Freshly whipped cream, macerated strawberries and tender, still-warm-from-the-oven buttermilk biscuits are a superlative combination this time of year. These subtly sweet and simple homemade Strawberry Shortcakes come together in no time with a package of Southern style biscuit mix.
I'll be the first to tell you that there is no shame in taking shortcuts in the kitchen, and I have absolutely "made" strawberry shortcakes with some store bought spongecake. But if you have just a little more time on your hands to bust out some über-fast biscuits, then you're in for a real treat. These traditional, biscuit-style strawberry shortcakes take just 30 minutes to get on the table and are well worth the extra two steps.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
An Ode to Simple Desserts
Antoine de Saint-Exupery - author of one of my favorite childhood books - wrote, “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” I'd argue that traditional, authentic strawberry shortcakes made with Southern buttermilk biscuits are the poster child for this concept.
Fresh strawberries in peak ripeness are something special. These cheerfully red, sweetly perfumed nature's candies are not only delicious, they're also a clear indication that springtime is in full swing.
The season for really, truly amazing strawberries is fleeting, so I love that this dessert recipe celebrates them in their full glory - with just a light adornment of sugar to draw out their naturally sweet juices. Freshly whipped cream (also known as chantilly, which is such a delightful word!) is equally luxurious as a perfectly ripe strawberry.
Pair those two elements with a (semi) homemade, tender, flaky buttermilk biscuit still warm from the oven, and you have a dessert even Messiur Saint-Exupery would admire.
These classic strawberry shortcakes have it all: acidity, sweetness and rich mouthfeel, not to mention the delightful temperature contrast of the warm biscuit and chilled cream. In short, they are PERFECTION.
The Hack
I'm all for from-scratch cooking. In my pastry days, I made my fair share of biscuits for the hungry masses, and they're honestly less scary to make than you think. Cutting butter into dough is similar to methods you would use for shortbread cookies or making homemade scones. The most important things to remember are to 1. work with cold dairy and, 2. not overmix.
But don't you worry, y'all! This recipe is extra easy because I used pre-packaged biscuit mix from the famous Loveless Café. If you ever get a chance to visit Middle Tennessee, definitely go there. Loveless has been a treasure of Nashville for over 65 years!
Normally, I don't keep a ton of mixes on hand. There are a few exceptions like protein pancake mix and boxed cake mix because their convenience and versatility can't be disputed. Joe got a bag of this biscuit mix as part of a gift basket, and boy am I glad he did. It's so good that it just might have to become part of my permanent back stock!
This biscuit mix tastes pretty darn close to the real Loveless biscuits, and the process couldn't be simpler. As with all mixes, you only need to measure out one dry ingredient. If you didn't know, less measuring = less mess.
Using a mix also means less time! These strawberry shortcakes come together in just about 10 minutes of active time. I can handle 10 minutes on even the most frazzled of days, especially if dessert comes at the end of it.
Another benefit of using biscuit mix is that you can easily scale this recipe to your needs. As a two person household, it's nice making *just* enough biscuits to satisfy the craving. Any southerner will tell you that biscuits taste best when they are super fresh, so my pared down recipe makes enough for just 4 biscuits (2 for shortcakes and 2 for dinner).
Oh, and don't think for a second that you'll only use this mix for shortcakes. Biscuits are southern AF, and can be made any time of year, for any meal of the day.
Serve them alongside your holiday ham or turkey, use them to sop up any gravy (or make sausage breakfast gravy), or slather them with a little butter and jam. They also make a great substitute for dinner rolls because they don't require any rise time!
TIP: Extra super short on time and patience? Those refrigerated biscuits are an even faster way to get strawberry shortcakes on the table. I do recommend brushing them with butter and giving them an optional sprinkling of sugar for the best, shortcake-iest results.
