For An Elevated Shortcake, Brûlée Fresh Strawberries

Strawberry shortcake is essentially a perfect dessert. It's light, refreshing, simple, and, most importantly, delicious. Though simple is not a bad thing, sometimes you want to make a more elevated dish. Lucky for you, we know the perfect way to take shortcake to the next level: brûlée the strawberries.

This may sound like a complicated step, but it's really quite easy. In fact, you don't even need any special equipment. First prep the strawberries by slicing them in half, laying the slices on a clean, flat surface, and sprinkling sugar over the top. Then take a metal spoon from your cutlery drawer and use a gas stove to heat the spoon. Finally, brûlée the strawberries by pressing the heated spoon onto the top, which will caramelize the sugar. You may need to reheat the spoon after a small batch of strawberries, depending on how many you'd like to make.

Using brûléed strawberries in strawberry shortcake brings a toasty element to the classic dish that will have you ready to make it again and again. But that's not the only use for brûléed strawberries.

Read more: 13 Simple Tricks To Pick The Best Fresh Fruit Every Time

Upgrade More Desserts With Brûléed Strawberries

Brûléed strawberries can be used to elevate just about any strawberry-related dessert. Similar to the upgraded strawberry shortcake, a strawberry sponge cake will also taste delicious with the inclusion of brûléed strawberries on top. Additionally, strawberry cobbler and pie are both great dishes to experiment with integrating brûléed strawberries.

You can also make a fancy ice cream sundae by using brûléed strawberries as one of the key toppings, along with whipped cream, sprinkles, or whatever favorite add-ons you have in your pantry and fridge. This will work with plenty of different ice cream flavors, such as the classics like vanilla, chocolate, and (of course) strawberry.

Another option is to make a sweet dish that would work equally well for breakfast, brunch, or even dessert. Try brûléed strawberries on freshly-made waffles and pancakes. Both are perfect vessels, blank canvases to creatively showcase your new culinary skill.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.