A couple weeks ago, and because I admittedly ask my husband to pick up strawberries on his way home far more often than I have an exact “agenda” for them besides, you know, breakfast, lunch, and dinner — I made the strawberry shortcake recipe in the archives. These famed shortcakes — my version is adapted from Claudia Fleming and Russ Parsons, but this same approach was favorite by James Beard and more, I suspect they all hung out together — are unique in that instead of using eggs or just egg yolks, they use the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs. This allows the yolks to do their wonders (golden color, velvety texture) without ostensibly toughening the dough. It’s all very sound. It tastes very good. And it is the reason that I make shortcakes approximately once every four years.
Shortcakes, in the biscuit/scone category of “bakes” (so help me, I’ve fallen into a GBBO rabbit hole and I never want to leave), are quick things, or they should be. They should take 5 minutes to assemble, 15 minutes to bake, and once they’re cool, they should be split and immediately heaped with macerated fresh berries and an unholy amount of whipped cream. This recipe in the archives — requiring that you’ve already made, cooled, and stashed away hard-boiled eggs — begs to differ. Still, a little extra work isn’t always a deal-breaker if the results are otherworldly, but this time, everything bothered me: the taste of baking powder, which isn’t usually an issue, was overwhelming. The cakes weren’t very tall, but quite crumbly. They didn’t have much of an edge or color to them at all, and to top it all off, I’m sorry to any person I’ve left wanting in the past, but half a pound of strawberries is woefully insufficient for kinds of shortcakes I like to eat and share. I like ones that spill, that cannot and will not be limited to the confines of a biscuit half.
I went back to the kitchen and tried again. A few rounds later, I have found the shortcake I want us to take into the next generation, but especially this weekend: a tall, craggy, crunchy-edged shortcake that’s a cinch to make, requiring no rolling pins, round cutters, unusual ingredients, or more pressingly, advanced planning to put together and manages to be both soft and moist inside but sturdy enough to not dissolve into soggy nothingness under berry juices. Or at least not before you can eat them.
Previously
One year ago: The Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookie, Revisited and Charred Eggplant and Walnut Pesto Pasta Salad
Two years ago: Picnic Pink Lemonade, Crispy Frizzled Artichokes, and Saltine Crack Ice Cream Sandwiches
Three years ago: Nancy’s Chopped Salad and Coconut Brown Butter Cookies
Four years ago: Rhubarb Cream Cheese Hand Pies and Bowties with Sugar Snaps, Lemon, and Ricotta
Five years ago: Asparagus with Almonds and Yogurt Dressing and Strawberries and Cream Biscuits
Six years ago: Spring Salad with New Potatoes, Fudge Popsicles, Roasted Peppers with Capers and Mozzarella
Seven years ago: Scrambled Egg Toast, Strawberry Brown Butter Bettys, and Shaved Asparagus Pizza
Eight years ago: Slaw Tartare, Strawberry Shortcakes, Grilled Shrimp Cocktail, Graham Crackers, and Pesto Potato Salad with Green Beans
Nine years ago: Mushroom Streudels, Molly’s Dry-Rubbed Ribs and S’More Pie
Ten years ago: Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble, Zucchini Carpaccio Salad, and Black Bottomed Cupcakes
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Chocolate Caramel Crunch Almonds and Union Square Cafe’s Bar Nuts
1.5 Years Ago: Pull=Apart Rugelach and Tres Leches Cake + A Taco Party
2.5 Years Ago: Twice-Baked Potatoes with Kale and Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix
3.5 Years Ago: Cigarettes Russes and Sugared Pretzel Cookies
4.5 Years Ago: Cashew Butter Balls
Easy Drop Berry Scones
Quite often, when a recipe calls for 2 egg yolks, it can be replaced with 1 whole egg. However, I never tried it here. I wanted the richness and color. But, I suspect it will not ruin anything if you want to find out how it goes.
Note: The photos above show a half-recipe.
- 2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoons (40 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams or 3 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
- 2 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (205 ml) heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons (35 grams) raw or turbinado sugar
- 1 pound (455 grams) strawberries or mixed berries, hulled and halved if large
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar, or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice (optional)
- 1 cup (235 ml) heavy or whipping cream
Shortcakes
To finish
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, granulated sugar, and salt until thoroughly combined. Add butter and using your fingertips or a pastry blender, break it into small bits, the largest should be no bigger than a small pea. In a small bowl, whisk yolks with a splash of cream, then pour rest of cream in and whisk to combine. Pour into butter-flour mixture and use a rubber spatula to mix and mash it together into one cohesive dough.
Divide dough into 6 (for large, 3 1/2 to 3 3/4-inch wide and up to 2-inch tall) shortcakes or 8 smaller ones. I do this by pressing the dough somewhat flat into the bottom of the bowl (to form a circle) and using a knife to divide it into pie-like wedges. Place raw or turbinado sugar in a small bowl. Roll each wedge of shortcake into a ball in your hands and roll it through the raw/turbinado sugar, coating it in all but a small area that you should leave bare. (I found that the sugar underneath the shortcakes would burn, so better to leave it off.)
Place it, bare spot down, on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wedges of dough. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly golden all over. Let cool completely on tray or on a cooling rack.
While cooling, prepare fruit and cream: Mix berries, 2 tablespoons sugar (more or less to taste), and lemon juice, if desired, in a bowl and let macerate so that the juices run out.
In a larger bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar to taste, or leave unsweetened, if that’s your preference.
To serve: Carefully split each cooled shortcake with a serrated knife. Spoon berries and their juices over bottom half. Heap generously with whipped cream. Place shortcake “lid” on top. Eat immediately and don’t forget to share.
Do ahead: Shortcakes keep well for a day at room temperature. I prefer to keep them uncovered. I found on the second day, they were a little more firm but not half-bad, but they’re definitely “best” on day one.
You are so timely! I can’t wait to pick strawberries – later than usual in MA b/c of our non-existent spring. Next week, I hope…
i live in MA too and while i feel like we never really get much spring (or fall) this year has been particularly ridiculous. 40s then 90s, 40s then 90s. i am not amused, and neither are my plants!
I know! Strawberry picking today. Fingers crossed.
Man alive. I saw the notification on my phone, but it was cut off after ‘drop…’ and I thought “do I really need another biscuit recipe?” But then I clicked and THEY WERE SHORTCAKES NOT BISCUITS. And now I need to go buy all the strawberries, immediately. (Not exaggerating; actually am this hyped about this recipe.)
Have you ever tried this with self rising flour instead?
I haven’t but it might be just fine.
Dude, I’m in GBBO rabbit hole as well and I don’t want anyone to send help.
The masterclass series on Netflix sent me into a tail spin.
This is a keeper. And a doer, stat.
I have a no-oven alternative (not a cake, but yummy): mascarpone + egg yolks + vanilla sugar (or vanilla and sugar). Just stir it all up. Make a parfait with sliced or diced strawberries. The mild mascarpone lets the berries shine.
Mary Berry for Queen of the Universe!!
Thank you!! I was just pursuing your archives earlier this summer looking for an easier short cake recipe. I wound up making a white cake, cutting it in half, and stuffing it with strawberries and whipped cream, but this looks like just what I needed. I’ll be trying out this recipe soon!
I fell down the GBBO rabbit hole too and I have no intention of leaving either. It has become so bad that I now bribe my three year old with a cookie or cracker so that we can watch a GBBO episode instead of whatever he wants to watch. Yeah, it’s that bad.