How to Make Classic Strawberry Shortcake
This recipe is DEAD SIMPLE. Here's everything you'll need:
- Fresh Strawberries - When they're in season, there's nothing like a fresh strawberry! Whenever possible, I recommend reaching for organically grown strawberries since they usually make the EWG's Dirty Dozen List for pesticides. If that's not possible, be sure to wash the berries very thoroughly, or opt for frozen sliced strawberries instead so the work is already done for you.
- Granulated Sugar - Adding just a few teaspoons of granulated sugar to the strawberries helps to start the process of maceration. You can easily opt to use agave, honey, brown sugar or coconut sugar instead. Feel free to adjust the amount of sugar used to your tastes, though if you're getting good berries you won't need much!
- Powdered Sugar - Powdered sugar (also known as confectioner's sugar) is my preferred sweetener for making freshly whipped cream because the tiny bit of cornstarch that is added gives the cream some added stability, and the sugar crystals dissolve easily into the cream. Feel free to swap in an equal amount of granulated sugar if you don't have the powdered kind on hand.
- Heavy Cream - When making whipped cream, don't mess around with anything labeled "light." You need the full power of fat at your disposal to make pillowy, fluffy chantilly! Also, make sure you're working with cream straight from the fridge. If it reaches a temperature above 50F, it will not emulsify.
- Vanilla Extract - While this is entirely optional, a smidge of vanilla extract adds a lot of delicious complexity to your whipped cream. You can also play with the extracts, swapping in smaller amounts of almond or lemon extract instead.
- Buttermilk - I basically never have buttermilk on hand in the fridge. Know why? Because you can easily make your own by adding just a teaspoon of acid (lemon juice, white vinegar or apple cider vinegar) to regular, full-fat milk. Unless you have a reason to use a lot of buttermilk or actually enjoy drinking it, I recommend just making your own as needed.
- Biscuit Mix - For this recipe, I used Loveless Cafe's Biscuit Mix. It is an incredible product that also supports a local business. That said, feel free to use your own brand of biscuit mix - just note that your mix may require different quantities of the ingredients listed, or different ingredients altogether. (In a pinch, you can also opt to use refrigerated tubes of pre-made biscuit dough. These tubes often have a whole bunch of weird, hard to pronounce ingredients though, so I avoid them as often as possible.)
Biscuits - Shortcut Using Biscuit Mix
One of the beauties of this recipe is how much time is saved by using a southern style biscuit mix rather than making biscuits from scratch. If you want to go full monty, this is a biscuit recipe I really like!
For our purposes here, simply pour the buttermilk into a mixing bowl with the biscuit mix. NOTE: This method may not work with all biscuit mixes. Be sure to read the instructions on the back of your box or bag.
Using a normal spoon for eating, stir until you have a craggy dough. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH. Cragginess is what results in flaky layers.
Lightly flour a clean working surface.
TIP: If you use a cutting board or silicone sheet, clean up is easier than if you flour the countertop.
Turn the biscuit dough out onto the floured surface. Sprinkle with a touch of flour, then gently fold and knead the dough *just* enough to keep it from sticking to you. Again, DON'T OVERWORK THE DOUGH.
Using either a flour dusted rolling pin (useful if you are making a big batch) or the palm of your hand, roll or press the dough into roughly ½" thickness.
Cut the dough into even pieces. I used a 2" biscuit cutter, but you can also use a bench scraper if you don't care if the biscuits are round. You can also use a round jar or glass! Just be sure to dip the rim of whatever cutting instrument in flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Biscuits and butter go hand-in-hand, so I like using butter to grease my cooking tin. You can also opt to line your baking pan with parchment instead.
NOTE: Below, I'm using just a 6" cake pan since I'm making such a small batch, but feel free to use any metal baking sheet or pan that will hold your biscuits and allow them to touch slightly.
While this step is optional, I promise it makes for a tastier biscuit. Melt about a tablespoon of butter and brush the tops of your biscuits.
For sweet applications like these strawberry shortcakes, you can also sprinkle them with a touch of sugar for a bit of flavor and sparkle.
