LATE SUMMER SWEETNESS: BUCKWHEAT SHORTCAKES WITH CREME FRAICHE & MULBERRIES

These just barely sweetened shortcakes are brilliant! Roxanne took the earthy goodness of Buckwheat flour and shaped these little babies with a crackling topping of turbinado sugar and sunflower seeds. They're simultaneously sweet and a tad savory, light yet satisfying. I planned on having a bite and ate the entire sandwich as my lunch. I also whipped up a batch right after our shoot, I simply had to have more!! The recipe is straightforward and sure fire for your next hang . . . The type of treat that will have friends going on about for weeks after the last crumb was mopped up.

Do you know about mulberries? They're a curious little fruit -- a berry with a vaguely tropical demeanor and bursting sweetness. These wine-colored gems are bursting with vitamin C and iron (neat huh?) And creme fraiche is the secret weapon to all my favorite desserts, it's fantastic here folded into whip cream, keeping everything a tad tangy instead of cloyingly sweet. The leftovers I love to dollop onto soups or plop atop a bowl of fresh figs and dust with brown sugar.

Buckwheat Shortcakes with Creme Fraiche and Mulberries 
makes 8-10 shortcakes 

for the shortcakes:
3/4 cup buckwheat
2 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
5 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup whole milk
1 egg beaten, for wash
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
demerara sugar as needed

for the whipped creme fraiche:
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1 cup heavy cream
1-2 teaspoons powdered sugar mulberries
2 cups fresh mulberries, washed and de-stemmed
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together buckwheat, all purpose flour, salt, brown sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Add the cold butter and vegetable shortening. Incorporate the butter and shortening into the flour by rubbing it between your fingertips. Keep rubbing until the fats are in very small pieces and the mixture looks like damp sand. Create a well in the center of the flour and add the whole milk. Mix very briefly with a slotted spoon until barely incorporated and the dough starts to clump together. You may need to slowly add a little more milk at this point to get a cohesive dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and dust with flour. Press the dough out to 1 1/4 inch thickness. Using a round cutter, stamp out the shortcakes, dipping the cutter in flour between each use. Place onto the lined sheet tray so that the sides of the cakes are barley touching. Brush the tops with egg wash, and sprinkle with sunflower seeds and demerara sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, combine cream, creme fraiche and powdered sugar. Whip on high speed til it reaches medium peaks. In a separate bowl, gently toss together the mulberries, sugar, and vanilla. Assemble the shortcakes by splitting them in half and sandwiching them with the whipped creme fraiche and berries.