YES! Thank you for this! I decided I wanted to make spur of the moment strawberry shortcakes about a week ago and was totally dissuaded by the hard-boiled egg situation. Bought those crappy angel food cake-like disks instead. Can’t wait to make these!
GBBO is my all time favorite!! In honor of the premier this week on PBS, I have coerced my whole family to watch it with me with promises of a “tray bake” and tea. I’ve gone deep into the Master Class archives as well – Mary and Paul are the best teachers I have seen!
I want to make everything, swiss rolls and yeasted loaves and couronnes and it’s just wild that I haven’t heard of 1/4 of these things. And everyone is so nice.
Oh I know! I think that is why I love the show so much – everyone truly is nice to each other, which is so refreshing compared to American shows. I feel like I genuinely want everyone to win!
Wait, I’m missing the kid picture! Did you forget?
I did forget! Here you go.
OMG, he’s so big. I remember the day he was born (or at least when you announced it) – how can he be that big already?!
He’s going into THIRD GRADE. Like, here’s your baby and then boom, you’re at his high school graduation!
right? remember the crisco can photos? time passing this fast is truly unbelievable.
Where are your cool sunglasses from? Sweet photo of you and Jacob.
I’m glad you asked! I went searching for it and was about to hover over every single recipe link in case it was hidden in there!
I might have actually clicked all the links hoping it was there ;) Kid pics are a great part of these posts!
I looove the Great British Baking Show, and I admit that I often find myself thinking while watching, “Deb would be so great on this show” :)
Oooh I agree! Deb, go be British for a bit, and then go on that show! You’d rock it! haha
Sadly the BBC has sold the GBBO to Channel 4 and Mary’s not going with it. I also loved the show but can’t ever bring myself to use “bake” as a noun.
This looks like a great recipe and I’ve got some fresh strawberries at home so I know what I’m doing tonight.
Do shortcakes freeze well? I’m making a dinner party sized strawberry shortcake situation with two shortcake layers, a layer of ice cream, and, of course strawberry and whipped cream layers. Wondering if I can make and freeze those shortcake layers a couple of days ahead of assembling the thing…
I’ve made these and scones/biscuits as well all the way to the point where they’re ready to bake, then flash freeze them and keep them in freezer bags til I need them! They work out wonderfully. I think Deb has a post on this kind of thing somewhere on the site, too. I bake straight from frozen; just add a few minutes to baking time.
Thank you this is very helpful advice
Excellent timing! I have a ton of fresh little strawberries from my CSA that need a shortcake! Side question: do you think that things could be added directly to the dough to make it more of a scone?
I feel like it would work well. I tested these a bunch of times and so I had them around for a couple weeks, found myself eating them with coffee, scone-style. It’s quite similar if not the same.
Why is the bowl with the whipped cream so clean?! ;)
Heheh. Because you need a big bowl for whipping and a small bowl for serving, so I switch them. :)
Hey Deb,
Can I make a suggestion? (am not waiting until you say yes/no ;) I know you prefer to use the W3C standard of not opening links in new tabs but can you make an exception for the ads? I was looking at the blueberry bread pudding recipe yesterday ( I made it and it was so delicious I ate 1/4th for breakfast today (!)) and I saw a price drop ad (yours is the only website I disable ad blocker on :)) for items I was looking at last week and clicked on it to complete my purchase and in my usual absent mindedness I closed the tab and forgot about the recipe. I just thought it might work better for user engagement if you automatically open ads in new tabs and I’ve noticed that all major websites (FB, new sites, tech sites etc.) do it now and not just for ads.
Could I make the dough for these at night and bake them in the morning? Thinking about bringing them to work
I tend to put the dough in the freezer instead of the fridge, even overnight, because you want halt things as much as possible.
Thanks! And then cook them a little longer?
Yes, a few minutes longer.
To be honest, I opted out making your original strawberry shortcake recipe last week because of the hard boiled egg… thank you for this recipe! I’m currently out, buying all the needed ingredients :)
Oooooo!!! I happen to have a bunch of leftover berries from a jam making binge AND 2 egg yolks in my fridge all waiting to meet this, their ultimate destiny. Thanks Deb!
One reason you might have found the previous recipe less successful than you would have liked was the instruction to allow the dough to rest before baking. Chemical raising agents work on the interaction between acid and alkaline, and they start to work immediately liquid is introduced into the mixture. Resting the dough for 20 minutes would allow most of the air to go out of the mixture. For scones (biscuits, whatever) you need the oven to be hot before you start and to work as quickly as you can to get them into the oven and baking so that the air you have introduced with your chemicals is trapped in the finished product. Even rolling these in sugar might be a delay that will cost in the finished texture of your scone. The instruction to allow a dough to rest usually means that somewhere in the past the recipe called for yeast, which did need time to rise. I’ve never got on with the previous recipe, although I’ve wanted to: this one I will be sampling at the earliest opportunity.
Yep, agreed to all that! The oven has to be super hot too for the same reason, you want all that lift right the very minute you put them in.
For no-egg types too, your classic English scone (which this is close to) has no egg. My version is more cream, no butter and a cup of lemonade – fluffy and soft inside, crispy on the edges – sublime.
To do ahead – I have made them and frozen extra, then reheated in the oven. They aren’t QUITE as fluffy, but they’re pretty good. Put on extra cream and jam and she’ll be apples.
Lemonade in your scones? How unusual. I’d love to sample that one.
I’ve made scones my whole life and lemonade scones are the best, an Anglo-Australian classic… 3 cups self-raising flour, 1 cup pouring cream, 1 cup lemonade (or any other fizzy drink, like soda water or beer for savoury ones). Mix, cut out (be warned, the dough will be very soft) and bake 10 minutes in a very hot oven. You must try them!
These sound great. I assume your reference to lemonade is a fizzy lemon lime soft drink. I’ll give them a try. Thanks!
By Lemonade she actually means sprite or equivalent. Even having lived in the USA for a year I can’t think of any other alternative, but there must be one.
They make the lightest scones. I just use my hands (well floured) to press the dough out before cutting.
My grandmas advice when making scones was they like friends, so by putting them on the tray just touching they will all help each other rise.
So I have travelled in the US and yet never realised that lemonade means something different there! Always learning something new in the SK comments section :) Our (fizzy; clear; uncoloured) version of lemonade is so ubiquitous in the Commonwealth and in Europe that it never occurred to me.
According to Google there is no commonly available purely lemon-flavoured fizzy drink in the US (how is this possible?!!!) but any fizzy drink would do – I’d probably go a plain sparkling water and add a tablespoon of sugar.
Lemon seltzer? Like this? http://www.polarbev.com/PRODUCTS/Seltzers/LemonSeltzer/tabid/94/Default.aspx
I don’t think lemon seltzer has any sugar. In the USA 7UP or Sprite were our lemon-lime sodas, but not sure if they are still made today. Fresca was the same sort of thing in grapefruit instead of lemon. But there are plenty of lemon-lime sodas on the shelves that are generic and would fill the bill in baking.
San Pellegrino Limonata would do nicely, I think. That’s easily available here in the US. But I’m fairly sure it would be correct to say that there is no fizzy purely lemon-flavored drink of strictly American origin.
I am allergic to eggs so I must try your recipe, thanks! Then I could- at least sort of- make these after all…I was so bummed I couldn’t.
So far my research for Germany translates to:
420 grams of flour& 30 grams baking powder
125 ml cream 35% fat
125 ml Sprite/ Soda
I will definitely try these.
