Cinnamon Crunch Very-berry Shortcakes

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces cold butter, cut into â½ inch dice
• 3/4 cup cold milk
• 2 cups raspberries
• 1 1/2 cups blackberries
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2/3 cup sugar, plus
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 ounces butter
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• whipped cream, for serving

Recipe

• 1 first prepare the biscuit dough: sift the flour with the baking powder and salt.
• 2 cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal (with some lumps the size of peas).
• 3 drizzle the milk evenly over the dry ingredients and work in with fork just until incorporated and the dough forms small clumps.
• 4 turn out the dough onto a work surface and knead once or twice to gather it into a mass – do not overwork the dough – pat into a rectangle.
• 5 the dough can be made up to 2 hour ahead; wrap tightly and refrigerate.
• 6 preheat the oven to 450f.
• 7 on a lightly-floured surface, roll out the biscuit dough ½ to ¾ inch thick.
• 8 using a heart-shaped or any other biscuit cutter that measures 3 inches across, cut out 5 shortcakes as close together as possible.
• 9 press the cutter straight down; don’t twist it.
• 10 if the cutter sticks to the dough, dip it in flour between cuts.
• 11 gather the scraps together and press or roll out as before.
• 12 cut out 2 more shortcakes.
• 13 press the remaining scraps into a ball, flatten and cut out the last shortcake.
• 14 alternatively, on a lightly-floured surface, pat the dough into an 8 inch round.
• 15 halve the round, then cut each half into 3 wedges for a total of 6 triangular shortcakes.
• 16 place the shortcakes on an ungreased baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
• 17 in a medium bowl, gently toss the raspberries and blackberries to combine.
• 18 in a medium saucepan, gently toss the blueberries with 2/3 cup of the sugar and 2 tsps of the water.
• 19 cover and cook over medium heat, stirring once or twice, just until the blueberries start to pop and release their juices, about 5 minutes.
• 20 if the sugar hasn’t dissolved, stir in a few more drops of water.
• 21 remove from the heat and add to the raspberries and blackberries.
• 22 do not stir.
• 23 bake the shortcakes in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes, or until golden-brown.
• 24 meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan.
• 25 in a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup sugar and the cinnamon.
• 26 immediately after removing the shortcakes from the oven, dip them into the butter and cinnamon sugar as follows: holding a shortcake right side up, dip the bottom in the melted butter.
• 27 place the shortcake, buttered side down, in the cinnamon sugar and shake the bowl so that the sugar adheres to and completely covers the bottom.
• 28 then turn the shortcake over and dip the top in the butter and cinnamon sugar in the same manner.
• 29 place the shortcake, right side up, on a plate.
• 30 continue with the remaining shortcakes.
• 31 (if the level of the butter is too low for dipping the last shortcake, use a pastry brush to generously butter it.) gently give the berries in the bowl a turn to distribute.
• 32 using your fingers, gently split open the shortcakes.
• 33 spoon about ½ cup of the berries over the bottom of each shortcake.
• 34 cover with the shortcake tops and spoon a generous dollop of whipped cream alongside or over top.
• 35 serve immediately.