Strawberry Shortcake
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Sunny days call for homemade strawberry shortcake—a perfect blend of juicy fresh strawberries, rich buttermilk biscuits, and whipped cream.
Strawberry shortcake! With tender, sugar-crusted biscuits, sweet macerated strawberries, and heaps of whipped cream, it’s definitely one of my go-to desserts when the weather warms up. To make the best version of this classic, it’s got to be 100% homemade. So, say goodbye to store-bought pound cake and tubs of Cool Whip—there’s simply no substitute for from-scratch biscuits and real whipped cream.
If the idea of making homemade biscuits seems daunting, don’t worry—my recipe is simple and foolproof. It requires just one bowl, and instead of the traditional rolling and cutting method, you’ll shape the dough into free-form balls. This approach not only simplifies the process but also gives the biscuits a wonderful craggy texture, perfect for creating nooks and crannies that soak up the strawberry juices without ever becoming soggy.
Table of Contents
“These are the strawberry shortcakes of my childhood that I have been trying to recreate for decades!! The slightly sweet, craggy biscuits, sweet berries and whipped cream brought back a flood of memories.”
What You’ll Need To Make Strawberry Shortcake
- All-purpose flour: Provides the structure for the biscuits, serving as the base of the dough.
- Cornstarch: Used alongside flour to soften the proteins, yielding a more tender biscuit.
- Baking powder and baking soda: Leavening agents that help the biscuits rise, making them light and fluffy.
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the biscuit dough, strawberries, and whipped cream.
- Cold butter: “Cut” into the biscuits so that when baked, the cold pieces create steam pockets that rise, leading to a flaky, rich texture. Using unsalted butter allows you to control the saltiness of the biscuits.
- Buttermilk: Adds a slight tang and moisture to the biscuit dough, contributing to the tender texture and rich flavor. If you’d rather not buy a whole carton for this recipe, see my post for how to make buttermilk using milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
- Turbinado sugar: Sprinkled on top of the biscuits before baking, providing a sweet, crunchy crust.
- Strawberries: The fruit component of the dish, offering fresh, juicy sweetness and vibrant color.
- Seedless raspberry jam: Enhances the strawberries with additional sweetness and gloss, adding depth to the berry flavor.
- Heavy cream: Whipped into cream for filling the shortcake, adding a rich, luxurious element to contrast with the freshness of the berries and the texture of the biscuits.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make the Biscuits
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.
Step 2: Prepare the Strawberries
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.
Step 3: Prepare the Whipped Cream
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.
Step 4: Assemble
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Strawberry shortcake must be assembled right before serving, but you can prepare parts of the recipe ahead of time to ease your cooking process. The unbaked biscuits can be refrigerated for up to one hour before you plan to bake them. For longer storage, you can freeze the unbaked biscuits for up to three months. When ready to bake, you can bake them directly from the freezer, just remember to add a few extra minutes to the usual baking time.
The whipped cream can be made a few hours before serving. If you do so, remember to under-beat it slightly at first. Keep the under-beaten cream covered in the refrigerator, and before serving, give it a final whip by hand to achieve that soft, pillowy consistency.
The strawberries should be prepared fresh and not made ahead, as they lose texture and flavor if they sit too long after being sliced and macerated.
Strawberry shortcake is best enjoyed the day it’s made. However, if you have leftovers, store the components separately. Biscuits can be kept at room temperature for up to two days, and the macerated strawberries and whipped cream should be refrigerated and used within one day. Assemble them just before serving for the best texture and flavor.
I don’t recommend using frozen strawberries for this recipe. If fresh strawberries are not available, consider waiting until they are in season for the best results, or use a different fresh fruit that is in season.
Strawberry Shortcake Video Tutorial
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Strawberry Shortcake
Sunny days call for homemade strawberry shortcake—a perfect blend of juicy fresh strawberries, rich buttermilk biscuits, and whipped cream.
Ingredients
For the Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch chunks
- ¾ cup buttermilk (see note)
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
For the Strawberries
- 2 pounds strawberries, hulled and sliced ¼-inch thick
- 3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
- ½ cup granulated sugar
For the Whipped Cream
- 1½ cups heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
For the Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Line a 13x18-in baking sheet with parchment paper.