P.S. what would you consider a very hot oven?
If eggs are a problem, you can replace each yolk with an additional tablespoon of cream. I tested it both ways and both work, the yolk version is just slightly less soft inside (thus slightly better at supporting berries and cream, but it’s a small amount of difference).
We are having people over next week and I was going to make this for dessert and so now I can give your version a try, yay! Thanks so much for letting me know, Deb. Life without eggs is just…urgh
Those should read 240 ml
Sorry, late to reply! Those quantities look perfect – I bake at 200C but we use fan forced ovens, so 220c is right if you use conventional. And maybe only 10 mins – break one in half horizontally and take them out if it’s fluffy and not doughy all the way through. Finally, the dough is STICKY – don’t worry about cutting them neatly, just roundish blobs is fine.
Elizabeth and Emma, I tried the recipe and it worked like a charm. At 220C they barely needed 10 min and were perfect. I hurried it all along& used a well preheated oven- they turned out Pinterest-worthy! Thanks for your help!
450 Fahrenheit/230 Centigrade. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes max or they’ll start to dry out inside.
Never heard of lemonade scones before, but the logic is sound: the acid/alkaline/liquid mix in chemical raising agents gives off carbonic acid, which is the gas used to make fizzy drinks fizzy. Starting with the gas already generated would give a boost to the rise. I guess any fizzy soft drink would do, depending on how strongly you wanted the flavour to come through. Beer, of course, depends on yeast for its gas, so the reaction would be different, but a beer-raised cheese scone would be pretty fantastic. So would (English) cider. I think American cider is different?
I make a fantastic scone recipe from JustJennRecipes that uses actual [U.S.] lemonade, called Lemonade Drop Scones. It uses only half a cup of lemonade, so I make a full cup and drink the rest. ;-) [FYI — my recipe for one cup of lemonade is: 1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (bottled juice is NOT an option for drinking, believe me), 3/4 cup water, and 2 Tablespoons sugar.]
This is close to my scone recipe that I have made so many times I think I could make it in my sleep! I actually love the scones..er, sorry..shortcakes, reheated even the next day, 350 oven for about 10 minutes. The outside gets crunchy and the inside stays soft and delicious! So so good!
No rolling pins or cutters? I’m sold!
I love the idea of breakfast shortcake! Quick question though: where does the word “drop” in the name come from? I typically think of drop biscuits as pushing a spoonful of dough right off the spoon onto the baking sheet.
It’s true! I’d originally made them as drop but found them easier to wedge and roll… and drop in the sugar. Perhaps not the clearest title in hindsight.
Hmmm…have been doing a biscuit recipe with melted butter (foolish, not screaming hot) stirred into very cold buttermilk – causes the butter to form very small balls -than stirred gently and quickly into the dry ingress, and making drop biscuits. Has worked very well with everything from sweet biscuits to savoury cheese. May have to try that method with is recipe…
Ok, I am not making this up, LAST WEEK I was thinking about strawberry shortcakes (as you do) and told myself that I should try a more traditional biscuit (I typically do a pound cake or angel food cake) but sweet and with a crackly top and some sort of sanding sugar to make it sparkly and a little crunchy, but since I just made it up I could not find the recipe I wanted. Apparently I just had to be a little more patient :)
P.S. I sometimes assemble a shortcake with ice cream instead of whipped cream, and during my one man shortcake think tank I thought “what if I just combine the two and make a shortcake with strawberry ice cream?” I will experiment (uh, for science) with homemade ice cream and these shortcakes and report back.
I was going all just fine, nodding, and then at the end:
“Don’t forget to share.”
This recipe? I. Don’t Think. So. They’ll get some only if I fall asleep on them because I ate too much.
ha! this is my kind of comment :)
Can I make the dough into an 8 inch cake and cook it as described, thus getting a real “short CAKE”? After baking it could be sliced and then mounded with fruit and cream as you describe.
I think it would be wonderful and have considered this many times.
I made these last summer and they were a huge hit. So when my daughter asked for strawberry cake for her birthday (April 1st ;) ), I immediately thought of these. My question is, have you tried this as a layer cake yet?? I’m dying to know if this exact recipe worked. I guess I can make two cakes this month if I must…
I’ve thought about it so many times but in the end, am not sure we’d really like thin biscuits as cake. When dry, they’d be dry and not cake-like. When wet with fruit and berries, they might get mushy. But maybe it’s just me. Here’s a chiffon “shortcake” layer cake I did in the early days of this site.
That’s how do I do mine just cause it’s so fast. Bake a few minutes longer. I call it “dessert biscuit.”
There is an excellent recipe for a big hazelnut shortcake with caramel berries (just toss the berries in a really good caramel sauce) in Lori Longbotham’s ‘Luscious Berry Desserts’.
Deb, have you tried these with clotted cream instead of whipped cream? The former is much more traditional here in England and is insanely delicious and indulgent. I used to live in the US and missed traditional cream tea like crazy. Whipped cream is not the same at all! It was only after I moved back home that I realised clotted cream isn’t the product of some crazy British farmer/dairy dark arts and you can make it at home. There are a few recipes out there but this page links to all the different methodologies https://fearlessfresh.com/how-to-make-clotted-cream/
I haven’t and I should. I wish it were the gold standard in cream over here too.
I made these yesterday (I had exactly the right amount of heavy cream and no plans for it, so it was fate) and am currently having breakfast shortcakes with strawberries and Greek yogurt. Amazing!!!
i confess i never did get around to making your original shortcakes (although i did have them bookmarked for ages) because, tbh, they didn’t seem like shortcake to me. my gramma always made shortcake on biscuits. it wasn’t fussy and it was delicious. tb-even more-h, sometimes she would even just send my grampa to get some biscuits from the store. (a biscuit with jam and soft real butter? one of the best things.)
anyhow, while i do have a regular biscuit recipe i love, these look on the money and i’ll have to give them a try. (for real this time.) :)
Wow, that shortcakes look super delicious!!!! Going to make it for our next family breakfast. I know my husband will LOVE it!!!
Hi SK! I understand your complaint that a muffin half is insufficient for the needed amount of strawberries. Which is why I split the muffin and spoon the berries over BOTH halves. Then smother with so much whipped cream. The 1200bcalorie per day diet is in temporary abeyance while we enjoy spring berries!
This is pretty similar to my go-to recipe for shortcake/ sugar biscuits. I like to rub citrus zest into white sugar for the topping: it adds a little zing that goes well with berries.
I’m inpatiently waiting for the berry U-pick season to start here in the PNW. Hopefully this weekend….
Strawberry shortcake is my favorite dessert (not counting chocolate)!! If the taste of baking powder is a problem, try baking powder made without aluminum. If I can find it in the culinary hinterlands of Oklahoma, it’s probably available anywhere. Besides one other brand in a can, it’s available from Bob’s Red Mill also.
I actually use aluminum-free baking powder which is why I was surprised the flavor was so strong. I think that the aluminum isn’t all that’s responsible for the taste.
I suspect it may be excess soda, which can give a ‘tongue-shrivelling’ effect. You need twice as much acid as alkaline; for some reason excess acid (sour cream, etc) doesn’t seem to cause a problem, but too much alkaline does. The insides will be yellow and the scones will dry out more quickly. For this amount of flour I would use 1tsp cream of tartar, which I think is not so easy to get in the US as it is in Britain, and 1/2 tsp soda. You could halve the cream of tartar if using buttermilk or sour cream. Northern European flour is softer than American wheats, so the softening effect of soda is not needed in baking in Europe.
