Strawberry Shortcake With a Twist

Berries:
Add berries, balsamic, pepper and sugar together in a bowl and toss to coat. Cover and stash in the fridge.

Biscuits/shortcakes:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Cut in the shortening and butter until you get a coarse meal. Slowly mix in the buttermilk to form a shaggy dough. Turn onto a floured surface and knead about 5-10 times, lightly. Pat to about 1 inch thick and cut into biscuits. Bake about 15 minutes. When they are done, remove from oven and allow to cool.

In your mixer, add cream and begin to beat on medium. When it starts to thicken, add the sugar and beat to medium peaks.

To assemble:

Split the biscuit and top with the berries, some of the syrup from the bottom of the bowl of berries, and the cream and then cover with the top of the biscuit. Add additional whipped cream and berries as desired.