Strawberry Shortcake Sliders

1. Stage

Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cut in butter: In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder for the biscuits. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a fork or a pastry cutter, or pulse in a food processor until the largest pieces of butter are the size of peas.

2. Stage

Stir in cream, egg, vanilla, knead to make biscuit dough: Use a fork to whisk together the cream, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl. Make a well in the large bowl of the flour mixture and pour the cream mixture into the center of it. Use a fork to mix until the dough is evenly moistened. The dough mixture should look shaggy. If the dough is too wet to handle, sprinkle on more flour (up to 1/2 cup more) to the mix. Knead the dough with your hands 8 turns or so to create a ball.

3. Stage

Flatten dough, cut into biscuit shapes, chill: Lightly flour a smooth surface. Turn the dough out onto the surface and pat or roll out until it is between 1/2-inch and 3/4-inch thick. Use a 1 1/2-inch diameter biscuit cutter (or a juice glass) to cut out round biscuit shapes from the dough. (It helps to dip the biscuit cutter in some flour before each cut, so that the dough doesn't stick to the form.) Place rounds on a baking sheet, space about 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart from each other. Chill for 10 minutes in the refrigerator before baking.

4. Stage

Bake biscuits: Heat oven to 425°F. Bake biscuits on middle rack for 12 minutes, or until risen and lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool.

5. Stage

Macerate strawberries in sugar: While the biscuits are baking, prepare the strawberries and whipped cream. Place the sliced strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle sugar over them. Gently mix so that the sugar coats most of the strawberries. Let sit until the sugar dissolves and the strawberries release their moisture.

6. Stage

Whip cream with sugar and vanilla: To make the whipped cream, make sure you are starting with cream that is very cold. It helps to chill the bowl first too. Use a hand mixer (you can make whipped cream in a blender, but watch out; it's easy to over-whip the cream in a blender) to whip the cream until it just begins to firm up. Sprinkle the sugar and vanilla over the cream. Continue to whip until it is thick and holds its shape. Cover with plastic wrap and keep chilled until it's time to assemble the mini strawberry shortcakes.

7. Stage

Assemble strawberry shortcake sliders: When the biscuits have cooled to room temperature, gently break them apart, separating the tops from the bottoms. Place a strawberry slice or two on each bottom, and place a dollop of whipped cream on top of the strawberries. Then place the top biscuit piece on top of the whipped cream. Voilá! You have your slider. Alternatively, you can serve them without the top. Links: Strawberry Shortcake here on Simply Recipes Whipped cream technique from David Lebovitz's latest Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes Biscuit cutters for sale at Amazon.com