Blueberry Shortcakes

Like blueberries? Why not try them in a blueberry shortcake with cornmeal biscuits and fresh whipped cream. Yesterday was blueberry picking day for me--26 pounds of the biggest juicy berries I've ever picked. Of course once I got my buckets home and rinsed them all and packed them away I was really tuckered.. but not too tuckered to prepare my fave dessert of the season.

With the essence of lime and the subtle crunch of the cornmeal, these shortcakes are really easy to love ♥



Blueberry Shortcakes

Shortcakes
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBLS baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 TBLS finely grated lime zest
1 cup heavy cream
2 TBLS fresh lime juice

Lime Sugar

1 1/2 tsp finely grated lime zest
2 1/2 TBLS sugar

Blueberry Filling

6 cups fresh blueberries, divided
3 TBLS sugar
5 TBLS water
1 TBLS fresh lime juice




Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare the lime sugar by mixing the sugar and lime zest in a small bowl and set aside.

For the shortcakes: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a food processor pulse flour mixture together with the cut butter pieces and lime zest until the mixture is crumbly.

Combine the heavy cream and lime juice in a measuring cup. It may curdle, but that's okay. Slowly drizzle the cream mixture into the processor over the crumbled flour mixture. Pulse a few more times until the dough is moist and starts to form clumps. Pour dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press and roll the dough over about 5 or 6 times until it comes together smoothly. Now pat the dough mixture into a square approximately 8 inches square and 3/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 3 columns, then across into 4 rows--yielding 12 cakes. Using a spatula, transfer the cakes to your baking sheet, spaced 2 inches apart. Sprinkle lime sugar on top of each cake and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.





While the shortcakes bake, make the blueberry filling. In a medium saucepan, heat 3 cups of the blueberries, sugar and water over medium heat. Cook gently, stirring often--mashing some of the blueberries with a fork until the berries are softened and juice has thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice. Cool five minutes--then stir in the remaining 3 cups blueberries.

Assemble the shortcakes. Split the biscuits in half horizontally using a serrated knife. On the bottom of each biscuit, spoon about 1/3 cup of the fruit and juices, add a dollop of freshly made whipped cream, and then just cover with the top half of the biscuit and dig in. Enjoy!