Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook: A Love Story Told Through 150 Recipes(12)

Heavy cream, to brush on biscuits before baking

Filling

2 pints strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

¼ cup granulated sugar

1½ cups heavy cream, whipped, for garnish

For shortcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking pad.

2. In a food processor, pulse both flours, baking powder, sugar and salt until blended. Add cold butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk; pulse until dough forms a moist ball.

3. Scrape dough onto a lightly floured countertop. Knead a few times; pat into a ¾-inch high circle. Using a 2- to 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 10 biscuits. Push any scraps together to form additional biscuits, if desired. Transfer to prepared sheets. Lightly brush with cream; sprinkle with sugar.

4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden. Let cool

5 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to a

wire rack.

For filling:

1. In a large bowl, combine sliced strawberries and sugar. Toss to coat; let sit 30 minutes, until strawberries release their liquid. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or whisk, whip cream.

To serve:

1. Slice biscuits in half horizontally. Place bottom half on dessert plate; top with a spoonful of strawberries and whipped cream. Top with the top half of the biscuit. Add another scoop of cream; drizzle with juice from the strawberry bowl. Serve immediately.

TIP: For the lightest cakes, handle the dough as little as possible.

SPRING

SPRING

Birthday Party Banana Layer Cake

There’s something springy about a light, fruit-flavored cake. This one is super-rich, so make the slices small.

Serves 12

Cake

2⅔ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for pans

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus additional for greasing pans

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

3 very ripe bananas, chopped

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk

Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Pecan halves, for garnish

For cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour the bottom and sides of two 9-inch cake pans.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour,

baking powder, baking soda and salt until combined.

3. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla extract; beat until blended. (Mixture will look curdled—don’t worry.) Reduce mixer speed to low, and alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

4. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the cakes to loosen from the pans. Invert layers onto wire racks to cool completely.

For frosting:

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and salt; beat until fluffy.

2. Brush away any loose crumbs from the cooled cake. Place 1 layer on a cake plate; top with about 1 cup frosting. Using a metal spatula, spread the frosting over the layer. Place the second layer, top-side down, on top of the frosting. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake to seal in crumbs. Frost the remaining cake. Arrange pecan halves around the top rim of the cake.

TIP: The riper the banana, the deeper the flavor.

CHAPTER 3

Ana Raquel and Greg walked out to the City Hall parking lot. She was hoping to come up with a brilliant reason why he couldn’t help her with the cookbook project, but nothing came to mind. When they reached their cars—hers, a beat-up old pickup and his, a shiny new blue SUV—she decided to accept the inevitable but try to stay in control of the situation.

“We should get together and discuss how we’re going to approach the cookbook,” she told him. “I have a lot of ideas.”

He nodded. “Me, too. I’ve already spoken to Colleen at the Fool’s Gold Daily Republic.”

“Why would you talk to the newspaper editor?”

“I thought she might want to have someone write a story on what we’re doing. We could get input from the community.”

“That makes sense,” Ana Raquel murmured. She’d been thinking of putting up a few flyers, asking for recipe submissions, but an article in the local paper was more efficient and a good calling card. While the rest of the world had gone digital to get its news, here in Fool’s Gold, the daily paper was still alive and well. One of the advantages of small-town living, she supposed.

“I know a lot of families have recipes that have been passed down for generations,” she said. “Those would be fun to go through.”

“You’re going to include your grandmother’s fried chicken recipe, aren’t you?”

She stared at him. “How do you know about that?”

He grinned. “Your mom invited the whole student council over for dinner one year. That’s what she served. She told us how her mom had taught her to make it and how she’d taught you.”