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After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 2006, Emma Hearst started making a splash in the food world. She opened acclaimed Manhattan eatery Sorella in 2008 with a classmate; was the youngest-ever Iron Chef America competitor at 24 in 2011; and earned a James Beard Award nom in 2012 for Rising Star Chef of the Year. In 2016, Hearst traded fast-paced New York City for a pastoral life in Albany County where she runs Forts Ferry Farm with her husband (and crafts pantry goods for her recently opened store in Hudson, Farm Shoppe). Her new cookbook, Flavors from the Farm, is packed with over 100 homegrown recipes starring seasonal produce.
Buckwheat Blueberry Shortcake
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium4
servings2
hours30
minutes30
minutes3
hoursThis is a simple dish that can go dramatically wrong if the biscuits are not prepared with care. When executed with the right ingredients and the proper hand, they become magical and quite provocative. Sourcing real pure maple syrup for the berries is an absolute must! Our all-time favorite maple syrup is from Laurel & Ash Farm in the Hudson Valley. It’s wood-fired, deeply rich in flavor, and truly spectacular. You need to freeze these biscuit babies before baking, so be sure to plan accordingly.
Ingredients
- For the biscuits
5â…“ cups all-purpose flour or pastry flour, plus more for dusting
1â…” cups buckwheat flour
1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. sugar
Scant ½ tsp. baking soda
lb butter, cut into cubes and kept ice-cold, plus melted butter for brushing
2¼ cups full-fat buttermilk
Maldon salt, for sprinkling
- For the berries
3–4 pints berries of choice
½ cup dark maple syrup
Splash of Grand Marnier
1–2 dashes pure vanilla extract
Vanilla whipped cream, for serving
Directions
- To make the biscuits, in a food processor, combine both flours, baking powder, kosher salt, sugar, and baking soda, and pulse a few times to mix well. Scatter the butter cubes over the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Dump the mixture onto a floured work surface and make a well in the center. Pour the buttermilk into the well, then, using your hands, work the buttermilk into the flour mixture until a loose, ragged dough forms. Cut the dough into thirds, stack the pieces one on top of the other, and roll out the dough 1 inch thick.
- Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a cutter in any shape and size you like, cut out as many biscuits as possible. Arrange them on the prepared sheet pan, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Gather up the dough scraps, press them together, roll out 1 inch thick, cut out more biscuits, and add them to the pan. Wrap the pan in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer until the biscuits are frozen solid, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Unwrap the sheet pan and bake the biscuits from frozen, rotating the pan front to back halfway through baking, until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately brush the tops with melted butter and finish with a sprinkle of Maldon salt.
- While the biscuits are baking, prepare the berries. If using strawberries, hull them and cut them as you like. Leave raspberries, blueberries, or other small berries whole. Put the berries into a bowl, add the maple syrup, Grand Marnier, and vanilla, and toss to mix well.
- To serve, cut the warm biscuits in half and place them in individual shallow bowls. Spoon the berries around or over the biscuits and finish each serving with a dollop of whipped cream.