Bake at 400F for about 15-18 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through. Remove from the oven when the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
If you're feeling really decadent, brush with a touch more melted butter. Since we're gonna be serving them with fresh whipped cream, I omitted this step.
NOTE: Biscuits can be made in advance and frozen.
Macerate Strawberries
Wash and dry the berries. Remove the stem end (or hull them, if you want a prettier look), then slice or quarter.
Sprinkle with sugar. If using, now's the time to add any additional flavorings like citrus zest, liqueur or extracts.
Stir to combine, then allow to rest for 10-25 minutes. Make sure to keep all the lovely juices that accumulate at the bottom! That syrup is like gold for your strawberry shortcakes.
Whip Chantilly Cream
Before we get started, I just want to make sure everyone is aware of the importance of starting with chilled equipment and chilled cream. When cream is cold, the air that whipping introduces is held in place by solidified fat. Above about 50F, the fat in the cream will be too soft to do its job and your cream will collapse.
If you are making a large batch of chantilly cream, I recommend what I consider the "norma"l method of whipping, which is to use either a balloon whisk and a whole lot of elbow grease, or a hand or stand mixer fitted with the whisk or beater attachment.
In this normal method, I recommend starting to get a bit of air introduced to the cream before adding sugar or flavorings. Whip to soft peaks, then slowly add powdered sugar and extract while the mixer is beating, Taste and adjust sweetness to your liking, then continue whipping to firm peaks.
Since I was working with a small batch of cream, I opted to switch things up a bit for extra speedy results. I simply poured my chilled cream, powdered sugar and vanilla directly into a mason jar. I then used my immersion blender, which brought the cream to perfect consistency in about 30 seconds with zero spatter. Hooray!
NOTE: If you use the immersion blender trick for your whipped cream, be sure to a. ) use a deep glass to prevent spatter, and b.) navigate the stick up and down to introduce the maximum amount of air into the cream.
Freshly whipped cream is a thing of beauty, but that beauty is rather impermanent. Use it within about 15 minutes of whipping for best results, or the cream will begin to fall.
TIP: If you are hoping to serve whipped cream at a future event or want to be able to pipe the whipped cream like frosting, try making mascarpone stabilized whipped cream instead.
Putting it All Together
Hamburger slice your biscuits in half. Bonus points if they are still a little warm. Spoon whipped cream, berries and syrupy juices onto the bottom biscuit half.
Top with remaining biscuit. If you want to be fancy, feel free to garnish with mint or basil. (And if you want to be extra extra, a little balsamic reduction might be pretty delicious if you opt for basil.) Serve immediately.
Now the most important step: DIG IN AND ENJOY!
Optional Flavor Ideas
There are a few ways you can play with this recipe to make it your own. What I'm trying to illustrate here is that while my perfect strawberry shortcake is simple and straightforward, your perfect strawberry shortcake might have notes of chocolate, orange and chiles.
The moral of the story is - PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD! Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
Flavoring Your Whipped Cream
For the perfect whipped cream to sweetener ratio, I recommend about 2 tablespoons of (preferably powdered*) sugar to 1 cup of cold cream. Feel free to increase or decrease the sweet factor based on your own preferences.
If you opt for other sweeteners, I recommend you check out this chart that details the sweetness levels as compared to good ol' fashioned sugar.
In terms of adding flavor to your whipped chantilly, the traditional option would be vanilla extract or paste. I prefer a lighter application of about 1 teaspoon of vanilla to each cup of cream, but you can go up to about 2 teaspoons if you really like vanilla flavor.
If you opt for other flavoring extracts - say almond, maple or lemon, for example - I'd start with just about ¼ - ½ teaspoon per cup of cream. These extracts are much more potent than vanilla, and I don't want you to be bummed.
