Buttermilk Honey Biscuit with Strawberries, Mint and Thyme
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The Last Bite
By Zoe Ezrailson, photography by Jennifer Chase
After being stuck at home for three months, like everyone, a friend and I decided to book an appointment for social-distanced berry picking at Butler’s Orchard in Maryland. I picked a half flat of strawberries and snap peas in the nice warm sun. Then I came home and starting playing with them.
I hadn’t baked in some time and it felt so good to get my hands messy. What I wanted was something bright and refreshing. So, I macerated strawberries in sugar, mint, thyme and lemon. Then I baked some lightly sweetened biscuits and whipped up some tart crème fraîche. For me, the whole experience, from picking berries to baking, just felt like the best “welcome to summer” dessert ever.
Buttermilk Honey Biscuit
2½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons salt
½ cup butter, cut into cubes and frozen
2 teaspoons honey
1 cup cold buttermilk, plus some reserved to brush on top
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Mix all dry ingredients in mixing bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Add frozen butter and mix until pea-size pieces form. Add honey. Add buttermilk while mixing on slow just until comes together (it’s OK to have a little crumb at the bottom of the bowl).
Turn out dough onto floured surface. Press out into a rectangle and book fold (folding 1 side in to the center, then the other). Repeat 3 times. Roll out dough to ¾ inch thick and then cut individual biscuits to your desired shape (round, square, etc.) and place on parchment-lined sheet tray. Bake at 425° for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Strawberries with Mint and Thyme
5 cups strawberries, sliced
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon mint, sliced thin
1 tablespoon thyme, minced
½ teaspoon lemon zest
¼ teaspoon lemon juice
Mix strawberries together in a bowl, stirring occasionally. Let sit for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours, before using.
Whipped Crème Fraîche
8 ounces crème fraîche
½ cup heavy cream
⅛ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla
Whip all ingredients together until soft peaks form.
To assemble: After biscuit have cooled, gently cut in half with a serrated knife. Place a large spoonful of crème fraîche on top of the bottom half, then add the strawberries with lot of sauce and lightly place top half of biscuit on top.
A native Washingtonian, Zoe Ezrailson decided to go to pastry school and never looked back. An alum of Rose’s Luxury, Bread Furst and most recently Mirabelle, she has spent her career working on both sides of the kitchen and loves making people happy with food.
