Cream biscuits with fresh summer fruit

cream biscuits with fresh summer fruit // a thousand threads
Recipes are one of the best family heirlooms we have, and this particular recipe is one of mine.

When I asked my mother to send me the ingredients for her strawberry shortcake, which I’ve always loved and wanted to adapt into something beautiful for the 4th of July, she took a picture of a cookbook that was given to her at her wedding over 40 years ago. The pages were torn and stained, the words faded… the book barely holding together after so many years.

The picture wasn’t meant to point to the crumbling book, it was just the easiest way to send the recipe, but as soon as I saw it, I couldn’t help but think of all the well-loved recipes held within.

A good cookbook can stay with a family through the generations, and that has certainly been the case with this one. When I moved out of the house into my own, my mom sent me with my own copy to cook from for years to come… and I’ll admit that I still pull it out almost every Saturday for breakfast.

cream biscuits with fresh summer fruit // a thousand threads
Sadly though, when I look now at my new edition, I can’t find this old, amazing recipe within. Maybe it was replaced with something containing a little less cream, maybe it just fell off the radar, I don’t know… but it gained its place in our hearts long ago.

So, since blogs are fantastic for this sort of thing, I thought I’d memorialize it here.

It doesn’t come with quite as much character as my mother’s gorgeous old cookbook from 1968, but it does come with just as much of the love… and that’s what really makes an heirloom.

cream biscuits with fresh summer fruit // a thousand threads
So try it, I promise it’s as good as it gets. And it’s just about the prettiest red, white, and blue dessert you’ll ever see.

cream biscuits with fresh summer fruit // a thousand threads
Cream biscuits with fresh summer fruit
Adapted from a past edition of Better Homes & Gardens‘ cookbook that my mother was given on her wedding day 1968

2 cups sifted flour
2 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
2/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing and serving
seasonal fruit and/or berries, mixed with a tablespoon of sugar if desired

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Sift dry ingredients together, then cut in butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. It’s okay if there are some fairly big (pea size or slightly bigger) pieces of butter remaining.

Mix cream and egg separately, then stir into flour mixture until just moistened.

Turn dough out on a floured surface and knead gently, 1-2 minutes until combined. Roll dough to 1/2″ thick. Cut biscuits out with a biscuit cutter, then combine remaining dough, roll, and cut again.

Place biscuits on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Brush tops with heavy cream and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until just beginning to brown.

Remove from oven, cool just slightly and top with berries and cream.

cream biscuits with fresh summer fruit // a thousand threads

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