Though they have their origins in Britain, strawberry shortcakes feel to me like an American summer classic, redolent of long afternoons on the porch with a pitcher of iced tea. Which is not to say they’re not worth repatriating – short of serving up a big bowl of strawberries and cream, these fluffy, buttery little scones are the quickest way to go from fruit to feast.
Prep 30 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4
400g strawberries, hulled and washed
30g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp extra
2 stems mint, leaves finely chopped
85g cold butter, plus 3 tbsp extra
300g flour
¼ tsp fine salt
2½ tsp baking powder
300ml whipping cream
1 egg yolk, beaten with a little milk
1 tsp demerara sugar, to sprinkle
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod
1 Macerate the strawberries
Cut the larger strawberries into quarters and smaller ones in half. Put about a third of them in a bowl (choose any that are slightly mushy, or indeed underripe, if there are any) and crush with a fork into a rough puree. Mix these back into the remaining cut fruit, along with the caster sugar and the chopped mint, and set aside while you make the shortcakes.
2 Melt the butter
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7 and melt the extra three tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Use some of this to lightly grease a large baking sheet, and set the rest aside in a warm place for later, stirring it occasionally if it threatens to solidify.
3 Make the dough
Sift the flour into a large bowl, then whisk in the remaining tablespoon of caster sugar, the salt and the baking powder. Grate or cut in the cold butter, then rub this into the dry ingredients with your fingertips, until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in 160ml of the cream, to make a soft dough, adding more cream if need be.
4 Knead, shape and cut
Knead briefly, just until smooth (overworking the dough will make the cakes tough, so try to handle it as little as possible), then tip on to a lightly floured surface and roll or pat out until it’s about 5mm thick. Use a 6cm cutter to cut out eight rounds, twisting it as you push it down into the dough for a better rise.
5 Build and bake the shortcakes
Put half the rounds on the greased baking sheet, brush the tops with melted butter, then put the other halves on top of them. Brush the tops of these with the beaten egg, sprinkle with the demerara sugar, then bake for about 20 minutes, until well risen and golden on top.
6 Divide the shortcakes
Once the shortcakes are out of the oven, pull them apart as soon as they are cool enough to handle, and brush the middles with any remaining melted butter. Set aside on a rack to cool while you prepare the cream.
7 Flavour and whip the cream
Pour the cream into a large clean bowl and whip until it just starts to thicken. Use a sharp knife to scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into the cream, and carry on whisking until you have soft, billowing peaks. Divide the bottoms of the shortcakes (the ones without the egg wash and demerara sugar topping) between four plates and put a blob of whipped cream on each.
8 Add the fruit
Put a generous spoonful of the strawberry compote on top of the cream, then finish by putting the tops on each shortcake. Do this gently and at an angle, so the filling is still visible (if you try to sandwich them on top, you’ll spoil the effect). Serve immediately, preferably while the shortcakes are still slightly warm.
9 Variations
This recipe works with most summer fruit – raspberries, ripe peaches, plums or apricots, or lightly stewed gooseberries or currants – but you’ll need to adjust the sugar content depending on the fruit. In the case of stone fruits, you may wish to add a squeeze of lemon juice, too. If you use cooked fruit, give it time to cool, or it will melt the cream.
