Strawberry Shortcake

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Dive into the season by whipping up homemade strawberry shortcake—where fresh strawberries meet buttery biscuits and whipped cream.

Tender, sugar-crusted biscuits brimming with juicy macerated strawberries and luscious whipped cream, strawberry shortcake is an absolute must during the spring and summer months. To truly elevate this classic dessert, it’s important to make each element from scratch—say goodbye to store-bought pound cake and whipped topping! My recipe for shortcake biscuits is a breeze, requiring just one bowl and yielding extraordinary results. Instead of the traditional rolling and cutting method, I shape the dough into free-form balls. This technique not only simplifies the process but also imparts a craggy texture to the biscuits, creating perfect little nooks and crannies that soak up the strawberry juices without ever becoming soggy.

What You’ll Need To Make Strawberry Shortcake

As you can see, the recipe calls for buttermilk. If you’d rather not buy a whole carton for this recipe, it’s easy to make your own. Simply add 2-1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then add milk to the 3/4-cup line and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly curdled and thickened.

How To Make Strawberry Shortcake

Begin by making the biscuits. These are a lightly sweetened version of my Southern-style biscuits. True Southern biscuits typically call for White Lily flour, a low-protein flour primarily available in the southern US states that makes for ultra-tender, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits. I can’t find White Lily flour easily where I live, so my secret is to add a little cornstarch to the flour to get the same effect.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, and salt.

Add the pieces of cold butter.

Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized clumps of butter within.

It should look like this.

Add the buttermilk. (Note: If you’d rather not buy a whole carton of buttermilk for this recipe, it’s easy to make your own. Simply add 2-1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then add milk to the 3/4-cup line and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly curdled and thickened.)

Stir with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together into a sticky, shaggy mass. Do not overmix.

With lightly floured hands, form the dough into 8 craggy-looking balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. (They should be bigger than golf balls but smaller than tennis balls.) Don’t worry about making them perfect — it’s better if they are a little rough around the edges. Sprinkle the tops with the turbinado sugar.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until the biscuits are golden. Set aside to cool.

While the biscuits cool, prepare the strawberries.

Put one-third of the berries in a medium bowl and, using a potato masher or a fork, mash them into a chunky purée.

Mix in the remaining berries, along with the raspberry jam and granulated sugar.

Let the berries sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, until saucy.

Meanwhile, make the whipped cream. In an electric mixer or by hand, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form, then sprinkle the sugar over the cream and beat until soft peaks return. Do not overbeat.

How To Assemble Strawberry Shortcake

Using a serrated knife, split the biscuits in half horizontally and transfer the bottoms to 8 dessert plates. Spoon about three-quarters of the macerated berries and their juice evenly over the biscuit bottoms. Let some of the berries spill out onto the plate. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and cover each with a biscuit top. Spoon more berries and cream over each shortcake and serve immediately.

Video Tutorial

More Strawberry Desserts

• Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
• Strawberry Cake
• Strawberry and Orange Salad with Citrus Syrup & Mint
• Summer Berry Trifle