You can also feel free to play with other whipped cream flavors if you're feeling saucy. For each cup of cream, try adding:
- up to ½ teaspoon of warming spices like cinnamon or cardamom
- up to 1 tablespoon of citrus zest
- 1-2 tablespoons of flavored liqueur
- up to 2 teaspoons of instant coffee or espresso + 1-2 tablespoons extra powdered sugar
- up to 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder or powdered peanut butter
While I personally love plain ol' vanilla whipped cream for these strawberry shortcakes, this is YOUR party! Have fun and make this dish your own.
*Powdered sugar has a bit of cornstarch in it that does a great job of stabilizing whipped cream and giving it firmer peaks than granulated sugar.
Macerating with Flavors
While I opted for arguably the simplest fruit macerating ingredient - sugar - there are a whole lot more options available to you. First, any sugar substitute is going to do the trick, including natural options like honey, maple or agave. While each of these options will impart their own particular flavors, don't feel like you need to stop there.
Adding in dried spices is a fast way to up the flavor ante. Try cardamom, ginger, cinnamon or even black pepper. Or, opt for fresh herbs like mint or basil, or try fresh citrus zest or minced fresh ginger, turmeric or sliced chiles. Feel free to add a splash of your favorite extracts, too.
You can also opt to macerate the berries in liquid. Champagne, bourbon, brandy, Lillet or Grand Marnier would all be delightfully boozy options. Vinegars like balsamic, cider, white wine or champagne would be fun for a tangier experience. Fruit juices, especially citrusy ones, would be a great PG option.
Frequently Asked Questions
I wouldn't recommend macerating the strawberries for longer than 12-24 hours. The process of macerating will happen quickly for thin skinned fruit like strawberries. While you can technically keep the berries in the fridge for a day or two, they will continue to soften as they do. I recommend macerating them right before serving for the best consistency.
If you're feeling nerdy, read this explanation of why maceration is cool (and other ways to do it).
Whipped cream will only keep for a few hours, but you can get away with using a mascarpone stabilized whipping cream if you're working ahead. If you're a big fan of freshly whipped cream but don't wanna fuss about it, you can also invest in an iSi whipped cream dispenser. (Just read this if you have kids before you buy one.)
Biscuits are best warm from the oven, but you can make them ahead and freeze, then defrost, slice and reheat in the oven at 200F.
While Strawberry Shortcake is the traditional dessert, there's definitely no law that says you can't mix and match the fruit to your liking (or what's in your freezer). Any mixed berries will do, though thicker skinned fruits like blueberries will take a bit longer to macerate. Pineapple and mango would be delicious options too.
Any leftover biscuits can be used for savory applications like biscuit egg sandwiches, biscuits and gravy, or basically anything else you would use leftover dinner rolls for. You can also freeze extra biscuits for up to a month.
Pure whipped cream will only last a few hours in the fridge without losing its loft, even if you whip it to very firm peaks. The deterioration will become more pronounced over time. You can always revive the whip cream by re-whipping it.
If you want to make this ahead of time (e.g. for a dinner party) or prefer to pipe out the cream for a more embellished look, try making mascarpone-stabilized whip instead.
Absolutely! In fact, unless you're definitely getting fresh, ripe, in-season strawberries, I'd recommend reaching for frozen instead. They're picked and frozen at peak ripeness, so if you're craving a strawberry shortcake in November for example, ditch the fresh strawberries for frozen.
Bonus - frozen berries require a little less sugar (and less time) to macerate. In fact, feel free to make this yummy dessert with any frozen berries, cherries, pineapple or mango you might have in the freezer.
If you happen to have dried fruit on hand, you can also opt to macerate it using liquid instead.
Need more fast and healthy-ish dessert ideas?
Check out some of my other favorite recipes:
If you tried my recipe for Easy Strawberry Shortcakes with Biscuit Mix, please rate and review it below. I'd also love to hear about any and all of your own personal twists on it!
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Easy Strawberry Shortcakes with Biscuit Mix
Ingredients
Biscuits
- ¾ C Biscuit Mix preferably Loveless Café brand. Read notes.
