Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Use leftover hard-boiled eggs in a strawberry dessert


Is there any dessert that says spring better than strawberry shortcake? (Photos:
Kathy Morrison)
Recipe:  The Easter bunny's favorite shortcake



If you have extra hard-boiled eggs after today's festivities, you can make use of a few of them -- the yolks, anyway -- in the quintessential spring dessert: strawberry shortcake.

As puzzling as that may sound, it has an easy explanation: Two hard-boiled egg yolks go in with the other ingredients of the shortcake biscuit.

I'd read that bits of hard-boiled egg yolk in baked goods make for a more-tender result, and thought Easter would be the perfect time to try this. I found the perfect recipe for the biscuits on the
bonappetit.com site -- it makes a lovely base for some gorgeous strawberries. Mix and handle the dough with a light touch so you don't defeat the goal of tender shortcakes.

The unused cooked whites, by the way, when chopped or sliced make a great addition to salads, especially spinach salad.

A note about strawberries: Buy berries that smell like strawberries for shortcake! If they're good fresh ones, with a heady strawberry fragrance, I hate to gunk them up with too much sugar, cornstarch, etc. So my strawberry topping here is very light. The more involved (cooked) bonappetit.com topping can be found here .

Hard-boiled eggs play well with strawberries in shortcake.
Strawberry shortcake
Adapted from bonappetit.com
Serves 6

Shortcake ingredients:

2 hard-boiled eggs, cooled and peeled, whites removed for other use
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons fine cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream, divided
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Kathy's strawberry topping :

3 baskets ripe strawberries, washed and hulled
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons fruity liqueur, such as Kirschwasser or Framboise, optional

For serving:
Sweetened whipped cream or the topping of your choice

Shortcake instructions:

Scoop biscuit dough, don't roll it out -- that keeps it tender.
In a food processor, pulse the cooked egg yolks, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar, just to combine. Add the butter and pulse just enough to break the butter down to pea-size pieces. Slowly add the 2/3 cup cream, pulse 2 or 3 times to just incorporate it. (Alternatively, mix the dough in a bowl with a pastry blend or by criss-crossing two knives.)

Dump the dough out onto a floured pastry cloth or other floured work surface, and gently fold it onto itself just enough to get rid of any dry bits.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a 1/4 measuring cup or large ice cream scoop, scoop up 6 balls of dough and place them on the parchment paper. Do not flatten the mounds. Cover the pan with wax paper or plastic wrap and chill it about 20 minutes but no more than 30, until the dough is cold.

Baked and ready for serving after they cool a little bit.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush the tops of the dough mounds with the remaining cream and sprinkle on the coarse sugar. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden and sides are firm to the touch. Let cool. (If making ahead, up to 24 hours before serving, store the biscuits at room temperature and reheat gently before assembling shortcakes.)

Strawberry topping instructions :

Thickly slice about 1/3 of the strawberries and place in a non-reactive bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons sugar (a little more if the berries aren't super-sweet), and let the berries macerate at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

If using the liqueur, stir it into the macerated berries. Then cut the remaining berries into quarters or slices and stir them into the macerated berries.

To assemble:

Split the biscuits and place the bottom halves on dessert plates or in bowls. Spoon some of the berries over each biscuit, then add some whipped cream and cover with the biscuit top. Serve immediately.





Comments

0 comments have been posted.
RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Local News

Ad for California Local

Dig In: Garden Checklist

For week of March 26:

Sacramento can expect another inch of rain from this latest storm. Leave the sprinklers off at least another week. Temps will dip down into the low 30s early in the week, so avoid planting tender seedlings (such as tomatoes). Concentrate on these tasks before or after this week’s rain:


* Fertilize roses, annual flowers and berries as spring growth begins to appear.


* Knock off aphids with a strong blast of water or some bug soap as soon as they appear.


* Pull weeds now! Don’t let them get started. Take a hoe and whack them as soon as they sprout.


* Prepare summer vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.


* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.


* Feed camellias at the end of their bloom cycle. Pick up browned and fallen flowers to help corral blossom blight.


* Feed citrus trees, which are now in bloom and setting fruit.


To prevent sunburn and borer problems on young trees, paint the exposed portion of the trunk with diluted white latex (water-based) interior paint. Dilute the paint with an equal amount of cold water before application.

* Cut back and fertilize perennial herbs to encourage new growth.


* Seed and renovate the lawn (if you still have one). Feed cool-season grasses such as bent, blue, rye and fescue with a slow-release fertilizer. Check the irrigation system and perform maintenance. Make sure sprinkler heads are turned toward the lawn, not the sidewalk.


* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce and kale.


* Seed chard and beets directly into the ground.


* Plant summer bulbs, including gladiolus, tuberous begonias and callas. Also plant dahlia tubers.


* Shop for perennials. Many varieties are available in local nurseries and at plant events. They can be transplanted now while the weather remains relatively cool.

Contact Us

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event.  sacdigsgardening@gmail.com