Could I substitute half and half for the heavy cream? Thanks!
You can, but these definitely are at their “best” with cream. It’s also possible nobody will know what they’re missing. :)
I made this last night and it was so good! Served 5 people and had 3 shortcakes leftover which we ate for breakfast the next morning with butter and jam. We had none of the fruit and whipped cream leftover which I think means I used too much in our 5 servings! Oh well.
If I added a 1/4 or 1/3 cup cocoa should I up the sugar a bit and cut back the flour? A chocolate biscuit sounds like a good idea right now 😋
I wouldn’t add cocoa, it will make it dry and unpleasant. I would swap some cocoa for flour, perhaps the 1/3 cup. You might want more sugar, yes.
Perfect tea party fare! Love scones.
I’m hearing this in Sue Perkins’ voice: Easy Drop Berries would LOVE you to make eight IDENTICAL shortcakes….
Looks tasty
Oh yum. I love strawberry shortcake – except the whipped cream so I guess I really just like berries and biscuits.
Lisa Day
Looks delicious! Could I sub whole milk for the heavy cream?
Omg these look incredible, can’t stop looking at your photos, thanks so much for sharing I bet it is really delicious!
I love using your recipes. In the past have successfully printed them for access while I am in the kitchen. With this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake I cannot. Is printing from the computer now being disallowed?
mine printed just fine. nothing done differently.
Oh, don’t ever leave. And *please* make a hand-raised pie!!
(I was so upset when the team split up, though!)
I was just thinking of biscuit shortbreads when your appealing recipe hit appeared as if by magic. Thank you. It’s just right.
Now, a technical question. I keep your blog-space on “My favorites” bookmark page but the photo doesn’t change as you put up new recipes. I hit refresh many times hoping to change it, to no avail. Is it something you can help me with, i.e. how can I get the new recipe/photo/entry to show up on my bookmarks top sites page?
In any case, thank you for your wonderful work, recipes and photos.
I’m not sure at all — I can ask around. What browser do you use?
Safari. This problem is not unique to your site, it happens on a couple, but I so like your photos I want to see them “pop up” when I open my Top Sites Bookmark page.
Ah! I can look more into it.
A year late to the party, but here’s my .02 on the technical question. Click on the address in the URL bar. At first glance it just looks like “smittenkitchen.com”, but if you right-click on it you will see the date and name of the recipe after “smittenkitchen.com”. In order to have the most recent post show up in your browser when you click on your bookmark, edit the bookmark to remove everything EXCEPT “smittenkitchen.com”. No date, no recipe name.
I absolutely love this recipe! I am not supposed to have dairy, butter doesn’t usually bother me, and I don’t believe the protein content in heavy cream will bother me either. Strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries is the mix we are planning on using to cover these shortcakes. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. I always enjoy your blogs girl! Thank you.
I required more cream to get the dough together, but overall these were a snap. I *might* form them a little less like a ball and more like a rough patty next time to make the two halves more symmetrical, but that’s just optics. All testers gave them a big thumbs up; not too sweet, right amount of crunch, tender, and balanced. I grew up on Bisquick shortcakes and these are a definite improvement!
These are similar to the ones I make..except I use 1.5tsps baking powder per cup of flour (I also add a couple Tbsp’s of instant potato flakes)..and buttermilk and 1 whole egg in the mix. The batter is quite sticky so I just use my ice cream scoop/disher to portion the dough . They rise well and are so light and fluffy inside, and aren’t crumbly or overwhelmed by the taste of baking powder. I think it’s the potato flakes along with the buttermilk that helps dull the BP flavor and make them tender..and I use vanilla extract, too. I use only 3 tbsps. of sugar, also. Very quick to put together and bake..and the 450F oven makes the outside crunchy without extra sugar. I love a shortcake and fruit dessert!
Very easy recipe (from someone who has several scone and biscuit recipes). Love this one b/c of the soft tenderness and ease of making/timing, etc. An avid baker, I only use the best of ingredients and never disappointed with the results. I did brush the tops with heavy whipping cream and a light dusting of cinnamon sugar. Having one plain for lunch. Yummy.
Could you sub buttermilk for the cream in the biscuit?
You can. The texture is better and more moist with cream, but it will still work.
I did, and they were wonderful! Great recipe!
(I’m writing this w/o reading previous comments.) In our family we make drop biscuits–my favorite are Oatmeal biscuits. We serve them with strawberries–peaches are good, too–and milk. I put a generous amount of berries in my bowl, split the biscuit, put the halves split side down over the berries. Then I pour milk over the whole thing and sprinkle some sugar on top of the biscuits. The dropped biscuits have lots of crunchy peaks. Strawberries are cut, sprinkled sparingly with sugar, stirred, then set aside. I do this while the biscuits are baking. I guess we like soggy biscuits! My dad used to have Milk Toast: toast with milk and sugar in a bowl. I wouldn’t go that far…
These were delicious! I totally understand the urge to eat them straight from the oven. Like a previous poster, I too needed to add a little extra cream to get them to hold together (maybe another 1/2 tbsp.? Not sure). Ours didn’t cut quite so neatly into sandwich halves but were wonderful nonetheless.
Thanks for the fab recipe! Mine came out with a bit bigger crumb and were more scone-like, but yours look more bread-y and cake-y, which I’d hoped for. Any idea where I might have gone wrong? I didn’t measure the butter very precisely and it was quite warm whilst baking, so perhaps too much oil?
Since going gluten-free, I haven’t successfully made biscuits and thus lamented a future without strawberry shortcake. However, I perked up when I saw this recipe, thinking that the egg yolks might help provide the necessary structure. I made the biscuits using a gluten-free flour blend, adding an extra 1/4 tsp. baking powder and using 1/2 c. half-and-half instead of the heavy cream, as my “shopping assistant” grabbed the wrong carton at the store. They turned out perfectly. The only thing I will do differently next time is to add some vanilla or lemon zest – I’m still learning that gluten-free baked goods need some extra help in the flavor department. Anyway, thanks to you, I had strawberry shortcake for lunch!
Isn’t it normally the whites that add structure? The whites are protein, while the yolks are mostly fat.
Interesting, Cath – I hadn’t thought about that, only about the “sticky” quality of the yolks. But now I recall that among the tips for gluten-free baking I’ve read, the recommedation is to add the whole egg. Still, I was very happy with the non-crumbly texture of these biscuits, which sliced in half beautifully.
We made it tonight and absolutely LOVED IT! The person I ate it with (who hates shortcake and generally every dessert that isn’t chocolate) couldn’t stop complimenting the biscuit. It’s just…. so, so, so good.
Thanks for another winning recipe, Deb! (Though I feel like that’s cheating a bit, since I can’t remember the last time I used a recipe from this site that *wasn’t* a winner. You are so talented!)
Made half the recipe and used an XL egg yolk. Also used sparkling sugar. The flavour was great! Too bad I overmixed my dough or overbaked (13 minutes). My shortcakes turned out a bit hard :-( Haha. I would definitely make these again! SO EASY and delicious!
So, these are delicious. My only comment is that the recipe makes a lot. I doubled it thinking I needed to for 12 people.They are so big, I bet most people will split them in half and share. I think the recipe more accurately makes about 10 of the size I think most people can handle. But, in the end, who is complaining about extra shortcake?!
