Strawberry Shortcake

The canonical American summer dessert: a warm, crumbly, buttermilk biscuit split and layered with macerated strawberries and billows of whipped cream: the direct descendant of the Haudenosaunee strawberry cornbread, transformed through four centuries of American baking

Origin: New England, USA (19th century)

From the journey of Strawberry.

The American strawberry shortcake traces a direct line from the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tradition of pounding wild strawberries into cornmeal to make a sweetened bread: one of the first recorded strawberry-bread combinations in the world. European settlers in New England adopted both the strawberry and the concept, substituting wheat flour and butter for cornmeal and creating the distinctive dropped-biscuit style shortcake. By the mid-19th century, strawberry shortcake had become an American institution, and the first strawberry shortcake recipe appears in American cookbooks of the 1840s. The dish is tied to the brief window of New England strawberry season; late June; and was celebrated with strawberry shortcake festivals in towns across Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont. California's vast strawberry industry, which grew rapidly from the 1850s onwards, eventually made strawberries a year-round fruit, but the seasonal celebration of fresh-picked June strawberries on shortcake remains the heart of the American strawberry tradition.

Ingredients

Shortcake biscuit

  • 280 g plain flour
  • 3 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 0.5 tsp fine salt
  • 115 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  • 200 ml buttermilk, cold
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp double cream (for brushing)

Filling

  • 900 g fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • 3 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Cream

  • 400 ml double or whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

  1. Macerate the strawberries: toss the sliced strawberries with caster sugar and lemon juice. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes until they release their juice into a fragrant pink syrup.
  2. Preheat oven to 220°C (200°C fan). Line a baking tray with parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
  3. Add the cold cubed butter to the flour mixture. Rub with your fingertips (or pulse in a food processor) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized chunks of butter remaining.
  4. Make a well in the centre. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Stir with a fork until just combined; the dough will be shaggy and slightly sticky. Do not overwork.
  5. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat gently to 2.5cm thickness (do not roll). Cut into rounds with a 7–8cm cutter or cut into squares with a knife. Place on the prepared baking tray. Brush tops with cream.
  6. Bake for 12–15 minutes until tall, golden-brown and cooked through. A skewer should come out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 5–10 minutes; serve warm, not hot.
  7. Whip the cream with icing sugar and vanilla to soft peaks. Split the warm shortcake biscuits horizontally. Layer the bottom half with a generous spoonful of macerated strawberries and their syrup, then a large dollop of whipped cream. Place the top half on at a slight angle. Add more strawberries and cream on top. Serve immediately.

Notes

The distinction between American shortcake (a biscuit) and British shortcake (a crumbly, butter-rich biscuit closer to shortbread) is important. The American version is a leavened, buttermilk-risen quick bread; light, flaky and tender. If buttermilk is unavailable, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to 200ml of whole milk and allow to sit for 5 minutes. The shortcakes can be baked ahead and rewarmed in a low oven for 5 minutes before serving.

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