strawberry shortcake

Pie season has returned; I have baked an apple pie and there is a red currant tart in the oven right now. But a few days ago I finally got strawberry shortcake to work:

Before starting, cut up as many strawberries as you can, and mix them with a bit of sugar. Let them stand, the longer the better; the syrop that emerges from them is the key. Make one large, thin biscuit (I made it with 1 cup of flour), but add to the recipe 1/4 cup sugar for every cup of flour. You could go even sweeter. When the biscuit is done, let it cool a bit, and split it carefully into two thin layers. On the bottom layer put all the strawberries, and all the syrop from them. Add some whipped cream, and then replace the top layer. "Ice" the shortcake with more whipped cream and some leftover strawberries.

waffles and pancakes

I have been remiss in posting, despite having learned many useful things in the last few months. Here is one:

When making waffles or pancakes, you do much better to separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs and beat the whites separately till they are stiff (or close). Make the batter with the yolks and then fold the beaten egg whites into the batter. Fluffy, light waffles!

One thing I am interested in is whether you could replace all rising agents with this technique. After all, how did they make pancakes before there was easily available double-acting baking powder?