- ⅓ C Buttermilk
- Butter for brushing pan and biscuit tops
- Flour for rolling
Macerated Strawberries
- 1 C Strawberries sliced or quartered
- 1-2 teaspoon Granulated Sugar or sub agave, honey, brown sugar or coconut sugar
Chantilly Whipped Cream
- ¼ C Heavy Cream
- 1-2 teaspoon Powdered Sugar
- dash Vanilla Extract optional
Instructions
Make Biscuits
- Pour the buttermilk into a mixing bowl with the biscuit mix. NOTE: This method may not work with all biscuit mixes. Be sure to read the instructions on the back of your box or bag. Using a normal spoon for eating, stir until you have a craggy dough. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH. Lightly flour a clean working surface. Turn the biscuit dough out onto the floured surface. Sprinkle with a touch of flour, then gently fold and knead the dough *just* enough to keep it from sticking to you. Again, DON'T OVERWORK THE DOUGH. Using either a flour dusted rolling pin (useful if you are making a big batch) or the palm of your hand, roll or press the dough into roughly ½" thickness. Cut the dough into 4 even pieces. Place with edges touching in a greased or parchment lined baking tin. Optional: Melt about a tablespoon of butter and brush the tops of your biscuits. For sweet applications like these strawberry shortcakes, you can also sprinkle them with a touch of sugar for a bit of flavor and sparkle. Bake at 400F for about 15-18 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through. Remove from the oven when the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. NOTE: Biscuits can be made in advance and frozen.
Macerate Strawberries
- Wash and dry the berries. Remove the stem end (or hull them, if you want a prettier look), then slice or quarter. Sprinkle with sugar. If using, now's the time to add any additional flavorings like citrus zest, liqueur or extracts. (Read blog post for more flavoring ideas.) Stir to combine, then allow to rest for 10-25 minutes. Make sure to keep all the lovely juices that accumulate at the bottom! That syrup is like gold for your strawberry shortcakes.
Whip Chantilly Cream
- Before we get started, I just want to make sure everyone is aware of the importance of starting with chilled equipment and chilled cream. When cream is cold, the air that whipping introduces is held in place by solidified fat. Above about 50F, the fat in the cream will be too soft to do its job and your cream will collapse. Whisk or Mixer Method: Whip cream to soft peaks, then slowly add powdered sugar and extract while the mixer is beating, Taste and adjust sweetness to your liking, then continue whipping to firm peaks. Immersion Blender Method: Add chilled cream, powdered sugar and vanilla directly into a mason jar. Use immersion blender, moving the stick up and down to introduce maximum air. Whip until stiff peaks emerge, about 30-45 seconds.
Assemble
- Hamburger slice your biscuits in half. Bonus points if they are still a little warm. Spoon whipped cream, berries and syrupy juices onto the bottom biscuit half. Top with remaining biscuit. If you want to be fancy, feel free to garnish with mint or basil. (And if you want to be extra extra, a little balsamic reduction might be pretty delicious if you opt for basil.) Serve immediately.
Notes
- For this recipe, I used Loveless Cafe's Biscuit Mix. It is an incredible product that also supports a local business. That said, feel free to use your own brand of biscuit mix - just note that your mix may require different quantities of the ingredients listed, or different ingredients altogether. (In a pinch, you can also opt to use refrigerated tubes of pre-made biscuit dough. These tubes often have a whole bunch of weird, hard to pronounce ingredients though, so I avoid them as often as possible.)
- The smallest amount of biscuits I could make was 4. As a result, you'll have two leftover biscuits for later! Nutrition Facts estimates reflect this.
- Flouring a silicone sheet or any kind of plastic cutting board will make cleanup much easier after rolling out your biscuits.
- Freshly whipped cream is a thing of beauty, but that beauty is rather impermanent. Use it within about 15 minutes of whipping for best results, or the cream will begin to fall. If you are hoping to serve whipped cream at a future event or want to be able to pipe the whipped cream like frosting, try making mascarpone stabilized whipped cream instead.
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