed strawberries. This vegan variation is, in my opinion, even better than what I remember tasting as a child (don't tell my Mother...:)). I found the original recipe for the yummy shortbread and strawberry sauce at www.vegalicious.com, but have altered the ingredients to suit my dietary preferences and re-written the instructions in my own words. This recipe yields 8 servings.

Shortbread Recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2 cups all purpose organic, unbleached flour
1 Tbs. aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
4 Tbs. cold vegan butter, like non-soy Earth Balance
2 Tbs. raw sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter, add the cold vegan butter, cutting the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in sugar. Add coconut milk and combine just enough to form a soft dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Kneed dough 6-8 times to form a soft dough. Pat or roll dough to a square or rectangle shape (I do this by hand, no roller), adding a small amount of flour to dough surface if sticking. Cut dough with a knife into 8 rectangles or squares. Place squares onto a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes or until just starting to brown (try to avoid a hard bottom crust).

Cool completely before assembling shortcakes to serve.

Strawberry Sauce

1 pint organic strawberries, washed, topped, and diced small (maybe reserve a few berries for garnishing)
1 - 2 Tbs. raw sugar, based on desired sweetness

Combine diced strawberries and sugar in a small bowl, cover and chill until ready for use.

To assemble your shortcakes, slice each shortcake in half vertically, like you would slice a biscuit to butter it. Place lower half of the shortcake on your serving dish, add about 1/2 cup of the strawberry sauce, and top with the second half of your shortcake. Garnish with reserved sliced strawberries and serve with a dab of vegan whipped cream topping or a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream. Serve immediately and enjoy thoroughly. :)

Remember, use local and organic foods as much as possible. This is just as important as our choice to remove/reduce animal products from our diet!


*contains gluten, soy-free