June. Strawberries. Every day for as long as they last. The season is fleeting, make the most of it.
For a few short weeks, we’re adding strawberries to every salad and bowl of cereal, eating them sun-warmed and fragrant right out of the carton from the farm stand. Spooning them over ice cream and baking them into pies. But the treat we look forward to the most is Strawberry Shortcake.
It goes without saying that for the best shortcake, the strawberries must be local and fresh. No less important is the biscuit. For many years I used Bisquick baking mix to make biscuits for shortcake, but I broke up with Bisquick when I stopped using products containing partially hydrogenated oils. The recipe I developed to replace it uses a combination of butter and lard for the fat and makes biscuits that bake up soft on the inside and crispy on the outside with a tender crumb. You can use all butter if you want, but the lard imparts a light flakiness to these biscuits that will make you a convert. Lard is a natural fat, healthier than vegetable shortening and a great choice for baking. (See my post on pie crust for more information on lard, and some sources.)
Make sure to bake the biscuits in the upper third of the oven, and use a light-colored baking sheet. You’re baking the biscuits at a high temperature – 450 degrees – and these precautions will keep them from getting too brown on the bottom and developing a burnt taste.
So you’ve got ripe, peak-season strawberries, and freshly-baked biscuits. The key to transcendent strawberry shortcake now lies in a simple contrast in temperatures. Three different temperatures, each with its own texture: the biscuit is hot and crumbly; the strawberries are room-temperature and juicy; the whipped cream is cold and creamy. The three together are heaven.
Making this ahead, and what to do with leftovers:
- The biscuits can be made earlier in the day, which makes it a cinch to serve this for dessert and still achieve the perfect balance of temperatures among the different components – the hot biscuit makes all the difference. Here’s how to do it: Bake the biscuits ahead. Just before sitting down to dinner, toss the strawberries with sugar and leave them out on the counter. Whip the cream and chill it. Set the oven to 300 degrees while you’re eating dinner. As soon as you’re finished with the main course, pop the biscuits into the oven to heat for 10 minutes while you clear the table, then assemble the shortcakes and serve them immediately.
- The biscuits will stay fresh for one day if stored in a tightly sealed container. I store them flat, in a single layer, so they don’t crumble. To serve day old biscuits, reheat them in a 300-degree oven for 10 minutes. If you want to keep the biscuits for longer than one day, freeze them (for up to a month). Thaw them before reheating.
- The strawberries need 45 minutes to an hour to macerate (which means, after having been combined with sugar, they soften and release their juices). If they sit much longer than that, they’ll release too much juice which, if spooned over the shortcake will make it soggy, and if not spooned over the shortcake will be wasted – you want that juice in the strawberries, not left in the bottom of the bowl. So keep it to about one hour (including the time needed to prepare and bake the biscuits) – and do this at room temperature, not in the fridge. Cold strawberries are not OK here – the cold dulls their flavor.
To see this dish combined with others in a summery picnic menu, check out my post for Saturday June 13, 2020.
This post is dedicated to my Dad, who died last year just a month shy of his 95th birthday. He loved desserts, and Strawberry Shortcake was his favorite. His birthday was in late June, the height of strawberry season in Connecticut, and for many years it was my pleasure to bake shortcake for him for his birthday, and my reward to see his face light up with childlike joy at the sight of it. I miss you, Dad.
Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
- 1 quart of fresh strawberries (about 1½ pounds), at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, divided
- 1 cup (4¼ ounces or 120 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/8 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or a scant ¼ teaspoon of Morton’s
- 1½ tablespoons (21 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1½ tablespoons (21 grams) cold lard, cut into ½-inch cubes (or use all butter if you prefer)
- 1 cup heavy cream, divided
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tablespoon softened butter, for serving
Directions
- Step 1 Gently wash the strawberries and remove the hulls. Cut smaller berries in half, larger berries into thick slices, and put them in a medium-sized bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of the granulated sugar and toss to coat the berries evenly with the sugar. Set the berries aside at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes before proceeding with baking the biscuits. Including the biscuit prep and cook time, the berries should macerate for a total of 45 to 60 minutes, and it’s important that they not be chilled. While the strawberries sit, place a rack in the upper third of the oven and heat it to 425 degrees.
- Step 2 To make the biscuits, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Pulse in the butter and lard until the pieces of butter and lard are the size of peas. Dump the mixture into a mixing bowl.
- Step 3 Combine ¼ cup of the cream with the whole milk. Using a fork, stir the flour mixture while gradually pouring in the liquid. Stir only until all of the flour is moistened, being careful not to over-mix the batter.
- Step 4 Scoop the mixture onto an ungreased, light-colored baking sheet, making four craggy mounds.
- Step 5 Bake the biscuits on the upper rack for 12 to 15 minutes, just until the bottoms and the tips of the craggy bits are light brown. Don’t let the bottoms get too dark.
- Step 6 When the biscuits are done, remove them to a wire rack to cool for two or three minutes, just long enough to give you time to make the whipped cream. Beat the remaining ¾ cup of cream with the confectioner’s sugar to form soft peaks.
- Step 7 Use a serrated knife to slice the biscuits horizontally through their centers (like an English muffin) to form a flat-topped base and a cap. Be very careful – the biscuits will be delicate and crumbly. Set the caps aside and set one base on each of four dessert plates. Spread each of the bases with softened butter. Spoon the strawberries and any accumulated juices over the bases, distributing evenly. Dollop the whipped cream over the berries. Carefully set one cap on top of the whipped cream on each shortcake. Serve immediately.
