Strawberry Shortcake + Video
This has been a long.time.coming.
Strawberry shortcake. S.T.R.A.W.B.E.R.R.Y S.H.O.R.T.C.A.K.E !!!!! It’s a June celebration.
Yo. I have a confession. I never had real strawberry shortcake until I made these shortcake beauties. And I’m a DESSERT blogger. Smh.
I mean, I’ve had those layer cakes that are filled with strawberries and cream. But those cakes were always fluffy yellow cakes. Not shortcakes. Not classic strawberry shortcakes with flaky, buttery biscuit layers. They were just regular cake layers. So they weren’t real, okay.
Another thing I have today for you, that’s real: A video tutorial. On how to make these lovely, little strawberry shortcakes. Here we are:
Or, watch it on YouTube.
First of all, can we discuss how cute and tiny these strawberry shortcakes are??
Lots of recipes call for making one big cake and then slicing the cake into squares and creating the layers and servings that way.
But. Round, perfect, little, individual biscuits? WAYYYYYY cuter. So, I obviously opted for that method.
Which means. You flatten the dough into a disk and cut out rounds. Like the way you’d make scones. Or biscuits.
And then. Once those rounds bake up into puffy, flaky biscuit things, you slice the biscuit in half, layer it up with strawberries and whipped cream, and top it with the other half of the biscuit. And then I add more cream and strawberries over the biscuit, because that’s the way I want my cakes. Doubled up. Double the fun. Double the deliciousness.
So, the actual biscuit dough. It can be made by hand. Or in a food processor. It comes together in minutes. And it yields biscuits that are so perfectly crispy and flaky but also tender and soft and also buttery and rich but also lightly sweetened and delicate.
Those layers. Those biscuity layers. They have my heart.
Oh, and the strawberries. Make them first. Slice or quarter them and mix them with some sugar. And let them sit in the sugar while you prepare and bake the rest of the recipe. This way, the strawberries sit in the sugar and the juices develop and they become all tender and sweet and succulent and juicy and syrupy. The best.
And the whipped cream. Ah, the whipped cream.
It’s heavy cream, a lil sugar, and vanilla extract. I prefer my whipped cream on the less sweet side. It’s less cloying and store-bought-tasting and lighter and more sophisticated that way. I also added a teaspoon of lemon zest to the whipped cream, for a nice tart contrast to the sweet strawberries and cream. It’s optional, but comes highly recommended from this first-time real strawberry shortcake eater.
Flaky, buttery, tender, lightly sweetened biscuits. Juicy, syrupy, succulent strawberries. Pillowy, creamy, rich, just a tad sweetened whipped cream. LAYER HER UP!
Strawberry shortcake — now that I know what you’re really all about, I’d venture to guess I’ll be initiating contact with you quite often this summer.
Strawberry Shortcake
Yield: about 12 mini shortcakes
Strawberries:
6 cups sliced or quartered strawberries
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Shortcakes:
3 cups flour
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cubed
1+ cups cold heavy cream (can sub whole milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped Cream:
1 1/4 cups cold heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest, optional
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Strawberries: In a large bowl, stir together the strawberries and sugar. Refrigerate 30+ minutes, till ready to use.
3. Biscuits: In a large bowl or food processor, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add in the cold butter and use pastry cutter, hands, or pulse button to mix until mixture turns to coarse crumbs. Don’t over mix!
4. Pour in the heavy cream and vanilla and mix until just moistened. Add more cream if dough is too crumbly.
5. Pour dough onto work surface and work into a ball, kneading a couple times. Flatten into 1/3’’-1/2’’ thick disk. Cut out circles with 3” cutter. Repeat once more with remaining scraps of dough.
6. Arrange the biscuits on baking sheet close together with their sides touching (this helps the biscuits rise better). Bake for 14-15 minutes, until golden brown on top and bottom. Cool a bit before assembling.
7. Whipped Cream: Whip together all the whipped cream ingredients with electric beater or with hand whisk until soft peaks form. Don’t over beat!
8. Assembly: Slice each biscuit in half, spoon a layer of strawberries on biscuit, and top with dollop of whipped cream. Cover with other half of biscuit and top with more cream and strawberries if desired and serve.
