The Best Strawberry Shortcakes
These really are the BEST strawberry shortcakes! They’re completely homemade, but still easy to put together and totally worth the effort. These strawberry shortcakes are made with easy buttermilk drop biscuits, fresh juicy strawberries, and vanilla whipped cream.
Strawberry shortcake is one of my most favorite desserts, especially for spring and summer entertaining. I mean, is there anything more perfect for the season?
I’ve set out to create the best-ever classic strawberry shortcakes recipe, and these are definitely it! They’re built with simple drop buttermilk biscuits, juicy summer strawberries, and very vanilla-y whipped cream. Plus, I share some tips for making these the best strawberry shortcakes you’ve ever had.
Table of Contents
- What is strawberry shortcake, anyway?
- How to make the best strawberry shortcakes
- How to make strawberry shortcakes ahead of time
- Recipe FAQs
- More strawberry shortcake recipes
- Get the recipe
What is strawberry shortcake, anyway?
Classic strawberry shortcake has 3 parts:
- Sweet biscuits (though often you’ll see some sort of cake used instead)
- Fresh strawberries
- Whipped cream
I love the combination of flavors and textures you’ll find in this recipe— soft, flaky and buttery biscuits + fresh and bright juicy strawberries + fluffy vanilla-scented whipped cream. There’s a good reason why this is such a beloved dessert!
How to make the best strawberry shortcakes
1. Start with easy buttermilk drop biscuits
I prefer to use drop biscuits for strawberry shortcake because they’re fast and easy to make, but still completely homemade (to me, making a cake seems a little fussier).
These biscuits are adapted from my popular buttermilk biscuit recipe with a few changes to make them even easier, and I’ve made them a little sweet so they’re perfect for this classic dessert.
2. Prep the strawberries
For this recipe we use macerated strawberries for maximum flavor and juiciness. What are macerated strawberries? To “macerate” means to marinate fruit in sugar to release its natural juices, making them super juicy and sweet. In my opinion, it’s an absolutely necessary step for strawberry shortcake!
Put half into a bowl and mash to get the juices going, then add the remaining strawberries, sugar, and vanilla. Let it sit for at least 20 to let the sugar completely dissolve, and allow the strawberry juices and flavor to develop.
3. Make vanilla whipped cream
Often overlooked, the whipped cream is very important for perfect strawberry shortcakes. And real real whipped cream is a must! (Stuff from can just isn’t the same.)
This whipped cream is just two ingredients— heavy whipping cream and vanilla. There’s enough sweetness from the berries that it’s really not necessary to add any sugar to the whipped cream. If you must add sugar, 1-2 tablespoons is plenty.
I actually have a whole blog post on how to make perfectly whipped cream! The key is whipped cream that is whipped just until it holds soft peaks, but still slumps a bit once it’s been spooned out. You don’t want whipped cream that is too thick and started to look a little lumpy.
4. Assemble and serve
And now here’s the best part, putting everything together! You can plate individual servings up yourself for guests to enjoy, or you can create a “strawberry shortcake bar” with everything available for guests to assemble themselves.
Lastly, all that’s left if to enjoy, and I know you will!
How to make strawberry shortcakes ahead of time
I love serving strawberry shortcakes during spring and summer gatherings, but I like to plan ahead if I can. And thankfully, this recipe is easy to prep ahead of time so it’s ready whenever you’re ready to serve it.
- Biscuits: For best results, biscuits should be baked to day you plan to serve them. If you want to prep them ahead of time, prepare the biscuit dough and scoop it out onto a lined sheet pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 days and bake from frozen, adding a minute or 2 to baking time.
- Strawberries: Macerated strawberries can be kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours before serving.
- Whipped cream: Whipped cream can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours before serving. Give it a good stir to loosen it up before serving.
Recipe FAQs
Store everything separately, with the biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature and the strawberries and whipped cream in the fridge.
Feeding a large crowd, you can definitely double or even triple this recipe!
Absolutely! This short cake recipe will work with just about any summer fruit. Slice or chop fruit as needed (such as with peaches or nectarines, my favorite alternative to strawberries) and combine with sugar and vanilla as instructed in the recipe
You can substitute whole milk for the buttermilk in this recipe. There’s enough baking powder that the biscuits will rise even without the buttermilk + baking soda chemical reaction. However, if you like the tangy taste of buttermilk in your biscuits (I do!) you can make a substitute by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to your measuring cup. Add enough whole milk to equal 1 1/4 cup and let it sit for a few minutes before using.
More strawberry shortcake recipes
Get the recipe
The Best Strawberry Shortcakes
Ingredients
Biscuits:
- 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- ½ cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter , cubed
- 1 ¼ cup (310 grams) cold buttermilk , plus more for brushing
Macerated strawberries:
- 1 lb (450 grams) fresh strawberries , hulled and sliced
- ⅓ cup (66 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped cream:
- 1 ½ cup (375 ml) cold heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the biscuits:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add cubed butter and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or fork until butter is the size of peas.
- Add 1 cup of the buttermilk and use a spoon or spatula to combine. Add remaining ¼ cup buttermilk as needed to make a wet sticky dough. Do not overmix or biscuits won't rise properly, stop mixing when all dry bits are incorporated.
- Use a scoop or large spoon to drop into 12 biscuits on the prepared sheet pan. Brush tops with more buttermilk.
- Bake until tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely.
To make the macerated strawberries:
- Place half of strawberries in a bowl and mash with a potato masher or fork. Add remaining strawberries, sugar, and vanilla and stir until combined. Set aside for at least 20 minutes.
To make the vanilla whipped cream:
- With an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream and vanilla on medium high speed until thick and creamy, but not at all lumpy.
To serve shortcakes:
- Sliced biscuits in half. Place a generous dollop of whipped cream on top of the bottom biscuit. Spoon some strawberries and juices on top and cover with top biscuit. Enjoy immediately.
Video
Notes
- See my tip on how to measure flour correctly.
- To make this recipe in advance.
- Biscuits: For best results, biscuits should be baked to day you plan to serve them. To prep them ahead of time, prepare dough and scoop it out onto a lined sheet pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 days and bake from frozen, adding a minute or 2 to baking time.
- Whipped cream: Whipped cream can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours before serving. Give it a good stir to loosen it up before serving.
- Strawberries: Macerated strawberries can be kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours before serving.
This recipe is now on my list of recipes to try this summer. They look amazing!
This looks great, I didn’t finish it because like in your tutorial I was missing the step! In my family, everyone loves it, I will have to do it again according to your recipe, hope I succeed.
Great recipe,
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O.M.G. I made strawberry short cake tonight using your recipe and I have to say your biscuits were the star of the show. Thank you for sharing.