Prep the berries:

1. Add the strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries to a medium/large mixing bowl along with the sugar, lemon juice and zest. Toss well to combine and coat the berries in sugar. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Make the biscuits and serve:

1. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugar to combine well.
2. Add the pieces of cold lard and use two forks or a pastry cutter to cut the lard into the flour mixture. Be careful not to overwork the lard, stop mixing when the mixture resembles large peas. Make a well in the center of the bowl.
3. Pour the cold buttermilk into the well and use a spatula to just barely mix the dough together. It should only take about 2-3 folds. The dough will be shaggy, craggy and have patches of dry flour and wet buttermilk. That’s okay!
4. Generously flour the countertop and turn out the dough. Flour your hands as well as the dough and gently pat into a rectangle slab about an inch thick.
5. Use a bench scraper to fold the dough in thirds and turn it 90 degrees. Repeat twice more to fold the dough a total of 3 times, flouring the counter and dough as needed.
6. After the last fold, pat the dough into a 2 inch thick rectangle. Use a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter to stamp out the biscuits and transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet. Push together any scraps to make more biscuits until the dough has been used up. You should have between 10-12 biscuits.
7. Put the baking sheet in the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. While the oven preheats, the biscuits will chill and you can make the egg wash.
8. Beat the egg in a small bowl until blended, and set aside until you’re ready to bake the biscuits.
9. Once the oven has preheated, remove the baking sheet from the fridge and brush the tops of the biscuits with the egg wash. Sprinkle with coarse sparkling sugar, if desired, and bake for 15-16 minutes. The biscuits will not rise much and have a light golden top.
10. Let the biscuits cool for 15 minutes before serving with berries and whipped cream.