New Year's Lime Shortcake with Sabayon

There was only one thing that I knew I wanted for New Year's (well aside from The Drunk Prussian Punch), the wonderful fancypants champagne custard known as sabayon. I had previously made the sabayon for my first New Year's back in Texas as part of my complicated but awesome Champagne Cupcakes. Given the complexity of our time consuming yet delicious lasagna, I was going to need a simpler vessel and my childhood favorite shortcake was just what the night called for.

Lime Shortcake with Sabayon
Adapted from Alton Brown
Servings: 8-10
Time: 40 minutes

The sabayon looks quite ominous

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp shortening
Zest of 1-2 limes
Juice of 1/2-1 lime
3/4 cup half and half
Melted Butter
1 batch Sabayon (Recipe Here)
Berries
Cool Whip

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in a large bowl.
3. Cut in the butter and shortening.
4. Add in the lime zest and juice.
5. Mix in the half and half until you get a dense dough.
6. Drop dough into a buttered muffin tin. Then brush with additional butter.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden.
8. Serve with berries, Sabayon, and cool whip.

It's like making a desserty biscuit.

These shortcakes were the perfect choice. With minimal work, we had a lighter dessert to bring our decadent dinner to a close that allowed us to still be awake and mobile for the midnight ball drop. The only real change I made to the recipe was incorporating lime into the batter, which helped make each bite even more refreshing and these simple cakes even more distinguished. But the real fun came from our super competitive half-drunken decorating contest. Who would ring in the New Year with the greatest honor our kitchen has ever bestowed?

The Great Shortcake Decorating Contest of 2014 

Sponsored by The Drunk Prussian

The creativity was flowing as freely as the champagne punch.

The Neverending Spiral of King Arthur by Ted

Ted's design was simple yet elegant, opting for mesmerizing concentric circles and a sword in the stone homage.

The Mister by Robin

Robin had the best whipped cream scoop of the night, and went to her go to decorating technique of spelling out her initials (shhh, don't tell her it reads as "MR").

The Shortest Way to My Stomach is a Straight Line by Me

Aside from crafting a delicious dessert, I also brought my A-game with decorating (for me at least).

Our Grand Champion 

A Dollop of Berry Love by Kathryn "Fancy" Behling

Kathryn was the first presenter and the winner. Getting dibs on the spoon push method may have been enough to win her the night by itself, but her masterful strawberry cutting left no doubt.