Strawberry Shortcake Made With Local Berries
By Gary Moore
Strawberry shortcake is my favorite dessert, especially when made with local berries and topped with mounds of whipped cream.
As I write this, the season is over. We have two baskets of berries in the refrigerator so shortcake will be savored this week. Once they are gone, I will have to wait eleven months to again feast on those big juicy strawberries.
We eat a lot of shortcake during the season, often three or more times a day. Linda and I frequently enjoy strawberry shortcake for breakfast and as a snack before going to bed.
Since I was quite young, I have had strawberry shortcake instead of cake for my birthday which is on June 20. My mother started the tradition more than 70 years ago and Linda has continued it since 1970.
Seldom is obtaining strawberries in time for my birthday a problem now but I remember how it was often difficult to find berries that had ripened by that date.
Now it seems the season starts mid-June and lasts close to a month. Thanks to Pierson’s Farm in Bradford and Four Corners in South Newbury, berries are plentiful and I have no problem obtaining all I want.
In the 50’s and early 60’s strawberries were the crop raised on Plateau Acres in Bradford. Many of my school friends picked berries there for a few cents a quart. There are no berries now as it is covered with houses.
In the last century Bradford was famous for strawberries. They were grown on farms in the valley and loaded in railcars to be shipped to the cities to the south who favored “Bradford Berries” over all others.
We are lucky in the twin state region that a lot of farms are growing strawberries so no matter where you live you can find those delicious delicacies.
One can generally get strawberries at the supermarket and order strawberry shortcake in restaurants around the U.S. but strawberry shortcake with berries shipped from as far as California just does not taste the same.