Strawberry Buttermilk Shortcake - #breakfastseries

Strawberry Buttermilk Shortcake

January is ending. Soon. So soon. I haven't been baking any dessert for the longest time ever. A lot of things happened, thus the impromptu hiatus. Last month's miscarriage and this month's stressful TTC (trying to conceive) journey are wrecking quite a scene in my otherwise uneventful life.

To date since 1 January 2016, I have made a pizza, stuffed French toasts, pancakes, and parfaits; but these didn't require real baking. So, I want to bake something special to re-start my passion for baking for the year 2016. When Zoe's, Joyce's, and Lena's Strawberry Shortcake blog posts showed up on my news feed, I knew I have to join them.

I have made a tub of Ellie's DIY Whole-Grain Buttermilk Pancake Mix from her latest book, You Have It Made: Delicious, Healthy, Do-Ahead Meals. So, I use this mix to make my shortcake.

Ingredients:
(Makes 11-12 two-inch round biscuits)

1 & 1/2 cups Ellie's buttermilk pancake mix (recipe from here)
1/4 cup molasses sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (57g) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
200ml whipping cream
1 cup fresh strawberries, cut into slices

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking sheet.

2. Mix pancake mix, molasses sugar, and baking powder in a bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in milk and vanilla extract. Stir until the mixture starts to form a dough.

3. Turn out dough onto a surface dusted with flour. Gently knead 3 or 4 times and pat into 3/4-inch thickness. Use a round cookie cutter to cut into round biscuits. Place them on the prepared tray.

4. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely before assembling the shortcake.

5. Mix the strawberries slices with 1 tablespoon molasses sugar and refrigerate for about 30 minutes until their juices come out. When it's about time to serve the shortbread, whip the whipping cream until you get stiff peak.

6. To assemble, spread whipped cream over one biscuit and top with strawberries slices. Serve immediately.

The motion of patting the dough and cutting them
into round biscuits is really therapeutic. :)

Best eaten immediately after, or while assembling.

They are so pretty! And I'm so happy!

Have you tried making shortcake using pancake mix? I know it sounds unconventional, but I think you can give it a try. :)

I'm linking this post to the event, Bake-Along #91: Theme - Strawberry Shortcake organized by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings, and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.

I'm also linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) for this week's theme, You Have It Made!