Strawberry Shortcake

It was Mother's Day. I didn’t want to work too hard to make dessert, but I did want it to be delicious. This recipe seemed to fit both requirements. It seemed easy to pull together and I had memories of enjoying it when I was young. That was before angel food cake came into fashion. Back then, I thought it a bad idea to serve strawberries and cream over what tasted like a super sweet bath sponge, but what did I know? I was just a kid.  

With spring in the air and a holiday to celebrate, it was time to pull this recipe out and remind myself what I'd been missing all those years.    

How to Make Strawberry Shortcake

First I sifted the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together.

I then cut the butter into small chunks, as the recipe instructed me to do. 

The chunks went into the flour mixture, where the goal became to make them smaller. According to the recipe, two methods could be used--either squishing the butter and flour together with your fingers or slicing the cubes into smaller bits with a "cutter" as Grandma called it. I call it a pastry blender, and it's one of my go-to tools.   

Eventually, the butter and flour mixture looked like this, with some bigger chunks and some smaller ones. I didn’t worry about making them all the same size. 

I then made an indentation--or “hole" as Grandma called it--in the mixture and poured in the milk, creating what looked like a tiny white pond.  

As the recipe instructed, I took a fork and tossed this mixture together. As you can see below, I mixed just until the dough was evenly moistened, no more than that. 

I then dumped the mixture into a greased 8 x 8-inch pan and pressed it down, first with a fork and then with moist fingers. 

The whole process took less than five minutes. Now, that's what I’m talking about when I say I want something easy to make. 

Of course, we weren’t done yet. The shortcake needed to bake, and I found that it took several minutes longer than the 12-15 minutes specified in the recipe. After that, its craggy top was golden brown, and it yielded a clean toothpick when I poked one in.

I let it cool until after our Mother’s Day meal was over. We sliced strawberries and added sugar to taste. For fun, I whirred a few strawberries in my mini food processor and added the puree to the sliced strawberries for some extra juiciness.  We then cut the cake. 

There are multiple ways to serve it, depending on your priorities. Want lots of strawberries and cream? Split the piece of shortcake in half and layer some on both sides.

Want a cute sandwich-like stack? Split the shortcake, add strawberries, dollop with cream, then put the top back on. 

Or leave the piece whole and pile everything on top. 

This last one isn't my preferred method because I like a heavier ratio of topping to cake, but everyone can customize their own. 

The Verdict

The shortcake is barely sweet and not necessarily one you would eat on its own. However, it creates the perfect base for sweet strawberries and rich whipped cream. It was exactly the kind of delicious dessert I was hoping for--fruity, refreshing, and full of interesting contrasts. Angel food cake might have had its day in the sun, but that day is gone. This is what Strawberry Shortcake was always meant to be. 

Try this easy and delicious recipe by clicking on the link below the recipe card to download and print it out.