Love and Olive Oil

Strawberry Shortcake with Cream Biscuits

Strawberry Shortcake with Cream Biscuits

Darn those farmers’ market strawberry vendors. It would have been perfectly reasonable to pick up a pint of ripe local berries, but of course, they had to be running a special: 3 pints for $5. Can’t pass up the opportunity to save a whole dollar (and to be honest, now that I say it like that it seems ridiculous, but it felt like we were saving more at the time. Mind games I tell you… mind games.)

So here we are with three pints of perfectly ripe strawberries and only two people to eat them. Oh whatever shall we do?

Strawberry Shortcake with Cream Biscuits

Strawberry shortcake seemed like an obvious choice. Taylor agreed, though is conception of strawberry shortcake involved some store-bought pound cake. I had to convince him that no, real shortcake is not made with poundcake, but rather a cream-biscuit that you could describe as a cross between a biscuit and a scone. I could tell he was skeptical of the whole thing, but I think the final product won him over.

The biscuits were barely sweet and crumbly, a perfect vehicle for the juicy strawberries and fluffy whipped cream. A simple combination that couldn’t have been more perfect. I felt the recipe made a bit too much of the berry filling; we ended up halving the filling and the whipped cream recipe with the intention of making more filling/cream fresh the next day, but it turned out that it made the perfect amount of filling for 8 biscuits. If you like your shortcake loaded, feel free to make the full recipe.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the other 2 pints…

Strawberry Shortcake with Cream Biscuits

Makes 8. Recipe from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters, via Ezra Pound Cake

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Ingredients:

Cream Biscuits:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream

Filling:
4 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 cup sugar

Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste

Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

To make biscuits, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar (if using) and baking powder. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingertips. The pieces should be the size of small peas. Measure cream; set aside 1 tablespoon. Add the remaining cream to the flour, and stir with a fork until the mixture just comes together.

Lightly knead the dough a few times in the bowl, turn it out onto a lightly floured board, and roll out about 3/4 inch thick. Cut six 2 1/2-inch circles or squares out of the dough. Reroll the scraps, you should be able to get 2 or 3 more biscuits out of it.

Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment, and brush the tops with the tablespoon of cream. Bake for 17 minutes or until lightly golden.

For filling, in a medium bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar. Remove 1 cup of the strawberry mixture, and purée it in a blender or food processor. Return the purée to the rest of the strawberries; stir. Set aside at least 15 minutes.

In a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, whip together the cream, vanilla and sugar until it starts to form soft peaks.

To assemble, gently break the biscuits in half. Spoon the strawberry mixture onto the bottom half, and add a dollop of whipped cream. Top with the other biscuit half, and dust with powdered sugar.

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27 Comments

  1. Sorry, I know this is an older recipe, but is it really 1 cup of sugar for 4 cups of strawberries?

    • Correct, the sugar is what makes the berries nice and juicy. :) But you can certainly reduce the sugar if you like and it wouldn’t adversely affect the recipe.

  2. These were an amazing hit. I added some chopped white chocolate into the dough before baking. YUM!

  3. Just made these and they were delicious! The biscuits just melt in your mouth. And it was so quick and simple to make! Thanks for another great recipe. I’ll be doing this one again!

  4. How does this biscuit compare to one with egg? I am relatively new to baked goods, and I have seen other shortcake recipes with egg added. Any recommendations, one way or the other? Thank you in advance!

  5. An abundance of strawberries?! Now there’s a problem I’d like to have! This looks delicious.

  6. I am always tempted by cheap strawberries and buy too many too. Being a smoothie junkie, I just wash, cut, and freeze any leftovers. I love strawberry shortcake and this biscuit form is so wonderfully dainty!

  7. I would fall for that kind of deal too. I do love strawberries and this looks gorgeous. I have only had this with shortbread, Which is more like a buttery biscuit/cookie.

  8. Your biscuits look perfect! Not dry and certainly not over brown.
    ~ingrid

  9. Seriously, I think I gain 10 pound with every tasty post you publish! Anyway, I have an award for you. Please stop by my OneGreenTomato blog to pick it up! Hope all is well!!
    Danielle

  10. Looks divine. Perfect for the warmer weather now!

  11. Strawberry Shortcake is my fave – thanks for an awesome recipe I can’t wait to try!!! :D

  12. Perfect shot! If only we had local strawberries now. I’ll have to wait until June to try my hand at your lovely recipe recommendations.

  13. Absolutely beautiful!!

  14. Your photos are SO clean and beautiful! The heart-shaped strawberry is so cute and this is the perrrfect summer dish :)

  15. This is the most beautiful strawberry shortcake I’ve ever seen! I love the little heart-shaped slice :)

    I always overbuy strawberries, myself… Haha

  16. Looks delish!

  17. These shortcakes sound amazing! I bet the cream biscuits are yummy just on their own!

  18. Another splendid use for the strawberries in my garden. Thanks for the post!

  19. Such pretty pictures! I have to say that strawberry shortcake is one of my most favorite desserts ever. You should make some strawberry jam with some of those extra strawberries!

  20. I’m not one to love dessert, but I have to say that your shortcakes made my mouth water!

  21. All I can say is…YUM!

  22. I love real strawberry shortcakes, not the angel food or pound cake varieties. These biscuits look perfect!

    Those Farmer’s Market vendors are seriously tricky. They could probably sell me just about anything and I’d be more-than-willing.

    Perhaps some strawberry ice cream? Or strawberry quickbread? Or strawberry cream cheese?

  23. Hands down one of my FAVORITE desserts!!! Your photos are beyond gorgeous!

  24. Looks delicious! And I love that the little strawberry on the plate looks like a heart! I can’t wait til my local farmer’s market is up and running. Now you’ve got my mouth watering for some perfectly ripe berries.

  25. That is one fine-looking dessert. Nice work.

  26. That is a mouthwatering photo! Perfect dessert for summer being around the corner. Perhaps you can use the other two pints for a strawberry/rhubarb crumble or buy some more and make jam. Happy Sunday!

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