Recipes Discovered

Once summer comes around, all Seth wants to eat is peach pie and strawberry shortcake. I still haven’t figured out how to make a perfect peach pie, but I can make strawberry shortcake. Or at least I thought I could, until last night when he told me it tasted funny. Did I use a different recipe? Did I change something? Probably. So tonight we set out to set the record straight and to find the recipe for the best shortcake. Paula Deen’s recipe uses a little more butter than Dorie Greenspan’s. My mom uses an egg in her recipe. Alton Brown uses butter and shortening. There is also the debate of milk or cream. I made each of the recipes, plus a chocolate shortcake (I had to try it), and divided them up using cream in half and milk in half. Seth did a blind taste test, having no idea what the differences were between the shortcakes, and I was really surprised by his comments. >> When comparing the shortcakes made from the same recipe, he always liked the one made with milk more than the one with cream. He said they had better flavor, better texture, and were moister. I did notice, however, when I was mixing the shortcakes, adding the same amount of milk and cream would create different dough consistency. The dough made with milk was looser than the dough made with cream, which would probably make the ones made with cream a little drier when baked. As for other comparisons, we both agreed that Alton Brown’s shortcakes had the least amount of flavor and were the driest. My mom’s shortcakes were moist and had a great flavor, but the texture was a little too fluffy. It came down to Paula Deen and Dorie Greenspan. Seth said the Dorie Greenspan shortcakes made with cream were too buttery, but he really liked the ones made with milk. In the end though, we both agreed that Paula Deen’s shortcakes made with milk were the best for flavor, texture, and moistness. As for the chocolate shortcakes, they tasted like a cross between devil’s food cake and a whoopie pie. They went really well with the strawberries and whipped cream, but I don’t think I would make them again for strawberry shortcakes. Maybe for a trifle though. So there you have it, the battle of the shortcakes. It was a fun experiment, definitely a tasty one, and now we can rest assured that we are eating the best shortcake possible.