MY FAVORITE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• 1. Place sliced strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with suger. Cover and place in the refrigerater until needed.
• 2. For Glaze: In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and lemon-lime soda pop. Over medium high heat, bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Romove from heat and add lemon juice and strawberry gelatin. Set aside to cool.
• 3. For Shortcake: Preheat oven to 425 degrees and set rack to middle position. Cut butter into pieces. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using either a pastry cutter or food processor cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles course meal. With a fork, stir in the half and half, just until the dough is moist. Let stand for 1 minute. Lightly flour a workstation and turn the dough onto it. Fold the dough over on itself 2-3 times, until it is holding together and less sticky. Gently pat the dough into a 6"x12" rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 pieces. Transfer to a buttered foil-lined baking sheet. Optional step is to brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
• 4. Assembly: Split each biscuit horizontally with a serrated knife. Spoon strawberries onto both halves. Spoon glaze over berries. Place dollop of whipped topping on top of glaze. Serve.
• 5. Tips: All items can be stored in fridge separately until ready to serve. To spoon the glaze on top of berries after it has been refrigerated, just microwave for a minute or two to make it come back to a more liquid state. I like to bake extra shortcakes and store them in the freezer for later use. You can use fresh or frozen berries. I buy local berries when they are in season, cap them, dry them, lay them in a single layer on a baking sheet freeze then put in a ziplock bag.