Summer Berry Shortcake

With Tom Bivins

What to do with all of those fresh, summer berries? If you are like Executive Chef Tom Bivins of New England Culinary Institute you make different types of shortcake.

The shortcake he shows us how to make is laden with heavy cream, that adds to the richness and texture, but you can also use skim or other milk with less fat. When working with the dough, it is similar to making biscuits in that you want to work it lightly with floured hands to bring it together into a ball. Overworking flour will make the texture too tough.

After forming the ball you want to roll it out with a floured rolling pin. After that, you need to cut into ½ inch to ¾ inch thick pieces.

Another suggestion from Tom is to butter the tops before baking and sprinkle with granulated or any other sugar as well. Bake in a 450 degree F. oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Because it is a fairy rustic roll you can expect some cracks on the top but that is all part of their charm. They are very crumbly and rich which is attributable to all of the heavy cream and the butter. The biscuits can be eaten with just butter or jam, but especially during this time of year in New England Chef Tom likes to eat them with berries, such as he does here with this berry shortcake.

Ingredients

For shortcake:
2 cups all-purpose Flour
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoons Sugar
4 tablespoons butter
¾ cup heavy cream or buttermilk
Melted butter for brushing tops of shortcake
Sprinkling sugar
Soft butter for spreading on shortcake

For Elderberry Blossom syrup:
24 each elderberry flower blossoms (this should be 24 full sprays of blossom not 24 individual flowers)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
½ vanilla bean

For Elderberry Blossom Cream:
¼ cup Elderberry Blossom Syrup
2 cups cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
For shortcake:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Cut in butter until mixture resembles cornmeal. 
2. Make an indentation in the flour and butter mixture. Fill with buttermilk and then quickly fold in flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
3. Flour hands and place on a lightly floured work surface.  Combine by hand and press out to 1 inch thick.  Cut with a round cutter.
4. Place on a sheet pan and brush with melted butter and top with sugar.
5. Bake to golden brown or 15 minutes. 

Cool slightly, spread with butter, top with berries and cream.

For Elderberry Blossom syrup:
1. Take 24 elderberry blossoms and cut off the flowers from the stem.  Bring water and sugar to a boil.
2. Add the elderberry blossoms, and the vanilla bean pods and seeds to the syrup; remove from heat.  Steep overnight.
3. Strain through china cap and place in a clean glass jar or bottle- there should be no flowers or vanilla bean pod in the mixture; the vanilla bean seeds are okay.  Refrigerate for several weeks or hot seal for longer term storage.

For Elderberry Blossom Cream:
1. Whisk cream to soft peaks.  Whisk in the syrup and continue to whisk to medium stiff peaks. 

Use the cream with berries, shortcakes, scones and other traditional tea items. 

Also use the syrup with sparkling water or with sparkling wines such as prosecco or less expensive sparkling wines, or in other alcoholic cocktails of your own creation.

Recipe courtesy of Tom Bivins, Executive Chef, New England Culinary Institute, 2011.

Currently executive chef for New England Culinary Institute, Tom Bivins has worked at fine inns in Vermont for the past 17 years. After graduating form Louisiana State University, Tom attended and graduated from New England Culinary Institute in 1991.  He became the chef for the Inn at Shelburne Farms from 1993-1997, after a stint as its Pastry Chef and Sous Chef. He left Shelburne Farms to open The Pitcher Inn in Warren, Vermont as executive chef. While helming its kitchen, The Pitcher Inn received its Relais et Chateaux designation. In 1999, he became the executive chef at The Old Tavern at Grafton in Grafton, Vermont, one of the Original Historic Hotels of America.  Tom joined the educational team at New England Culinary Institute in 2003 and became its executive chef in 2004.

Chef Tom utilizes a love of Vermont’s local farms, seasonal produce, artisan cheeses, and wild foods to develop menus and instruct students of the Institute. His passion for seasonality has been showcased at The James Beard Foundation, Epcot Center Festival of Food and Wine at Disney World and at the Smithsonian Institution’s Food Culture USA in 2005, highlighting wild foods with wild crafters Les Hooks and Nova Kim of Wild Gourmet Foods of Vermont.
He is currently president of Vermont Fresh Network, an organization committed to fostering relationships between farmers and chefs, a member of Chefs Collaborative and a past Vermont chapter chair of American Institute of Wine and Food.  He is a founding board member of the Wild Food Gathers Guild. In 2006 and 2008, he was a Slow Food USA delegate to Terre Madre in Turin, Italy and is currently faculty advisor for Slow Food NECI, a campus chapter of Slow Food USA.