- 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. Add the buttermilk and 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.
For 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.
For the Whipped Cream
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or beaters), whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the granulated sugar over the cream and beat until soft peaks return. Do not overbeat. (Alternatively, the whipped cream can be beaten by hand in a deep mixing bowl with a whisk.)
To Assemble
- To assemble the shortcakes: 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.
- Note: If you’d like to make your own buttermilk, check out the easy method here.teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup. Then add milk to the ¾-cup line and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes, or until slightly curdled and thickened.
- Make Ahead: The unbaked biscuits can be refrigerated for up to 1 hour before baking. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze: place the unbaked biscuits on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until solid. Remove the firm biscuits from the freezer, place in an airtight bag, and store in the freezer. Bake the biscuits directly from the freezer, allowing a few extra minutes baking time. The whipped cream can be made a few hours before serving but err on the side of under-beating. Store it covered in the refrigerator and give it a final whip by hand to get it to a pillowy consistency just before serving. The strawberries cannot be made ahead.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Serving size: 1 strawberry shortcake
- Calories: 565
- Fat: 32 g
- Saturated fat: 20 g
- Carbohydrates: 67 g
- Sugar: 35 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Sodium: 533 mg
- Cholesterol: 100 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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All reviews are spot on. By far this one has the unbelievable factor. The best biscuits I’ve EVER made . Ok I do sneak a little more sugar in the batter!!! thank you SO much. Great dessert.
I never take the time to write a review but holy cow this is the best desert I have every made. Thank you thank you thank you
Can you make one giant biscuit to make it an actual cake?
Thanks so much! Looking forward to trying it regardless.
Just saw your previous answer below! 8×8 looking forward to trying it!
Do you know what is equally satisfying as eating this dessert? Knowing that I will never have to look for another version of Strawberry Shortcake ever! The Cornstarch in the biscuits, as well as the Raspberry jam in the berry mixture turned out to be 2 unique additions that elevated hugely, this simple dessert. Mind you, it never hurts when you can find incredible Strawberries. When everything comes together, (as it did last night) I can see why some folks prefer a fruit dessert to chocolate! Thank you Jen, sincerely.
Amazingly good, easy, and relatively quick recipe. I added a squeeze of lemon juice and some zest into my strawberries, and a few torn mint leaves. Perfection. Also used vanilla bean paste to make the whipped cream a chantilly cream (I just love to see the little flecks of vanilla – feels fancy!).
These are delicious! I ended up baking 2 of the biscuits today and freezing the rest for another day, so I just used a quarter of the remaining ingredients for the strawberries and whipped cream. They ended up surprisingly big — I couldn’t finish mine! For me, they were a little on the sweet side, so I think I’d cut down the sugar a bit in the berries and the whipped cream next time. (My husband didn’t think they were too sweet.) I only had raspberry jam with seeds, so I used strawberry jam, instead. Thanks for another amazing recipe, Jenn!
I just made this for the first time. Sensational!
The biscuit adds texture and saltiness (with a touch of sweetness) that puts this recipe over the top. I grated frozen butter into the flour mixture and stirred it in with a fork, avoiding the use of fingers and making a quick preparation even easier.
Thank you for a PERFECT recipe!
I made this last night for some guests. It came out perfectly; best strawberry shortcake I’ve ever made, for sure. The biscuit is light, tender, and not dry. Jenn, your website is the place I go when I want something that I know will turn out really well. Thanks for all you do!
You’re welcome!! 🙂
That is an amazing idea! I will try that next time I make them, thanks!
I FINALLY made amazing biscuits!!! Thank you.
I changed up strawberry mix omitted jam and mixed in coconut sugar. Perfection.
This recipe is delicious! At first I thought raspberry jam sounded odd in it but it isn’t. It adds to the depth of fruit flavor without taking away from the strawberries. The texture with some mashed and some sliced is just right too. Add the real whipped cream and you have a perfect summer dessert!