Happy Fourth of July! something about Independence Day makes me crave good old down home Americana food. Although this sweet homemade shortcake was not a classic food of my childhood, it just screams classic Americana.
I grew up not really liking strawberry shortcake, or what I knew it to be – store bought round spongy cakes with super sweet syrupy strawberries and squirt whip cream. It was not until my step mom, Cheryl, first made me a delicious Bisquick drop biscuit shortcake that I fell in love with this dessert.
I only made Bisquick shortcakes from there on out. My oldest, Chayce, loved them so much when she was a toddler she lived on them for a year straight. She once fell asleep in her high chair, face down in a pile of strawberry shortcakes.
I no longer stock Bisquick in the house, so I have started making them completely from scratch by modifying my baking powder biscuit recipe to be slightly sweeter and a little sturdier to hold up to the strawberries and whip cream.
have an abundance of berries growing in my yard. I happened to have a good amount of strawberries and a few young boys who were looking for a project, so classic strawberry shortcakes it is.
Ingredients
Sweet Biscuits
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 cup heavy cream
Berry Filling
- 2 cups of berries (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries or any mixture)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Whipped Cream
- 2 cups heavy cream (1 pint)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Rub cut butter into mixture with your fingertips until it resembles dry sand.
- Gently stir the heavy cream into the flour mixture to make a loose dough.
- Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto it.
- Pat the dough into a 1/2" thick rectangle.
- Fold the dough in thirds.
- Pat into a 1/2" thick rectangle and again fold in thirds.
- Pat the dough into a 3/4" thick rectangle, cut into shortcakes and transfer to baking sheet.
- Press together the scraps of dough and cut into more cakes.
- Bake until lightly browned, about 13 minutes.
- Cool on a rack for 5 minutes before serving.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling by gently stirring berries with sugar and lemon juice.
- Whip the chilled heavy cream and sugar together until lightly fluffy. Do not overbeat.
- Assemble shortcakes with cake, berries and whipped cream.
- Store leftover shortcakes at room temperature and refrigerate filling and whipped cream.
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