TWD (on the road edition): Tender and Devilish Shortcakes

Today is my first TWD from the road!  I'm not on the road right now, but I was when I made these last weekend, when my lovely friend Sarah and her equally awesome husband Tom were gracious enough to feed, shelter, and entertain me on demand for four whole days in their adorable little light-filled townhouse in Charleston.

I am very bad about taking photos when I visit places.  I just don't ever think to do so, even when I have my camera in hand;  I'm always too busy just living in the experience of the moment.  I'm going to be kicking myself repeatedly if I ever get to be an old lady.  I'm getting to the point that I forget I've even gone on certain trips.  Some months back an old high school classmate posted photos of a band trip on Facebook, tagged me in some of the photos and I could not for the LIFE of me recall where the aych we were.  She eventually titled them, so I now know it was Cincinnati, but I still don't remember anything about that trip though it must certainly have been a big deal to me at the time. 

So I am afraid I don't have spectacular photos of Charleston to share.  I do, however, have pictures of things.  I love household stuff, though I have little of it myself, and Sarah and Tom have tons of fun and interesting collectibles all about the house.  Every day there was something new and delightful I hadn't noticed before.  I had not seem S or T in at least a year when I walked into the house, but I realized my like for them is about 6x more profound than I previously thought when I came into the living room and spied this:

I dare you to tell me that's not one of the best things you have ever seen in a living room.

Sarah also collects vintage dishes and glassware (and best of all, actually uses them) and is particularly--justifiably--proud of her growing collection of vintage Pyrex.  I think they are pretty fabulous and berated myself for not thinking of it.  Here's a sample:

This is her favorite pattern. I like it too.

I'm a fan of this one, as well.

Anyway, they were also indulgent enough to let me have the kitchen to make my TWD entry for the week on Memorial Day.  After hearing T proclaim that "it's not really dessert if there is no chocolate,"  I decided to make half recipes of the regular shortcakes and the "devilish" ones.

in vintage Pyrex, of course!

I whisked together the dry ingredients and smooshed in the butter and then stuck the bowls in the freezer while we enjoyed dinner.  It was fast and easy.  Once we were about ready for dessert I took them out to mix up and bake.

It was then that I noticed that the "Devilish" recipe calls for milk and egg, while the "tender" recipe only calls for heavy cream as a binder.  Perhaps that is why my results were so wildly different.  I tried the "tender" recipe first and could not get the dough to come together at all.  I just got tough little lumps.  I kept mixing, thinking it was too cold, but it wouldn't cooperate.  So I set it aside to move on with the chocolate ones, which came together beautifully.

I got 6 good-sized shortcakes out of it, which baked up perfectly and we went ahead and had them with berries and whipped cream.  I think they were a success.  They were more cakey than biscuity, but they were fluffy and delicious and just the right amount of sweet.

While those baked, I went back to work with the original recipe.  I finally broke down and added milk--I think I added about 1/4 cup--to make the dough look like the chocolate dough.  I also added a splash of vanilla.  I was petrified by that time that I'd overworked it and they would be all tough and dense, but they came out nicely. 

We were all full of homemade pizza and chocolate shortcake by then, but we divided one up and tasted it.  They weren't so great when hot;  they didn't seem thoroughly cooked, but they tasted wonderful, much like rich buttery shortbread.  The next morning we had them for breakfast and with a quick warm in the oven they were heavenly and perfectly baked.  This was a very successful recipe, I think.  I had a go-to shortcake recipe I liked already, but this might take its place for taste and ease.  Thanks to Cathy at The Tortefeasor for this week's selection!  (She'll post the recipe there.)

someone appreciates my return