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Strawberry Shortcake, Thyme and Ricotta Biscuits

Strawberry Shortcakes, Thyme and Pepper Ricotta Biscuits

A great little versatile biscuit is the base for this classic summertime dessert.  Fresh berries are macerated in a simple syrup and Rosé or Prosecco, and the whipped cream has mascarpone for additional flavour and stability.  

Course Dessert
Cuisine North American
Keyword biscuits, shortcake, strawberry
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 9

Ingredients

Biscuits:

  • 3/4 cup Smooth Ricotta
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk plus more for brushing the tops
  • 2 cups AP flour plus more for dusting
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp fresh chopped thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 8 tbsp 1 stick frozen or very cold unsalted butter
  • 4 tsp turbinado or raw sugar , optional

Berries

  • 3 cups fresh berries cleaned and sliced (can use strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or even apricots, nectarines or peaches)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 3-4 tbsp Rosé optional. Can also use Prosecco, or even bourbon
  • 3 tbsp fresh mint chopped, divided

Whipped Ricotta

  • 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp bourbon optional

Instructions

Biscuits

  1. Place oven rack in centre position and preheat the oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

  2. Whisk the ricotta and buttermilk together in a small bowl.

  3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, thyme and pepper, and sugar, ,and blend with a fork.

  4. Using the large holes on a box grater, grate the butter into the flour mixture. Toss to combine. Be gentle, trying not to over handle the butter with your fingers, to keep it as cold as possible.

  5. Add the ricotta mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.

  6. Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and knead until it all comes together. If needed, you can add an extra bit of flour.  It may seem to take a few minutes, but then it will suddenly come together.  Once there, stop.

  7. With a well floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12 inch square.
  8. Using a bench scraper or spatula, fold 1/3 over to the middle.
  9. Then fold the other side over, like folding a letter. Then fold this in half. You should have a rough rectangle.
  10. Press down with the rolling pin and repeat this process one more time.
  11. After the second round of folding, roll out the dough into an 8 1/2 square. Trim 1/4 inch off of all sides, with a sharp knife in clean strokes. Do not cut back in forth in a sawing motion, as this will close up the layers, and the biscuits will not rise properly. I find that using a pizza cutter works wonderfully for this.

  12. Cut the 8 inch square into 9 even square biscuits. Cut using the same motion as above, do not cut back and forth. Clean cuts will allow the biscuits to rise perfectly in the oven.  This means two cuts in both directions, creating three rows of three biscuits per row.

  13. Transfer these to the parchment lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch in between each.

  14. Brush the tops with some more buttermilk. Sprinkle some turbinado or raw sugar over the tops (if you know that they won't all be eaten as dessert, just sprinkle the ones you want to with the sugar and leave the rest un-sugared. Then you can have these ones for an egg sandwich the next morning!)

  15. Bake for 15 minutes, or until well risen and a lovely golden brown colour. Rotate the pan half way through the baking.

  16. Let cool for 5 minutes.  You can also make these in advance and re-warm before serving, while the berries are macerating.

Berries

  1. In a small pot, heat the sugar and water over medium high heat.

  2. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, you can add the alcohol, and cook for another 3 minutes or so. This will allow the alcohol to burn off.  If you don't want to add alcohol, a splash of lime juice is a nice fresh addition.

  3. If you are serving adults, you can remove the sugar syrup off the burner and cool slightly before adding the Rosé. Let cool.
  4. Place the berries into a medium sized bowl. Pour the syrup over them and let them rest for 10-15 minutes. (If using stone fruit, let them rest for 30-40 minutes) Stir in 1 1/2 tbsp fresh chopped mint.

Whipped Mascarpone

  1. With a hand held mixer or in a stand mixture, whip the cream till starting to get thick.  Start at a low speed, increasing every 30 seconds or so.

  2. Add the mascarpone and the sugar. Beat until starting to get firm.
  3. Add the bourbon if using. Continue beating until it has become thickened, with nice peaks.
  4. Assembly: Place one still warm, sliced biscuit per person on a plate. Spoon some berries on top.

    Then add some of the whipped mascarpone. You can either spread the berries on the two halves, finishing with the whipped mascarpone, or you can use one half of the biscuit as the top, and the other as the top. Top with a bit more cream in this case.

  5. Finish with more chopped mint. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

You can use all sorts of fruit, all year round with this recipe.  Apples and pears would be great in the fall and winter.  Top them with a drizzle of Caramel Sauce!

The biscuit recipe is just an all around versatile biscuit recipe.  You can omit some of the sugar and bake up a batch for breakfast or a brunch basket.  Warm with a slather with butter or fresh jam is sheer perfection!

Biscuits can also be frozen and rewarmed in a toaster oven at 300F