Blueberry-Almond Shortcakes

Welcome to my new blog! As I mentioned above I am hoping to make this mostly about food - kind of like a virtual recipe box!  I am really bad at keeping track of what I do and how I do it and when I want to try it again later, completely forget and start from scratch.  I figured that if I kept it in blog form, it would be helpful and also, I would get to share some of my makings with family and friends!  Plus, I used to keep a blog but was really bad at it, so I thought that if there were a point to it then maybe I'd be better at it!?!?  We'll see...wish me luck!

I thought for my first blog, I would do it on a dessert I made last week for my small group.  One added bonus about my job is that we get lots of donations and sometimes we get far more than our clients could use and so we get to take items home.  Last week, we were gifted with an abnormal amount of frozen blueberries.  I don't really have a repertoire of blueberry desserts to make and additionally, I didn't feel like making a pie or tart.  So, I adapted a recipe to make blueberry-almond shortcakes.  Enjoy!

Blueberry-Almond Shortcakes
serves 8
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 cups all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons chilled vegetable shortening, cubed
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups blueberries (frozen will do fine if you don't have fresh)
1/2 of a lrg. orange, juiced
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
3 Tbs Creme de Cassis (Black Currant Liquor)
1 cup crème fraîche

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the almonds in a pie plate and toast for about 6 minutes, until lightly golden.  Leave the oven at 400.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour with the cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Using a pastry blender (or 2 knives), cut in the shortening and cold butter until they resemble peas. Add the buttermilk and almond extract and stir until the dough is evenly moistened.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat into a 1-inch-thick round. Using a 3 inch biscuit cutter, cut into biscuits, re-working the scraps to form more if needed (will make about 8).  If you don't have a biscuit cutter (which I actually don't) make it into a large round and cut into triangles (like you would if you were making scones).  Transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes. Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and kosher salt. Bake for about 18 minutes, until golden. Let stand until cool.

Meanwhile, in another medium bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, the orange juice, zest, and Creme de Cassis.  If you don't have Creme de Cassis, that's ok.  Just add a few more Tbs of orange juice. Let stand until the sugar is dissolved, about 15 minutes. Transfer 1 cup of the blueberries to a food processor and puree until smooth. Pour the puree back into the blueberries in the bowl. Cover and refrigerate. In another medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the crème fraîche at medium speed until thickened, about 30 seconds. The crème fraîche adds a nice tangyness, but if you're not sure about it (or don't want to spend the extra $2) just substitute your normal whipped cream because there is nothing wrong with that! 

Using a serrated knife, cut the biscuits in half horizontally.  Top the bottom biscuit with a dollop of crème fraîche, the blueberry compote and a few toasted almonds. Cover with the biscuit tops and serve.