The ideal summer dessert features summer berries, especially strawberries, and an unexpected element: fat.
Cookbook author and recipe developer Danielle Prewett has a love and respect for nature and cooking seasonally. Cowboys & Indians sat down with Prewett to discuss her new cookbook, eating consciously, and reimagining how wild food can be cooked, shared, and enjoyed. During the interview, Prewett shared some of her favorite recipes from her cookbook, MeatEater's Wild + Whole: Seasonal Recipes for the Conscious Cook; below is one of the recipes excerpted. Enjoy!
When I visited White Oak Pastures, a regenerative farm in Georgia, for an episode of Wild + Whole: Sourced, it was April, and the strawberry fields were popping! I asked Will Harris, the farm’s founder, which ingredient produced on the farm he wished people would eat more of. His answer? Fat.
Cooking with animal fats like lard appeals to me because it means less of the animal is going to waste, but it also just tastes great. You can buy rendered lard in jars, but it’s more economical to buy pork fat in bulk and render it yourself. In this recipe, you can use bear, wild hog, or duck fat instead, as long as it was rendered over low heat and is pure white when chilled (avoid beef tallow, as the flavor is a little too “meaty”). In a pinch, European-style butter will work.
I developed this recipe to pay homage to the beautiful berries that were coming into season during my visit to White Oak Pastures, and to incorporate lard from the farm’s pigs. Leaf lard is a dream to bake with — I’ve made biscuits with butter many times, but once I switched to lard, there was no turning back. Lard makes the biscuits in this recipe slightly crumbly in just the right way, and its savory quality keeps desserts from being overly sweet. Do yourself a favor and indulge in a few of these while strawberries are at their peak!
Serves 6
Strawberry and Red Wine Jam
Ingredients
2 cups (1 pint) coarsely chopped strawberries
1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
1⁄4 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Vanilla Whipped Cream and Macerated Strawberries
Ingredients
2 cups cold heavy cream
1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Biscuits
Ingredients
5 tablespoons rendered lard
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
1⁄2 cup cold heavy cream, plus more for brushing
1⁄2 cup cold whole milk
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Strawberry flowers, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
1. Make the jam: In a small saucepan, combine the strawberries, granulated sugar, and wine. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to low. Gently mash the strawberries and cook for about 5 minutes, until the berries are broken up into large chunks and the liquid in the pan is saucy.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water, then pour the mixture into the pan and stir to incorporate. Cook for a minute or two to thicken, then remove from the heat. Transfer the jam to a jar or other airtight container. Let cool completely before using or storing; it will thicken as it cools. (The jam can be made a couple days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.)
3. Make the whipped cream and strawberries: In a large bowl, whisk the cream, vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar until it holds soft peaks. Add more sugar to taste, if desired. Set aside. (If you won’t be using it immediately, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.)
4. In a large bowl, stir together the strawberries and granulated sugar. Set aside to macerate for at least 30 minutes, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before using.
5. Make the biscuits: Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Place the lard in a small bowl and freeze it for 15 to 20 minutes while the oven is heating.
6. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Scrape the chilled lard into the bowl and use a fork or pastry cutter to cut it into the flour mixture until it forms small, pebble-size pieces, then use your fingers to roll the fat and flour together until the mixture has the consistency of coarse sand. Pour in the cream and milk and stir just a handful of times, until the dough comes together in a shaggy ball.
7. Turn the dough out onto a flour-dusted surface and form it into a mound. Dust the top with a little flour and use your fingers to very gently pat it out to about 1 inch thick. It doesn’t need to be a smooth layer—the dough should remain lumpy and barely hold together. Use a bench scraper to fold the dough in half from right to left, then pat it out again, resisting the urge to make it pretty—the secret to tall and fluffy biscuits is not overworking the dough! Fold it in half again from the bottom up. Repeat this process once more, folding from left to right, then from the top down (this creates layers in the biscuits).
8. Pat the dough out to a thickness of 1 to 1 1⁄2 inches, then use a biscuit cutter to cut out 6 tall shortcakes. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, arranging them close together so they’re touching; this will help them rise. Brush the tops with a little cream. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the biscuits are cooked through and their tops are golden. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan.
9. To assemble the shortcakes, cut each biscuit in half horizontally. Layer the bottom half with some of the strawberry jam, a spoonful of the macerated strawberries, and finally some whipped cream, then finish with the top half of the biscuit to make a sandwich. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, garnish with fresh strawberry flowers, if you feel so inclined, and serve.
Find more Danielle Prewett recipes in her cookbook, MeatEater's Wild + Whole: Seasonal Recipes for the Conscious Cook or from our Q&A in our August/September 2026 issue.
PHOTOGRAPHY: courtesy Angie Mosier
