Brown Butter Brown Sugar Shortcake

With 4^th of July right around the corner, I’ve been contemplating that all-American summer staple, strawberry shortcake, and ways to freshen it up. I grew up eating store-bought, preservative-laden, sickeningly sweet cake cups filled with sliced berries and topped with Cool Whip. It wasn’t until adulthood that I realized the berries and whip were the best part, and the store-bought cake had to go. I’ve been making my own shortcake for years now and it’s upped my dessert game considerably. I’ve experimented with different flavor combinations like gingerbread shortcake with fresh pineapple or cornbread shortcake with blueberries, all topped with freshly whipped cream. But today, my friends, I have stumbled on shortcake perfection. These brown butter brown sugar shortcakes are culinary perfection. They are light, tender, flaky, moist, and the perfect vehicle for whatever fruit you want to top them with. I chose to pair them with a rhubarb-honey compote, but peaches or even bananas would be excellent as well. There are no photos accompanying this recipe because they were gone too fast. Enjoy, and happy summer!

2 cups all-purpose flour (or sub white whole wheat flour)

¼ cup packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ cup (1 stick) butter

½ cup heavy cream

1. Brown the butter: Heat butter over low-medium heat in a light-colored pan until the butter is golden brown and fragrant and you see dark brown flecks in the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat immediately to prevent burning. Pour the still-liquid butter into a glass bowl and refrigerate until solid.

2. While the butter is cooling, sift the flour into a bowl and whisk in the brown sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.

3. Scrape the cold browned butter into the dry ingredients and work it in with your fingers or a pastry blender until the butter pieces are pea-sized.

4. Stir in the heavy cream until the dough clings together, but don’t overwork the dough.

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a circle that is ½ inch thick. Using a 2 or 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter or glass, cut the dough out and place the circles 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 until lightly browned and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes.

6. Let cool for 15 minutes, split, top with fruit and whipped cream, and enjoy!!