Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry shortcakes are such a simple yet perfect summer dessert. When fresh strawberries are at their peak, they're full of sweet juices that beg to be soaked up by a homemade biscuit. The fresh whipped cream brings it all together for a not-too-sweet treat that is light enough for a hot summer’s day.

While strawberry shortcake recipes can vary, many use biscuits, which is what I chose for this recipe. I used my recipe for the best-ever homemade biscuits here, topping them with a sprinkle of turbinado sugar for that extra sweet touch. While these are the perfect biscuits for strawberry shortcake, if you're looking for a shortcut, check out these Bisquick strawberry shortcake biscuits.

How To Make Strawberry Shortcake

INGREDIENTS

• Strawberries: Because they take center stage, you're going to want to use the freshest strawberries you can find. To amplify their natural sweetness, combine your strawberries with sugar and lemon juice and let them sit for at least 10 minutes at room temperature or up to 1 day in the fridge. The rest time will give the sugar a chance to break down the strawberries and create a juicy syrup.
• All-Purpose Flour: Don’t overthink this one. Standard A-P is the Goldilocks of flours, capable of producing biscuits that are both tall and tender.
• Baking Powder: Biscuits depend on a chemical leavener for liftoff, so it is critical that your baking powder retains its baking power. Make sure it's still active by stirring 1/2 tsp. baking powder into 2 Tbsp. warm water—the mixture should bubble and foam. If it doesn’t, run out and get some fresh baking powder.
• Butter: When it comes to biscuits, the butter really needs to be cold and unsalted, no compromise.
• Buttermilk: Buttermilk gives biscuits a subtle, bewitching tang and provides acidity that counteracts gluten formation, resulting in a more tender crumb.
• Turbinado Sugar: Turbinado sugar is a type of raw sugar, meaning that unlike standard granulated sugar it is only partially refined and retains some of its original molasses. It is that molasses that gives turbinado its hint of caramel flavor. Turbinado’s large crystals make it ideal for topping baked goods and other desserts, when you are looking for a little added crunch.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

First order of business: Macerate the strawberries, i.e., toss them with sugar and lemon juice and let them sit until they’re soaking in their own syrupy juices. Set the berries aside at room temperature until ready to use or, if you’re the planning type, refrigerate them for up to 1 day.

Now let’s make some biscuits. Whisk the dry ingredients—the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt—in a large bowl until combined. Now add the cold butter; let me repeat that, the cold butter. Cold butter is a crucial for creating the layers within the biscuits that result in a light, flaky crumb and a higher rise. You want the butter to be sufficiently cold that it doesn’t begin to melt while you’re working the dough.

Using your hands, work the butter into the flour mixture by pressing and rubbing it between your fingertips until it forms pea-sized pieces. As the shortcakes bake, those pieces of butter are going to melt and create steam pockets that give you the loft and flakiness we’re after here. Now pour in the buttermilk and mix with a rubber spatula until a rough, shaggy dough comes together; don’t worry if you see pockets of dry flour at this stage.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll it out into a 1"-thick rectangle. Now fold the dough into thirds, as if you were folding a letter. Rotate the dough 90° and roll out into another 1"-thick rectangle. Repeat the folding process a second time. You’ll want to work reasonably quickly so the butter doesn’t melt.

Roll out the dough into a 1"-thick rectangle once again and stamp out biscuits using a 3 1/2" biscuit cutter; I recommend dusting the cutter with flour to prevent sticking. Technique matters here: When cutting out biscuits, you want to press straight down on the cutter, then lift straight up. Resist any temptation to twist the cutter—doing so will pinch the edges of the dough together and prevent your biscuits from rising to their full potential. Once you’ve cut out biscuits, gather and reroll the dough scraps, then cut out more biscuits.

Transfer the biscuits to a parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2" between each to give them room to expand. Grab a pastry brush and brush the tops of the biscuits with buttermilk; sprinkle lightly with turbinado sugar. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze the biscuits for 10 minutes, or until cold. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 425°. Finally, bake the biscuits until golden brown on top, about 20 minutes.

We’re almost there! Whip the heavy cream with the confectioners’ sugar until it holds soft peaks. How to tell? Lift the beaters out of the whipped cream and turn them upside down. The whipped cream at the end of the beaters should form peaks that gently fold over and collapse onto themselves.

Cut the biscuits in half and spoon some macerated strawberries and their juices over the bottom halves.

Dollop some whipped cream on top, then close up the shortcakes with the top halves of the biscuits. Will you look at that—strawberry shortcakes!

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• Don't twist your biscuit cutter: This is a simple yet fatal mistake. When using a cookie or biscuit cutter, you're likely to naturally twist the cutter to make sure it cuts through the dough all of the way. Don’t do it! In this recipe, twisting the cutter will cause the dough to pinch together, resulting in biscuits that won’t properly rise. Instead, punch straight down and lift. If a few little strands are still connected, take a paring knife or kitchen scissors and cut them loose.
• Make sure your butter is cold: When I say cold, I mean COLD. About 30 minutes before you plan to make your biscuits, cut the butter into 1/2" cubes and pop it in the freezer. This helps prevent the butter from melting while you work the dough with your hands. During baking, these unmelted bits of butter in the dough create the steam pockets necessary for fluffy, tender biscuits.

Variations

It wouldn't exactly be a strawberry shortcake without strawberries (obviously), but you can give the shortcake treatment to almost any fresh fruit if you're making this outside of strawberry season. For other summer fruit shortcakes, check out this lemon-blueberry shortcake. In the fall, break out the apples, pears, and brown sugar and when winter rolls around, try pomegranate and grapefruit shortcake.

Storage

Biscuits are invariably at their best when fresh out of the oven, but if you have leftovers, they will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days. Reheat them in a 350° oven for a few minutes until warm and soft. You can also freeze biscuits for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, thaw them in a 350° oven until warm.