Update: everyone demolished their own. None left. So… strike comment above. I mean, they would be wonderful smaller too, but they were good enough that everyone was happy to finish the big ones!
I made two batches of these yesterday, one to serve that night and the other to freeze and make the next morning for a brunch (because they can do double duty like that, right?). First, and most important: they are divine, and I can see them becoming my go-to platform for scones of all kinds.
A few comments: I thought that the 8-portion sized was perfect, and really not all that petite and a pretty standard size (and I’m a fan of decent dessert portions). I think you could easily get 12 petite portions from the recipe.
For the frozen batch, I cooked 12+ minutes at 400 and they were still a little raw inside. I think next time I would try 15 minutes at 375.
These shortcakes are AMAZING! No lie, I had to let them cool in a different room to avoid eating them before dinner. I doubled the cream, but that’s because we love whipped cream!
Delicious as always. Added some lime zest to the whipped cream and had them with delicious berries from the farmer’s market. Only one niggle: we ate them while the scones were still hot on day 1. On day 2, when they were cool, I actually did find the taste of baking powder to be aggressive and sightless off-putting. Did anyone else encounter this?
Definitely – I was questioning whether I added too much by accident. I may try the recipe again to make sure it wasn’t an accident on my part. The texture was nice.
I had the same problem as well. They were delicious and perfect on day one with the strawberries and whipped cream. I had a leftover shortcake the next day with some jam. The metallic taste of the baking powder/soda was quite strong and my tongue felt a little tingly. Not sure if it became noticeable when eaten plain or after a day, or both. Any remedy to this?
Made this tonight for Fathers a Day dinner. I added a scant 1/4 tsp of almond extract to the whipped cream. Wow! So good! Don’t skimp on the berries. Maybe 1-1/2 pounds would be good! Delish.
Hi Deb,
Thank you for the lovely recipe! I look forward to trying it out soon!
And congratulations on being included in the Epicurious 100 Greatest Home Cooks of All Time! You surely deserve it, your books, blog and recipes are wonderful!
Cheers, Mish
Made these yesterday and got 9 fairly generous portions out of it! My dough was quite sticky though – would not have rolled into a ball, so I just sort of dropped large spoonfuls into the sugar. I did use a whole egg instead of the two yolks and it was very, very humid yesterday, so that might have contributed to it. They did turn out fabulous though! I also used closer to a pound and a half of strawberries and used it all up, so I would recommend more berries if they are available!
Wow. Were these ever delicious. I will never bake (or purchase) any other shortcake again. The crowds went wild! Thanks Deb.
I made these yesterday, but discovered too late I had only two eggs for a double batch. Used two whole eggs instead and pearl sugar on top. Also, patted the dough out like scone dough and used my dough scraper to cut into squares. They turned out beautifully tender and delicious. Will definitely make again.
I made this and it was absolutely delicious. I didn’t particularly want the crunch of the sugar at the top so I just upped the sugar by one tablespoon in the batter and it was very good like that. Just a note that I made the recipe as marked, and it gave me 8 very large biscuits. 6 biscuits would have made them huge!
All / Deb: you should try clotted cream instead of whipped cream (not in the batter but for the topping) I bet it would make it even better.
I made these yesterday and while they are delicious, I do have a question regarding the texture of the dough. Mine was very sticky and soft, almost like it needs more flour. Is that the correct texture? My butter was cold but got soft fast cause it was extremely hot over here, could that be the reason? Thank you!!!
These were modeled after a drop biscuit (hence the name) which are softer but I found it more efficient/neat/tall to roll them into balls. Sticky is fine, but it probably was the butter that made it difficult. I’m glad they were hits.
Ah! Strawberries have very nearly come and gone in my neck of the woods, but I won’t limit myself to a single berry when something so momentous as these biscuits are happening!
How long can I store these shortcakes before they go bad?
They’re best on the first day. Longer, freeze them.
Made these yesterday for Father’s Day and they turned out great! Had to roll them in regular old granulated sugar rather than raw, but they still got raves. I think next time I may skip the whole “rolling into a ball” stage and just leave them in the pie-shaped, scone-like wedges. Just as easy to pile strawberries and whipped cream on a triangle as on a circle!
I made these for dinner with the girls. I made a 1/2 recipe and regretted that decision once I bit into one of these. Mine were perfect and so delicious with fresh strawberries and cream :) Thanks Deb.
I usually use a local dairy’s delicious buttermilk when I make biscuits. Do you think a thick buttermilk would work instead of cream here?
I haven’t tried it with buttermilk, wouldn’t expect it to flop of anything, but the cream will be more rich.
These are delicious. I made half a batch, twice. The first time I made 4 biscuits, the second time I made 6. Perfect with our just picked berries. Thanks for posting.
I made these the day you posted and to be honest I wasn’t expecting much. I have made countless biscuits and scones and they’re always fine but nothing special. Not these! These are amazing. Blew me away. So tender and flavorful! These will be my go-to from now on, thank you!
(Also, FYI, I ended up adding almost a full cup of cream to bring dough together.)
Popping back in to say that I halved this recipe and used it to top a peach cobbler, dropping little blobs on the surface. Delicious!
Also, in my original comment, to clarify, I used almost a whole cup of cream in total, not in addition to what the recipe calls for.
Are you going to return to writing for Food52?! I know you are obviously super busy…! I really enjoyed your voice on there, too!
Thank you — perhaps! Nothing in the queue right now though.
I need to stop looking at food blogs cause everything looks so GOOD! M&S eat your heart out these look beautiful I have to make them
These were fantastic. I made them for a summer BBQ on Saturday and they were easy, delicious and pretty. (I used pink coarse sugar in the pantry) The texture is seriously impressive and I can’t wait to make them again, when it’s not so bloody hot that I won’t cry turning the oven on. Thanks!
I made these last weekend for Father’s Day and, WOW. They were amazing. I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out looking just like your picture. I love it when recipes work, and yours always do. Thank you for another awesome (and completely do-able!) recipe.
I had just picked another pound of strawberries and was looking for something to do with them. This recipe was just the ticket! Very easy to make (loved the fact there was no rolling and cutting out) and they tasted great! The shortcakes were very tender and constrasted well with the crunchy sugar on the exterior. Will definitely make again.
“Thats a good bake!” <3
Second time baking these in the course of a week… Thank you so much for the recipe! Second time around i used a whole egg instead of two yolks, replaced just a little of the flour with whole spelt flour and added some freshly grated nutmeg (remembering how i love it in Edna Lewis’ busy day cake). We liked the texture even better with the whole egg, so if any reader was wondering, don’t let a missing egg get between you and strawberry shortcakes! :)
This may be my forever shortcake recipe. I used one whole large egg and they came out absolutely perfect — crunchy from the sugar on top, and pillowy and melt-in-your-mouth inside. To die for!
OH OH OH, these are GOOD. I made a half-recipe and had dessert last night and breakfast this morning. My shortcakes required an extra 10 minutes in the oven, but said oven has a whimsical notion of temperature. Thank you, Deb, for upping my summer dessert game!
These look so good. A must try.
Dear Deb,
Thank you for another great recipe. These are even nicer than the scones I habitually make (reluctant as I am to admit the superiority of anything American – wait. I just remembered blueberry pancakes.)
I made the initial mixture in the food processor and it seemed none the worse for that.
Why are they called biscuits? Surely that meant twice cooked originally. As usual, two nations divided by a single language
Thanks for adding to the gaiety of nations.
