Strawberry Shortcake

My mom made the best strawberry shortcake when I was younger.  Just delicious!  When I moved out on my own, moved to a new state and got married, my days of homemade shortcakes were over. Or so I thought!  it seems that everyone around here settles for those gross spongy cake things for their strawberry shortcake! Not me! You don't have to settle for those...make your own biscuits!  Using this recipe I posted the other day...Homemade Biss-Qwick you can make an awesome desert!

Strawberry Shortcake

1 quart of strawberries, sliced and crushed
1/4 cup sugar

2 1/3 cups Homemade Biss-Quick
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbs butter, melted

Slice up strawberries and crush them slightly to release the juices.  Mix 1/4 cup sugar with them and set aside.

Pre-Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the Biss-Qwick, milk, 1/4 cup sugar and melted butter together to form a soft  dough.  On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, spoon 8 mounds of dough.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Split warm shortcakes (I prefer to break them up a little), spoon strawberries over the shortcakes and top with Cool Whip or whip cream of your choosing and enjoy!!

How to Make and Can Strawberry Jam

Homemade Strawberry Jam

adapted from here

6 cups of crushed strawberries (About 10 cups whole)

4 cups sugar

9 tbs. Ball RealFruit Classic Flex Batch Pectin

Sterilized Jars

Lids

Water bath Canner

Jar Lifter

Get your water bath canner heated and boiling.

I like to start with fresh picked organic strawberries. You need to wash them and hull them. Then cut them up.  I like small pieces of fruit in my jams so I cut them and crush them up pretty good. 

Place crushed berries in a large saucepan, preferably non stick. Mix 1/2 cup of the sugar and the pectin and add to the strawberries.  Heat berries to a full rolling boil, should take 5-10 minutes. You want to make sure you stir often as this will burn and ruin the batch. 

This is the perfect time to heat up your lids and get your sterilized jars ready. 

Once it comes to a full rolling boil, stir in the remaining 3 1/2 cups of sugar and bring back to a full boil. Boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir the berries.  Using a ladle and funnel, fill jars leaving 1/4 inch head space  Place lid and ring on top of jar and tighten. 

Using a jar lifter, carefully put jars into canner making sure there is at least 2  inches of water above them.

Process jars in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Remove from canner and let sit for 24 hours. Once cool, test jars ot make sure they have sealed properly. You can do this by pushing on the middle of the lids to make sure they do not pop back.

Label and enjoy! You can store these for 12-18 months!