Go Back
+ servings
Print Recipe
5 from 12 votes

Easy Strawberry Shortcake from Scratch

Strawberry Shortcakes are a classic dessert. They're light, delicious, and perfect for spring and summer with juicy, sweet strawberries and easy chantilly cream between slightly sweetened biscuits.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Cooling Time10 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: English
Servings: 6 shortcakes
Calories: 641kcal
Author: Eden Westbrook

Ingredients

Macerated Strawberries

  • 2 pounds strawberries rinsed, stems removed, and quartered
  • ¼ cup 50g granulated sugar
  • Juice of 1 medium lemon
  • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Biscuits:

  • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 ½ cups 350g all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoon 28g baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup 115g unsalted butter, very cold and cubed
  • 1 cup 250mL cold buttermilk
  • 3 tablespoon 64g honey
  • 2 tablespoon 30g heavy cream, for brushing
  • Turbinado sugar for the top of biscuits

Chantilly Cream

  • 1 ½ cups 360mL cold heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Strawberries
  • Combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a medium-sized mixing bowl and toss together to combine.
  • Set aside to macerate while you make the biscuits.

  • Biscuits
  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
  • Whisk the lemon zest, flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large mixing bowl or pulse together in the bowl of a large food processor.
  • Add the cold cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or by pulsing several times in the processor until the butter is about the size of peas. Some larger bits of butter are perfectly fine. If you used a food processor, carefully dump the mixture into a large mixing bowl.
  • Pour 1 cup of cold buttermilk into the dry ingredients, then add the honey. Stir everything together with a silicone spatula until just about combined. The dough will look very shaggy and be very crumbly. If it's not, add a tablespoon of flour at a time and stir it in until the dough is shaggy, crumbly, and no longer wet.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently mold it into a rectangle using your hands. Cut the rectangle into fourths and stack the quartered dough onto each other. Smash down evenly using your hands. Use a rolling pin to press the dough back into a rectangle about one and a half to two inches thick.
  • Repeat that step one to two more times. If the dough is feeling warm (the butter is melting onto your hands and getting hard to work with), place the dough into the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes until it firms back up.
  • Gently roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it’s about 1 inch thick. Cut into 3-inch circles using biscuit cutters. Re-roll any scraps until you have used up as much dough as you can.
  • Arrange the biscuits in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or close together on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Make sure they’re just touching, not smushed against each other, or they won't rise tall.
  • Brush the tops of the biscuits with heavy cream. Sprinkle the top of them generously with the turbinado sugar.
  • Bake in the preheated oven until the bottoms of the biscuits are deeply golden and the tops are lightly brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Remove to a wire rack and let cool for about five minutes before assembling.
  • Chantilly Cream
  • Combine the heavy cream and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer) and beat on medium-high speed just until stiff peaks form, about a minute and a half.
  • Assemble
  • Split the biscuits in half crosswise. Spoon strawberries over the bottom half and top with a dollop of whipped cream. Finish with the top biscuit.

Notes

Make Ahead Strawberry Shortcakes

  • The biscuits, cream, and strawberries can all be prepared the day before.
  • The biscuits can even be frozen before they're baked for up to 3 months. Just place the frozen biscuits into your cast iron pan or baking sheet, no thawing needed.

Substitute Buttermilk

Sometimes buttermilk isn't available. Adding a capful of white vinegar or squeezing in the juice of half a lemon into a cup of whole milk, give it a stir, and wait for five minutes. It'll sour up, perfect to replace the buttermilk.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 641kcal | Carbohydrates: 92g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 1064mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 39g