Among The Imposters

JASPER WHITE: Sweet ideas for strawberry shortcake

Along with apple pie, strawberry shortcake is among the most quintessential of American desserts – simple, delicious and steeped in tradition. In my gastronomic mind, strawberry shortcake is a metaphor that inspires an entire genre of desserts with dozens of variations. Before I talk about this concept in detail, let’s talk about strawberries and other summer fruit.

The season for strawberries in New England is late spring. It is the first of local fruits to ripen, followed throughout the summer by raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and then tree fruits.

New England may not be close to other regions, like Florida and California, in terms of production of berries, but the quality of our strawberries is second to none. In fact, I would dare say that the “imported strawberries” available in our markets for a good part of the year are a poor excuse for the real fruit.

Unlike pineapples and melons that somehow have improved in sweetness and flavor over the years, the berries I speak of are imposters – they look like strawberries but the resemblance ends there.

When our local berries are picked and still warm from the sun, you can smell them from 15 feet away (I can, anyway); they taste like strawberry candy.

I love picking berries because I get to eat them as I go, and it is a wonderful activity to share with young children, who are often removed from the source of their foods. Berries are never better than when they are sun-kissed and just picked. Refrigeration retards the flavor of berries – I recommend that you keep them in a cool place and eat them the same day. If you are holding them longer than one day, they will need to be refrigerated.

Strawberry shortcake (the genre) consists of four parts: the macerated berries and/or fruit, the shortcake or other pastry, the whipped cream or other soft creamy substance and the garnish.

Berries and fruit for shortcake should be macerated with sugar and in some cases other liquids. The reason is that the juices are essential to the success of this simple dish. They soak into part of the pastry and extend the flavor of the overall dessert while giving the pastry a variety of textures.

Strawberries should be halved or sliced, depending on their size, and then sprinkled with sugar; smaller berries should be left whole. This will create syrup when left to stand for an hour or so. At this point you can also add a little flavoring liquid, like lemon or orange liquor, anise liquor, orange juice or other fresh-squeezed juice.

Get to Know The Broke and the Bookish: Interview with Natanya

My absolute favorite book was The Two Princesses of Bamarre , by Gail Carson Levine, which I have probably read more times than any other book in my life, and I read every other one of her books too. I also loved the Shadow Children series ( Among the Hidden , Among the Impostors , etc.) by Margaret Peterson Haddix, though sadly by the time the last couple came out I had outgrown them too much to fully enjoy them. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin was also one of my favorites. I used to read a lot of mystery novels (I was a bit of a Nancy Drew nerd), and The Westing Game was my favorite. Oy. Well, since I’m a comparative literature major, I actually read a TON of books for school, which makes it even more difficult to read books for fun. While many of the books I read for class are really good, having to read a full novel in 2 days kind of dulls the wonderfulness of what I’m reading, as well as my desire to read anything else. So, in short, I really don’t balance them. I try to read as many books as possible over breaks because I know that I won’t have the energy to read any more than required during the semester. It really sucks. I don’t read trashy romance novels, and I’ve never been very interested in the majority of historical fiction, though it depends on the time period and type of novel. I’m also not a fan of long series. I used to read series when I was younger, but by the end, I’d just get bored with them. In particular, I really have no desire to read any of those really long series of sci fi or fantasy novels. Also, much to my best friend’s chagrin, I refuse to read manga. Maybe I’d like it, but seeing how caught up manga-readers get in that world, I don’t want to find myself never reading anything else, especially because there are SO many books I want to read. And finally, while through high school my reading was split about 50/50 YA and adult fiction, I now rarely read YA. I know there are some very good ones, but I’ve read enough not very good ones that I lost my desire to read them, except on rare occasion when I’m in a reading rut (ie. when I can’t find anything to hold my interest—YA novels tend to be especially good at grabbing my interest, even if they don’t leave me with much to think about afterward). I want to be a book editor at a small publishing company. That is both my dream bookish job and my actual dream job. I love reading and editing, so this just seems perfect. More specifically, I want to be at a small publisher in Vancouver, BC, because Vancouver is amazing (the picture to the right is at Stanley Park in Vancouver…so pretty!). I don’t really want to work for any of the publishing giants in NYC or San Francisco…that world really just doesn’t appeal to me, even though they publish plenty of fantastic books. It’s just too businessy. I’d prefer to not work for a corporation if I can help it.

Among the impostors

Among the Imposters

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Shadow Children (Boxed Set), Among the Hidden; Among the Impostors; Among the Betrayed; Among the Barons

The Shadow Children, Among the Hidden; Among the Impostors