Strawberry Shortcake Dessert
Buttery homemade biscuits with fresh macerated strawberries and pillowy sweetened whipped cream.
Servings: 8 shortcakes
Ingredients
Homemade Biscuits
- 2 ½ cups All-purpose Flour 312g
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar 66g
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1 ¼ sticks Unsalted Butter 140g (cold)
- ¾ cup Buttermilk 180ml (cold)
Toppings
- 1 ¾ pounds Strawberries 800g
- 1 ½ cups Heavy Whipping Cream 360ml (cold)
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar 100g
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Macerate the Strawberries
- Wash and dry the strawberries, then hull them and slice them into quarters.
- Reserve two tablespoons of the sugar to add to the cream later, then sprinkle the remaining sugar over the strawberries and mix it in to coat the strawberries.
- Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge while you make the biscuits. The sugar will make the strawberries release their juices, making a sweet strawberry syrup.
Make the Homemade Biscuits
- Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Add the cold butter and rub it into the dry mixture with your fingertips or a pastry cutter (or pulse in a food processor) until it looks like dry crumbs with pea-sized pieces of butter through it.
- Gently flatten some of the butter between your fingers to create thin flakes throughout the mixture - this helps build those lovely layers in the biscuits.
- Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, just until it starts to come together into a scraggly dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface; it will be quite a wet mixture, but use your hands to gently bring it together into one piece.
- To laminate the dough and create flaky layers, gently flatten it into a rectangle shape, fold it in half, and press it down. Fold it in half the other way, and repeat this process three to four times. Take care not to overwork the dough, as this can make the biscuits tough.
- Roll the biscuit dough out to about 1-inch thickness using either your hands or a rolling pin. Once flat, use a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter to cut out circles from the dough. Press the cutter straight down into the dough and do not twist it - this will help the biscuits to rise straight up when baking.
- Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C (180° fan-assisted).
- Brush the top of the biscuits with egg wash, milk, or extra buttermilk, being careful not to get it on the sides. Bake in the oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are a gorgeous golden brown color. Bake time will vary so keep an eye on them after the 15-minute mark. Move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble the Strawberry Shortcakes
- Add the heavy cream, vanilla, and the reserved 2 tablespoons of sugar from earlier to a bowl and whip until it reaches soft peaks - don't overwhip it or it will be too thick and firm. You can adjust the sweetness of the cream according to taste by changing the amount of sugar.
- Take the macerated strawberries out of the fridge and give them a stir.
- Slice each of the cooled biscuits in half and place the bottom halves onto serving plates.
- Spoon a generous helping of strawberries onto each biscuit base, letting some of the sweet juices drizzle onto the biscuit with them.
- Dollop some whipped cream on top of the strawberries and then place the top half of the biscuits on top.
- Top with another spoonful of whipped cream and the remaining strawberries. Serve immediately.
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
Butter - Make sure the butter is completely cold throughout the process, and don't skip the chilling stage before baking.
Strawberries - Use fresh strawberries here - I don't recommend using frozen strawberries. Look for ripe, juice strawberries for the best flavor.
Heavy Whipping Cream - Heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or double cream - anything with at least 36% fat content.