One of our very favorite summer time desserts is strawberry shortcake. Every May I get a bunch of strawberries from the farm, and those make the BEST desserts. Even store strawberries make pretty good shortcake though when the farm berries aren’t in season.
I have a couple different strawberry shortcake recipes I like to make. One has a delicious cornmeal cake base, which I love. I also like the momofuku recipe that uses more of a sugar cookie as the base, although it is really sweet. This recipe is the one I make the most though. It has a more traditional shortcake base and is quick and simple to make.
I think a key to this recipe is to sprinkle the top of the cake with sugar, or better yet with large sanding sugar if you have any. It gives a little extra sweetness and crunch which makes this dessert great.
I almost always make my own whipped cream because it takes 5 minutes and is so yummy. You can use canned or cool whip or whatever you like though. I typically don’t measure the sugar in the strawberry topping. Sometimes strawberries can be quite sweet and other times not as much, so I just go by taste.
For a different take on strawberry shortcake, try these strawberry shortcake cookies! Every time I get fresh farm strawberries, I also make this super easy but SO delicious strawberry gelato. Check out my favorite item links to see the ice cream maker I have. It is relatively inexpensive and I’ve had it for probably 15 years and it works great.
Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
For the strawberry topping:
- 1 1/2 lbs strawberries stemmed and quartered
- sugar I typically use a few tbsps but adjust for the sweetness of the fruit
- 1/2 lemon squeezed
For the shortcake:
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 cups AP flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- sanding sugar for the top
For the whipped cream:
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the strawberry topping:
- Mix the strawberries and sugar to taste with the lemon juice and mix well. Allow to rest in the fridge for 2 or more hours to allow the fruit to macerate and the syrup to form.
Make the shortcake:
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 2 tbsp sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the cream and toss with a fork until just barely combined.
- Spray an 8×8 baking pan with baking spray and pour in the batter. Top with sprinkled sugar and bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool on a rack.
Make the whipped cream:
- Add the cream, sugar and vanilla to a stand mixer with whisk, or whisk by hand. Whisk until you have soft peaks.
To serve:
- Cut cake into 6 squares. Cut each square horizontally and fill with strawberries and syrup and cream and top with the top of the cake.