Genius idea re alternative to rolling out the dough!!!
You’ve got me making these tomorrow now!
I can also imagine them with Rose Petal Jam, which is my favourite summer sweetener.
I just made these and they were a hit! Barely used any sugar with the strawberries, added vanilla bean paste to the cream, and had to use granulated sugar for the shortcakes, but they were amazing! I found the biscuits perfectly sweet and everything. THANK YOU DEB!
Made these tonight for my mother’s birthday & they were a hit! What a wonderful crumb. Adding them to my “Quick!! We need a dessert!” rotation. Thank you!
I love how this turned out! Wondering if anyone have adapted this into a savoury version? If not, any suggestions? Cut back the sugar, up the salt a bit and add cheddar and chives? Would that work? Thanks for any ideas :)
Not to be so shameless in plugging my own work, but the cover of my first cookbook has tomato shortcakes in it. I use buttermilk biscuits with chives in them, use whipped goat cheese for the cream and a lightly dressed tomato salad for the berries. It sounds like exactly what you’re looking for.
Hi Deb! Hoping to make these for the Fourth of July weekend – wanted to make them here in the city ahead of time, then bring them out to the beach house frozen. Would you suggest baking then freezing, or freezing the finished dough and rolling/baking out there? Can they go directly from freezer to oven with a few extra minutes?
Thanks!
I’d suggest freezing before baking. However, most biscuits are not great already baked on day two and I have to say that these really aren’t bad at all, if that helps planning too.
Mmmmm, I made these tasty shortcakes tonight and I want to thank you for this simple and delicious recipe! The cake-biscuits were so light and rich at the same time, the berries (I used strawberries and did indeed use the lemon juice, so good!) are so tasty and summery, and the cream… there can never be enough. Thanks so much! I’m a long time reader and have made many of your recipes, and this is one of my faves!
I made these for guests this weekend. Everyone loved them, even those who “don’t like sweets that much.” Every crumb was devoured. Thanks for the excellent, easy recipe!
Awesome! I halve recipes often and if a whole egg is called for in the full recipe I just use the whole egg. I have never had even a little bit of an issue with the finished product. In this case instead of one egg yolk (for half the recipe) I used a whole, large egg.The color, flavor and texture were perfect. I use Carol’s blue eggs. Their yolks have a great golden color, which did translate to the shortcake.
Do you think I could sub in buttermilk instead of heavy cream? Would that make a big difference?
It will be less rich but I’d expect it to work.
Question for the community: would this be good with cinnamon ice cream? I made some last night and I can’t decide if berries/cinnamon would be a good combo. I would use strawberries and blueberries, if that helps.
Thanks!
It’s not my personal first choice with berries but I also would never turn it down if you made it for me, and suspect nobody else would either. :)
I am used to the recipes on this site being dependable and amazing. But this. This just floored me. They turned out well beyond my expectations. I am finding it hard not to devour them all before our BBQ today… I grew up with the shortcake on a certain blue and white baking mix box. Still love that, but mostly for nostalgic reasons. I’m not going to be making that much anymore after discovering these. Thank you for such a simple and delicious recipe!
Oh and I was so excited to praise these shortcakes that I forgot to add some details :) I tripled the recipe for a crowd and had no problems scaling the recipe up. Also the turbinado sugar is such a great special touch, I was tempted to skip it but I’m glad I didn’t.
Made these shortcakes this afternoon and they were both easy and awesome. Fluffy light and delicious. Followed exact directions and made 6 perfect shortcakes. Thanks Deb!
I have made this recipe several times and love it! Do you think this could be made for a crowd in a 9×13. I was thinking of crumbling the shortcakes in the bottom and covering them with the berries and then the cream.
These have become our weekend treat for three weeks now! They are so so good. Given that we are in the Southern hemisphere in the middle of Winter, we skip the berries and have them warm from the oven with lashes of butter and a drizzle of honey.
these were AMAZING – I think the best biscuits I’ve ever made and so easy THANKS!
I made these! They were QUITE good, quick, and easy! I served them with plum and peach slices.
This is an easy and delicious recipe. I didn’t quite have enough heavy cream for the biscuits, so substituted 10% cream for 1/4 cup and they came out beautifully. Mine took two minutes longer to bake than indicated, but that is likely due to my oven. Thanks for another tried and true recipe.
Love! They were so good! I have a happy family thanks to Smitten Kitchen!
What should the baking time be if making 8 smaller ones?
Just check in 2 minutes sooner.
It looks so great! My kids will love these berry shortcakes. Thank you for the recipe!
I looked through all the comments and couldn’t find anything relating to this, so: Would it be possible to make this in a cake form (perhaps an eight-inch?) How long would that take to bake? And if I made the biscut-like individual ones, how wide and tall are the “petite” version that makes eight?
Thank you.
Oops. Just saw the height and width for 6-inch ones. These should be fine–though I might 1 and 1/3 the recipe to make extra (and sub buttermilk for the cream). Planning on making strawberries with balsamic vinegar, black pepper, lemon zest, and cardamom, plus a rose syrup and hand-whipped cream on the side. I’ll let you know how it goes.
i’m so stoked about this recipe. my fav “oh my god we have to bring dessert & i have no time” plan is to buy a roll of grands biscuits, mix a bunch of berries w/sugar, bourbon or champagne or grand marnier, and top with canned or home made whipped cream & mint leaves. your recipe will be a show stopper, for sure!
Absolutely the best shortcake recipe I have ever made- and my mom agrees. These were what exactly what I have been looking for- not too hard or dense, a great crunch top, fluffy but still study. I second the other comment about keeping them craggly as it leads to the best crunchy bits. The turbinado sugar absolutely makes them. Made six batches for a trip- used a little less cream, possibly because I used a whole egg for each two egg yolks. Divine. LOVE THIS BLOG.
Kinda strange question—how and when do you wash the strawberries?
You can do it before. I like to lay them out on paper towels so they get really dry before using them.
These shortcakes are to die for! I didn’t have any cream so I substituted half and half. My dough was pretty squishy, but I persevered and dipped the tops of the balls in a little bowl of granulated sugar (no raw or turbinado on hand, either). They came out tender on the inside and crispy and sweet on the outside…yum!
So easy to make and they turned out exactly as pictured. Could not be more pleased with how they baked and taste. Everyone loved them. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I’m always excited to see what recipes you include in your blog. Your choices are spot on each week. These shortcakes are outrageously good! We had them with poached rhubarb in rose and softly whipped cream….SO yummy. And I had the leftover lonely biscuit, sliced, toasted, slathered with sweet butter and bitter orange marmalade. Totally scrumptious! Thank you for sharing this one!!!!!
I made this when the first strawberries came in this year. I thought I’d give a different shortcake recipe a try and … THERE IS NO OTHER SHORTCAKE RECIPE!! Sorry for shouting, but it’s true. If you haven’t tried these shortcakes, you owe it to yourself to do so. They’re just sweet enough, crunchy on top, fall-apart-soak-up-the-juices crumbly … perfect. Make them for strawberry shortcake. Make them for ANY berry dessert. Heck, make them and eat them like scones!
My biscuits turned out on the dry side, and a bit crumbley – still yummy as all get out. I substituted all purpose flour for coconut flour, and I don’t think the butter was as cold as it should have been.
Any suggestions for next time??
It’s probably the coconut flour — they don’t neatly swap. Cold butter helps keep a good texture too. But shortcakes can be a little crumbly just the same, but it shouldn’t be in a dry way.
