Adventures In Short Cakes
I love strawberries. Which is why I planted a bunch of them in my deck garden this year: Tristar day-neutral (ever-bearing) strawberries, among the sweetest and most flavorful I’ve ever tasted. And of course it follows that I love the summer dessert, strawberry shortcake.
If you go to the grocery store looking to buy shortcake, you’ll likely find either an angel food cake (which does work nicely but is a little sweet and squishy for my taste) or those round little sponge thingies. I’m not sure what sort of baked good that actually is, but it’s kind of gross. I much prefer my own version, which is essentially a slightly sweetened buttermilk biscuit. My shortcakes are quick and easy to make, freeze well after baking, and are really the perfect background for macerated strawberries. You can top it with whipped cream if you like, as I believe that’s traditional. But personally, I think the berries shine best when they are served plain over the short cake. Absolutely delicious.
The method, followed by the recipe: First, slice up your strawberries and add a little sugar to get them juiced up. You can add as much or as little as you like, but I like about 1 Tbsp of granulated sugar per cup of sliced berries. It draws the juice well and sweetens them just a little bit, but absolutely does nothing to change the sublime flavor of the berries. Next, in a bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients. Then melt your butter and add it and the buttermilk to the dry ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until it’s mostly come together. Then use your hand to finish integrating all the flour. Don’t overwork the dough or you’ll end up with tough biscuits. I confess, I put on a latex glove for the last bit, as I hate digging dough out from under my fingernails.
Next, on a lightly floured surface, turn out your dough and pat it into a rectangle until it is about 1” thick. Using a knife or a dough scraper (or whatever works for you), cut it into six equal pieces. For the batch I made for the blog, I made a double recipe, which is why you see 12 little cakes on my baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 10-16 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
Now, this is important. Let them cool completely before you serve them with your strawberries. They will not be the right texture inside until they have cooled completely. When you’re ready to serve, cut one in half, top that with strawberries, then put down the other half and top that with strawberries as well. If you want to make whipped cream, you can find the recipe for stabilized whipped cream here in amongst the cream pie recipes. If you want to freeze any extra cakes you have, best to freeze them individually on a baking sheet before you put them into a ziplock bag.
And enjoy the perfect summer dessert!
Strawberry Shortcake
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
Strawberries macerated in sugar
Lightly sweetened whipped cream
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425°.
In large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add buttermilk and melted butter and stir until it comes together.
Turn batter out onto a floured surface and pat into a rectangle about 1" thick. Cut into 6 squares and lay out on baking sheet covered in parchment or a silicone baking mat. Bake 10-16 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
To serve, slice shortcake in half. Cover lower half with macerated strawberries, top with other half of shortcake, more strawberries, and whipped cream. Enjoy!
