A Makeover and a Celebration with Blackberry and Almond Shortcakes!

Yes, you are on the right page! I'm so thrilled to show off my new look.  I simply love it and hope you do to. It was designed by the talented (and very patient) Chad at http://www.e3studios.com  a wonderful company who I couldn't recommend highly enough.  The whole experience was an exciting learning curve and I'm grinning from ear to ear with the result.

As the sun is shining and my blog is gleaming, I decided there would be no better way to celebrate than with these Blackberry and Almond Shortcakes. They're delicious! The ground almonds and the lemon zest in the shortcake give it a little extra flavor and blackberries have always been a favorite around here.  Any berry or summer fruit would be equally scrumptious with these little beauties.

Blackberry and Almond Shortcakes.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal
2 1/2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
Pinch of salt
Zest of a lemon
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter (cold and diced)
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

Filling:
1 6oz container of blackberries
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoonful confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 400F

Mix together the flour, almond meal, sugar, salt, baking powder and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the butter and beat with the paddle attachment until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs.

Whisk together the eggs and buttermilk and add to the flour mixture. Beat very gently until the mixture comes together.  It will be quite a sticky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.  Sprinkle the dough with more flour and gently roll out until it is 1/2 inch thick.  Cut out circles with a pastry cutter and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment paper.

Wash the tops of the shortcakes with egg wash.  Place in the oven for approx 12- 14 minutes until they are risen and golden.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool thoroughly.

To make the filling, whisk the cream, confectioner's sugar and vanilla extract together until you have soft peaks.  Split the shortcake in half and fill with the cream and blackberries.   Add a sprig of fresh mint for garnish.