• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
• 6 tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1.5 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled, quartered, divided
• 4 tbsp. sugar, divided
• 2 sprigs basil
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. crème fraîche

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Get your muscles ready to whisk the sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour in a large bowl. Feel free to get your fingers in there, or use a pastry cutter if you're fancy enough to own one and work in the butter until the texture of your batter is a bit coarse and there are still pea-size pieces of butter showing. Then, add the cream and mix that in until your dough becomes perfectly sticky.
2. On a lightly floured surface, pat your down out making sure it's about 3/4" thick. Cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter - or perhaps a cup! Whatever you have to give it the shape you desire. Squish those scraps together to make even more biscuits! Line those biscuits up on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Make a quick egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp. of water) and brush it on top of your beautiful biscuits. Bake until their tops are golden brown and cooked through. That should take 15-20 minutes!

Now it's time for the berries!

1. Chop up about 2 cups of strawberries - bruised and less-than-perfect ones are perfect for this - and cook them with 2 tbsp. of sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir those 'berries occasionally until they are softened and your mixture has slightly thickened. This should take around 5 minutes. Now, let your concoction cool!
2. While your biscuits are baking and your strawberry mixture is cooling, toss some fresh basil, 1 tbsp of sugar, and the rest of your strawberries in a bowl. Let that sit and get nice and juicy. If you want to impress your friends, know that some people refer to this process as macerated.
3. Now, get out an electric mixer and beat your heavy whipping cream, creme fraiche, and remaining sugar for about 4 minutes. Or...get your favorite whipped topping. We won't tell.
4. It's finally time to bring everything together! Take your shortcake biscuits and top them with all the strawberries, your compote, and whipped topping - enjoy!