When a shortcake dreams big. # 410: Cherry Earl Grey Shortcake Stack

More delightful recipe inspiration from the Baking Nation newspaper! Instead of individual shortcakes, you bake the dough in cake tins and stack them up into a layer cake. I swapped out cherries for the classic strawberries and ended up with an Earl Grey mascarpone buttercream instead of whipped cream.

My grand plans of an Earl Grey infused mascarpone cream fell flat (literally) when I overwhipped it. Sigh. After a few minutes of being a disappointed blob on the kitchen rug, I picked myself back up and continued whipping it until I had an Earl Grey mascarpone buttercream. All the leftover sweetened Earl Grey milk made the yummiest oatmeal the next day. *chef’s kiss*

Fun fact alert! The milk left over from whipping cream into butter is called buttermilk but it doesn’t turn into the thick soured version of the same name until it’s been cultured for a day or two. (No not by going to a museum but by adding bacterial cultures that transform it by producing lactic acid, almost like a yogurt.)

The cherry on top.

I’m almost through my summer fruit freezer stash and it’s not even August, oops!

The calm before the butter sandstorm.

Not sure why I did it half in the food processor and half by hand… wouldn’t want Nate to run out of dishes to wash right? (Sorry 😘)

Squish. Next time I’ll try to get it more even – they barely spread at all in the oven.

Smells like a London Fog!

Also added minced tea leaves for extra flavor oomph.

Layers on layers.

The buttercream wasn’t fully emulsified but I’ll take when I can get.

Happy munching!

Recipe from: Erin McDowell via Baking Nation