Easy Shortcakes Recipe – for Strawberry Shortcake

About strawberry shortcake

Warm buttery shortcakes, crisp on the outside and tender inside, topped with lustrous juicy red strawberries and a cloud of lightly sweetened whipped cream — this is the stuff dreams are made of. Nothing says summer quite like strawberry shortcake.

My mom used to “force” my sister and me to pick strawberries with her every June. We complained plenty especially if it was hot (and it usually was!) but we didn’t complain when suppertime rolled around. Our reward for picking strawberries was homemade strawberry shortcake for dinner. And I really mean “for dinner.” That’s all we had. As much as we could eat. And we were totally happy with that.

Mom always makes biscuit-like shortcakes from scratch. Not too sweet, rich with butter, they are almost like scones. With lots of homemade whipped cream and as many perfectly ripe strawberries we could eat, we were well rewarded for our labors.

I know you’re going to love these shortcakes. If the only “shortcake” you’ve ever eaten is angel food cake or those packaged sponge cakes, you’re in for a real treat!

How To Prep the Strawberries

While this recipe is for shortcakes, you’ll need to know how to prepare the strawberries, too. 

Lightly rinse a quart of strawberries, hull (remove the leaves), and slice or lightly crush the strawberries with just a little sugar, a couple of tablespoons. Do this an hour or so ahead of time so the berries have time to macerate. The juices will be released and the berries will absorb some of the sugar.

Ingredient Notes

• Flour – Use all purpose white flour for a traditional shortcake, or use white whole wheat flour for a more hearty shortcake. We haven’t tested it, but a 1:1 gluten-free replacement flour should work as well.
• Sugar -These cakes are very lightly sweetened so they don’t overpower the sweetness of the strawberries.
• Baking Powder – Baking powder provides the leavening. Shortcakes are a type of quick bread.
• Salt – Just a bit of salt helps to balance the flavors.
• Butter – Use unsalted butter, softened. If you’d like to use salted butter, reduce the amount of salt slightly.
• Buttermilk – You could use regular milk but buttermilk adds lots of buttery flavor and it helps make the shortcakes light textured (like buttermilk biscuits or buttermilk pancakes).

How do you make shortcake biscuits from scratch?

It really couldn’t be easier. Simply mix the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.

Add the butter and cut it into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like fine crumbs and holds together when you press it between your fingers.

Pour in the milk and stir it in, just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter/dough will be really sticky. If it seems too dry or stiff, add a bit more milk.

Scoop out big spoonfuls, making mounds on a baking pan. It’s not fancy at all, just plop it on there. Your shortcakes are ready to bake! 

Hopefully you have your berries all ready. While the shortcakes bake, whip the heavy cream until it forms soft peaks, and find some pretty dishes. 

To Assemble Strawberry Shortcakes

1. Take the shortcakes out of the oven and slice them horizontally, arranging each half in a shallow dish or plate. If you’d rather make layers like the photos, that’s fine, too.

2. Spoon plenty of berries over the halves.

3. Top with a big dollop of whipped cream.
4. Serve right away. This is a dessert that you have to eat as soon as the berries hit the shortcakes.

FAQs

Recipe Variations

• Flavor enhancements: Add a teaspoon of vanilla or a teaspoon of orange or lemon zest to the shortcakes.
• Add texture. Sprinkle the tops of the shortcakes before baking with coarse sugar, such as sanding sugar or turbinado sugar for a nice crunchy texture.
• Use a different kind of milk. Replace the buttermilk with regular milk or nondairy milk. The shortcakes won’t be quite as light but are still delicious.
• Try different fresh fruit. Fresh strawberries aren’t the only fruit that tastes great on shortcakes. Try sliced fresh peaches or nectarines, lightly crushed raspberries, blueberries or a combination of berries. If you like things on the sweeter side, try topping the shortcakes with homemade strawberry sauce.
• Hot fudge sundae shortcakes: Instead of whipped cream, layer homemade (no churn) vanilla ice cream in the shortcakes. Top with a generous drizzle of hot fudge sauce.

Make-Ahead Ideas

Get a head start. Measure out the dry ingredients in a large bowl and cut in the cold butter. Cover, and store mixture in refrigerator for up to three days. When ready to bake, simply pour in the buttermilk and make shortcakes.

Storage & Reheating Tips

Shortcakes are best eaten immediately but if you have any left over, store completely cooled shortcakes in a zip top bag or container. There’s no need to refrigerate them. They’ll keep two to three days. Shortcakes can be frozen for up to three months.

To reheat, preheat your oven or toaster oven to 350°F. Place the shortcakes on a baking pan and reheat for five to seven minutes. Frozen shortcakes will take a bit longer.