I made these (again) yesterday. The biscuit dough was quite dry and crumbly, but I pressed it together and roller in the turbinado sugar … and they were … WONDERFUL! (again) Everyone who has these says they are the best shortcake biscuits they have ever had … and I concur. Follow the recipe, press on through crumbly dough and trust that they will be absolutely the best.
I needed another TBS of cream and about five more minutes in the oven. Otherwise, they’re cooling on the counter right now, waiting for the birthday boy to wake up from his nap. He turns one today! ❤️
I made the shortcakes last night and they were delicious! I used one whole egg and a little extra cream as recommended by other reviewers. The shortcakes were just delightful – light, soft, flaky with a good crumb.
Should have posted last year, but should let you know that these have replaced all my previous shortbread biscuits including one I had used for years from a little book of only biscuits and scones. My family went wild… first “whaddya mean you changed the recipe,?” And then “OH WOW.” Thanks for another keeper.!
I don’t usually comment but I thought it was finally time say thank you for your recipes. I just made the strawberry shortcake and it is better than I could have expected. I was a little nervous as I just baked this for a gathering tonight without testing it out first but I found that your recipes always seem to work out perfect. Come on! Every time! Light as air, not too sweet and so simple (no fancy tools needed) I’m not an expert baker (but a picky taster) but your recipes really stand out and makes me look good! haha Everything THANK YOU!!!!
SO GOOD. Halved the recipe and made 4. Estimated on some of the measurements due to lack of precise tiny teaspoons and they came out just fine. Perfect amount of light sweetness in the shortcakes. Light roll in regular sugar worked fine for me. Another winner Deb!
I made these for the first time last night with the most delicious strawberries that my 4-year old daughter and I picked at the farm. These shortcakes were perfection: just enough sweetness, crumbly and overall delicious. Thanks for another great recipe!
Love this recipe! I made it the first time as written, then the second I replaced half the cream with whole milk (because I rarely have an entire cup of heavy cream) and used a whole egg instead of just egg yolks in the interest of simplifying. It turned out wonderfully. I am eager to adapt this recipe to all my favorite scones flavors. I made them tonight with 1 tsp of lavender and 1 tbsp of lemon zest and they were otherworldly.
Best short cake biscuits that I have ever had. I used half and half in place of the cream in the recipe. Only had enough cream to whip. Loved the tenderness of the biscuits.
Would these still work if I made 16 mini ones using the same dough recipe?
Should be fine!
This was amazing! Such a great summer treat.
My husband and I made these for dinner, ( instead of dinner) tonight. We both agree, your 2017 Strawberry 🍓 Shortcake recipe is the best we’ve ever had. Thank you so much!
Super easy recipe. I worked this dough a bit more than I do biscuits, and it seemed to tolerate it well. I really liked the method of cutting the dough in the bowl and then roughly rolling — made for a nice shape. Put in freezer for 10 or so minutes before baking to get the butter and cream cold again. Grew nicely in the oven and had a dense cake like texture.
Added some confectioners sugar to the whipped cream for sweetness.
Will definitely make again
These were amazing! I made them with a whole egg – baked half right away and froze the rest to bake this weekend. Dividing into 6 portions makes for very generous sized biscuits so I think that I may divide into 8 portions the next time.
I made these this morning, just as written . . . almost. After mixing in the liquid, I used a large Ice scream scoop to form them! Never done that before, but it worked ok, mostly. They were really pretty (got 9.5 “scoops”), and Super Tender! but they didn’t hold together that well when you picked one up to eat. Didn’t exactly disintegrate or crumble–just sort of fell into 2-3 layers. Maybe next time I’ll form them more traditionally. Because there will be a next time! (OH, they also needed 2 extra min. in the oven.)
One last thing: took about 1/4 of the strawberries, and macerated them in strawberry liqueur. Oho, that is good! When I finished my alloted scone/biscuit, I had more of those drunk berries just with whipped cream! Great breakfast! haha
So this was fantastic. ESPECIALLY because a) I forgot to add the egg (i used a whole egg), and then wondered why my dough wasn’t coming together so added 1/4 cup more cream b) I remembered that I’d forgotten to add yolks AFTER the scones had been in the oven for two minutes.
At which point I hurriedly took them out. Cooled them in the freezer for a few mins, added egg, put it back in freezer for a few mins and then popped it in oven.
Despite this all these scones were FANTASTIC. Will be made again! (With all eggs and no extra cream!)
I have made this recipe twice in the past two weeks! The scones are great. I don’t think I would ever make biscuits again!!!
I’m so excited—I’m binging these to a brunch baby shower! How long do you think these would take to make? (What I’m really asking is—How early do I need to get up to make them the day of? Or should I make them the night before?)
They’re really fast to make — you’ll be fine baking them in the morning.
What are your thoughts about using this dough quantity and recipe to make one large shortcake instead of individual ones?
Made this for a picnic today (along with hamburgers using your brioche buns and your cabbage cucumber slaw) so it must be spring! My favorite spring/summer dessert!
Hi Deb
Didn’t you make a small casserole of just mushrooms with a bread crumb topping. It was within the past couple of months i think. You mentioned it was very good. I can’t find it on your site.
I don’t read any other food blog so was sure it was your receipe. Please let me know what it was called so I can find it.
Thank you
Carol
I wrote it up right here — enjoy!
These are amazing. The biscuits are perfection and so easy. I picked the 5 pints strawberries (from my CSA) this afternoon in 90 degree weather. Came home and made these. It was so worth it, even the 40 minutes in the heat. I am freezing the rest of the strawberries to make this for my family this weekend. First time we are together in months (Covid). Can’t wait to share them.
3 years later, Fresh Direct had “sweetest strawberries” on special. And I had some heavy cream (unusual). I made only the biscuit part from the recipe and used plain strawberries/whipped cream to fill, but was amazed at how light they were (FWIW, I froze/grated the butter– hadn’t tried that before, but it sounded easier. It wasn’t.). Love this recipe even though I hate baking – between this and the chocolate chip coffee cake people are going to start to get the wrong idea!
I am making these for dinner tonight. I couldn’t resist sneaking a corner of one of the biscuits just now. Oh man! Where have these shortcakes been all my life? Thanks, Deb, for taking the sting out of pandemic isolation for today.
Just made these tonight for Father’s Day. I went ahead and used one whole egg instead of 2 egg yolks and they came out great. I also didn’t have raw sugar on hand, so I rolled them in granulated sugar. My family loved these!
These are so delicious! I made it as a birthday treat for my strawberry loving toddler and they were a hit!
A couple of things. I accidentally used half and half instead of heavy cream. Ooops. It was the same amount of liquid as the recipe calls for. The dough was super sticky though and I ended up adding more flour to be able to form it. They turned out alright though. People loved them! I am planning to make them again, the right way, but am wondering if the sticky, too moist dough was because of the half and half, or if it is supposed to be like that?
These were exquisite! Not too sweet, well proportioned and consummately summery.
I didn’t have turbinado sugar but rolling the dough as directed in granulated sugar worked well still.
Great recipe!
Made this tonight (not for the first time) and they are perfect. I made 10 cakes because I have small kids but I think I might make 12 next time. Otherwise these are so good! Thank you!
One quick tech note – Deb, these don’t come up when you search on either strawberry or strawberries. I found them via the older shortcake recipe.
