Strawberry shortcake
A classic American summer dessert and a fixture of June strawberry festivals. It is tender, buttery baking-powder biscuits, split and filled with strawberries in their own syrup and whipped cream. “Short” here means crumbly tenderness, given by fat rubbed into the flour. Everything depends on two things: the butter must be very cold, so it turns to steam in the oven and layers the dough, and the strawberries must be sugared half an hour ahead so they release their juice.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Strawberries 10 min
- Dough 15 min
- Baking 17 min
- Cooling 25 min
- Assembly 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneSugar the strawberries
Slice the strawberries, sprinkle with the sugar, stir and leave at least 30 minutes. The sugar draws juice from the fruit, which turns into a syrup — it is what soaks into the biscuits later.
Ingredients: 600 g strawberries · 50 g sugar
Half an hour — the strawberries make their own syrup.Heat the oven, mix the dry ingredients
Heat the oven to 220°C. In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 1 tbsp baking powder · 40 g sugar · ½ tsp salt · 80 g butter, very cold · 270 ml whipping cream (30%), cold · 1 tbsp coarse sugar for sprinkling
Rub in the cold butter
Add the diced butter and rub it quickly into the flour with your fingertips until you have coarse crumbs with visible flakes of butter. Do not make it smooth — the butter pieces turn to steam in the oven and layer the dough.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 1 tbsp baking powder · 40 g sugar · ½ tsp salt · 80 g butter, very cold · 270 ml whipping cream (30%), cold · 1 tbsp coarse sugar for sprinkling
Add the cream and bring together briefly
Pour in 240 ml cold cream and mix with a fork only until the dough holds together — it should be shaggy and uneven. If dry flour remains at the bottom of the bowl, add a spoonful of cream. Long mixing develops gluten, and the biscuits come out tough and flat.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 1 tbsp baking powder · 40 g sugar · ½ tsp salt · 80 g butter, very cold · 270 ml whipping cream (30%), cold · 1 tbsp coarse sugar for sprinkling
A shaggy dough — smooth would bake tough.Pat into a square and cut six
Turn the dough onto a floured surface, pat it into a rectangle 2.5 cm thick and cut it into 6 squares with a sharp knife. Cut straight down without dragging — squashed edges will not rise.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 1 tbsp baking powder · 40 g sugar · ½ tsp salt · 80 g butter, very cold · 270 ml whipping cream (30%), cold · 1 tbsp coarse sugar for sprinkling
Bake until golden
Set the biscuits on a lined tray, brush with the remaining cream, sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake 15–17 minutes at 220°C, until tall and golden. The high heat is essential so the butter turns to steam in time.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 1 tbsp baking powder · 40 g sugar · ½ tsp salt · 80 g butter, very cold · 270 ml whipping cream (30%), cold · 1 tbsp coarse sugar for sprinkling
Tall and golden — the butter flakes did their job.Cool and whip the cream
Cool the biscuits on a rack 20–25 minutes — they should be just warm, as hot ones melt the cream. Meanwhile whip the cold cream with the icing sugar and vanilla to soft peaks.
Ingredients: 300 ml whipping cream (30%), cold · 2 tbsp icing sugar · 1 tsp vanilla extract
Fill and serve at once
Split each biscuit horizontally. Spoon strawberries and syrup onto the bottom half, top with whipped cream, cover with the top half and add another spoon of strawberries. Serve at once — the syrup soaks in and after an hour the biscuit turns soft.
Ingredients: 600 g strawberries · 50 g sugar
Before you start
A biscuit is not sponge
American biscuits are tender baking-powder rolls, much like British scones. A sponge-cake version exists too, but it is the crumbly, buttery biscuit that gives the classic contrast with soft fruit.
With buttermilk
Replace the cream in the dough with the same amount of buttermilk and raise the butter to 110 g. The biscuits will be lighter and slightly tangy; add a quarter teaspoon of baking soda with the buttermilk.
For a party
Bake the biscuits in the morning and keep them under a cloth, sugar the strawberries an hour before serving and whip the cream at the last minute. The assembled dessert is best straight away.
