Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F

In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt, mix well. Using a pastry blender or two butter knives, cut in butter finely. In a separate bowl, combine sour cream and milk; add to dry mixture, stirring with a fork to make a soft slightly sticky dough. Gather into a ball and on a lightly floured surface, knead dough gently about 8-10 times or until dough is smooth.

Roll the dough out to about ¾ inch thickness and using a cookie cutter cut out rounds.

Place on a lined cookie sheet and using a pastry brush lightly brush the tops of the shortcakes with milk and sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

While the shortcakes are baking place the beaters you are going to use to make the whipped cream in the freezer. It makes it a lot faster to use chilled beaters and a chilled bowl if you have the room in the freezer!

Once the shortcakes are out of the oven and cooling on a wire rack strain the whipping cream with some cheesecloth and get to work whipping the cream with your beaters until almost stiff peaks form.

Then gradually add your vanilla extract and icing sugar (amount depends on the sweetness you want your whipped cream to have). Beat until combined well.

• you can also add chopped up berries to the whipped cream combining before piping onto the shortcakes.

Assembly

Cut shortcakes in half, spooning a generous amount of whipped cream on the bottom half and add berries. Place the top half of the shortcake back in place and garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and a berry.