I made these for shortcake, and they were amazing, so I experimented with using this recipe for cinnamon scones. So delicious and dangerously easy! I added 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1 c. cinnamon chips, topped half with sparkling sugar and the other half with coffee icing (mix of powdered sugar, coffee and a little vanilla). Kept uncovered overnight, they were still great the next day. This recipe is magic.
I don’t have turbinado sugar on hand. Would it be sacrilege to use granulated? Will that affect the final product?
You can — it’s a less dramatic crunch but will work.
A perfect birthday treat. This is just an exquisite dish that’s both homey and fancy on top of being oh, so delicious.
I made these yesterday – for my son’s 20th birthday – when I had already bought ingredients and prepared to make your strawberry chiffon cake. My son asked me to please not make him a cake because he is watching his sugar intake :( so I found these instead.
The shortcakes were a great texture, so much better than others I’ve made (despite my mistake of using raw sugar in the dough when I forgot I actually had bought granulated to make the cake in the first place!). They were just the right amount of sweet and rose high enough to split (again, much better in that regard than other recipes I’ve used). I imagine they would be even better if I followed the recipe correctly :)
To make the genoise cake I had already made a sweetened strawberry purée (from a package of frozen strawberries + sugar) to brush on the cake layers, so I macerated the strawberries in that for a few hours. I would definitely do that again, as it made a nice saucy strawberry mixture without being super sweet or super drippy. Plus I got to use the leftover purée on my yogurt this morning for breakfast.
This was a great hit and it’s replacing my previous shortcake recipe. I still hope to make the chiffon cake someday.
These shortcakes are AMAZING and so easy! I just made them today and already trying to decide when to make them again! So, so good! I pressed them a little flat like thick hamburger patties and loved how they turned out. Like a previous comment mentioned I also needed just a splash more cream to get the dough to come together.
Deb, these were exactly what I looking for: something easy that would be a perfect medium for fresh, local strawberries. And I love how you can use some of the heavy cream for the shortcakes and the rest for the whipped cream. I didn’t use enough strawberries (it was all I had!!) and that was a mistake. I will not make the same mistake again. Thank you!
These have been our go-to shortcake for a long time now. We make them every summer when berry season starts. We love them with whipped cream, obv the best way, but we also enjoy them with a little honey yogurt too (today I added lemon zest and it put it over the top!) and makes me feel not so guilty when we gobble them up for breakfast! One note—I didn’t plan to make these today so I didn’t have heavy cream. I decided to try coconut milk as a test. I used light. The dough was stickier so I couldn’t form it. But I used a 3 tablespoon scoop and got about 10 biscuits. I baked in the convection oven at 370 for 15 minutes. No one could tell the difference! They were a little lighter, and still just as delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
Just made these for the first time tonight and they are amazing! The turbinado sugar is a nice addition and the egg yolk gives them a great moist texture. Definitely a keeper!
I saw someone asked about freezing the dough before baking which you said should be fine…but I’m quadrupling this and making the dough the night before I want to bake (which will be in the morning) and I’d rather not have to wait for dough to defrost necessarily.
Do you suggest freezing the dropped biscuits and baking directly from frozen, refrigerating the dropped biscuits and baking directly from there, or just baking them the night before? (Or another option?) This would potentially be about 12-16 hours between assembling and baking. Thanks!
Made these for a baby shower and they were delicious! I was able to get 10-12 mini ones out of a batch and I set up everything separately so that people could form their own little shortcakes.
I also make a gluten free batch with King Arthur’s GF flour. It definitely had that gluten free taste but was decent. I would suggest trying a tastier flour perhaps.
Holy moly these were good! I want to make these shortcakes every weekend. Just ate an extra one cold with marmalade and it was excellent.
These are fantastic! I served with fresh berries, basil, a little balsamic glaze drizzled on top of the berries and whipped cream.
Also, I used 1 egg instead of 2 yolks to make the biscuits and it did turn out great.
I will definitely make these again.
Thank you so much for this recipe!!! Made it for hubby’s birthday party and everyone loved them! Big hit! I did the six and there was not even a crumb left over. Going to make them again for July 4th using blueberries and strawberries and do the 8. Followed your directions to the tee and I would not change a thing.
I spent two weeks at my sister’s house in Seattle during strawberry season. We made this recipe literally 10 times in those two weeks. When there were leftovers, we at strawberry short cake for breakfast. These are fantastic.
Made these weekly also and ate leftovers for breakfast – so good!
Very easy to put together, love how quickly they baked, and the result was beautiful, delicious, delicate but not too much so – the perfect vehicle for all the summer fruit. We had them with a mix of strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and nectarines tossed in a bit of sugar and orange juice. And yes, dividing into 6 makes hefty portions, my friends didn’t complain but after dinner it was a bit much for me and I will go with 8 next time!
These are amazing – don’t hesitate and go make them.
These were good and SOOOO easy. I made a half recipe, used half and half instead of cream and regular sugar instead of raw and they were great. Another time I might mix in a little chopped candied ginger.
I honestly thought the comments were over-selling how good these shortcakes are, but they really are fantastic. So easy to make, perfect amount of sweetness. Great on their own or with the strawberries and whipped cream as recommended.
The recommended amount of cream worked for me–just waited an extra minute for the flour to absorb.
Made these yesterday but I was out of turbinado sugar so I used pearl sugar…pressed into the tops (and bottoms because that’s a great idea) and SO GOOD! Eating one with strawberries but without whipped cream which fully makes it a legitimate breakfast right now. Popped it in the toaster oven for a minute and basically good as last night.
This scone/biscuit recipe is fantastic. I was out of town and did not have access to my chef friend’s shortcake recipe, and so tried this. The only change I made was using salted butter, as that was what my family had in their fridge. We liked this, as it lended a more savoury note to the biscuit in contrast with the wonderfully sweet farmstand berries and cream. For the berries, I typically will toss them with a tablespoon or two of sugar (depending on the volume/sweetness), the most wee pinch of salt, and a glug of orange liqueur (preferably Grand Marnier). Let this stand an hour or two ahead of time, then it’s nice and syrupy when you’re ready to devour! I will definitely be using this recipe again. It’s a keeper ;)
Can you make dough the day before and refrigerate dough before you cook? Have you ever frozen the idividual dough and cooked frozen?
Thanks for your help.:)
Robin, I’ve just done the latter, and they’ve come out perfectly. I portioned them out, dipped them in turbinado sugar, placed them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and stuck the sheet in the freezer. Hours later, I pulled out the sheet as the oven heated, then baked them – no problems at all.
Didn’t have time to make the cream cheese icebox pie so… I’ll have to get more ingredients sunday. The biscuits, sorry, shortcakes are heavenly.
These were so easy to make and tasty, but I halved the recipe and they came out kind of crumbly and “sandy”Just wondering what I did wrong? Would definitely make again. I used fresh blueberries and strawberries. Yum!
This was great! I didn’t have enough cream for both whipped cream and the dough, so I used buttermilk in the shortcake dough instead.
We ran out of fruity topping for our 6 shortcakes, so I’d double or 1.5x the fruit portion next time.
Don’t skip the turbinado sugar step – it gives an awesome crunch to the shortcake.
This was very easy, delicious, and looked great!
I made this recipe with my toddler sunday since we weren’t able to go to grandma’s and eat her ‘famous’ strawberry shortcake. It was super easy and fun to make, and it turned out great- a little crumbley and dry but I may have overbaked it. thanks for such a quick simple recipe, it helped make our weekend special!