Chez Nous Bistro

Einkorn flour shortcake with Berry Compote & Mascarpone-Vanilla Cream

I’ve continued to be amazed with each thing that I bake using Einkorn flour and how delicious it is!  We currently have my dentist’s office in a meeting in our private dining room, and these folks have eaten many of my scones over the years.  They’re one of my favorite things to make (and eat), a tender, sweet and buttery scone made with oats and lots of fresh berries and topped with a little glaze.  I’ll share that recipe another time — generously shared with me many years ago by my friend and fellow pastry chef, Linda, back in our Atlantic Inn days (more about that dream job another time too!).  Anyway, the whole group inhaled the scones and declared them the best ever, and I knew that already, because I baked them with Einkorn flour.  This flour has such a delicious taste, unlike plain all-purpose flour which really has no taste at all.  There is so little gluten in the flour, it makes incredibly delicate pastries, like using a lighter cake flour, with wonderful results.  It’s kind of a secret weapon, but I’m sharing it with you and I hope you agree with me after you acquire some Einkorn flour and bake these delicious shortcakes.  Fill them with any fruit you like.  I like to macerate fresh fruit in sugar and a little liqueur (strawberries with Grand Marnier, for example, or blueberries with Creme de Cassis? why not?), and fresh whipped cream (a guest at the restaurant recently asked me if we used fresh whipped cream with our desserts and I’m happy I couldn’t see my own completely dumbfounded face:  it took a second to register what she was talking about). Slice and mix up the fruit an hour or two before you serve them and the fruit will release its juice and make a syrupy sauce.  Make the shortcakes ahead of time and freeze them if you like, then just let them get warm near the stove while you cook dinner and they’ll be perfect, moist and fresh when you serve them!

Shortcakes- makes 8

2 c Einkorn flour (or all-purpose flour)

2 t  baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/3 c sugar + 2 T for sprinkling

3/4  stick cold butter

3/4 c heavy cream + 2 T for glazing

1t Vanilla

1 egg

-Preheat oven to 375F

-Place dry ingredients in the food processor with the cold butter, cut into small cubes.  Pulse the machine (or cut by hand very very small if you don’t want to use a machine) a few times until the butter is in small pieces and well-dispersed.  Turn out into a large mixing bowl.  Mix cream, vanilla and egg with a fork to combine, then pour over the dry ingredients and mix deliberately with a spatula.  When the mix comes together into a soft dough, pat it out on the table into a 1 1/2 inch thick circle using plenty of flour so it doesn’t stick.  I like to cut the shortcakes with a sharp knife into wedges, place them on the baking tray, and then brush them with a little heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.  They take about 20 minutes in the oven to bake through (when in doubt, look on the bottom and make sure it’s brown, or slice into it to make sure the middle is cooked (you’re going to slice them horizontally when you serve them anyway, so no worries about cheating!)).