The quintessential summer treat! These spiced strawberry shortcakes are packed with fresh berries on a buttery shortcake and don’t forget about the whipped cream. With a subtle hint of cardamom and cinnamon, it makes this traditional dessert extra special.
Strawberry and cardamom is one of my favorite flavor combinations. Like these strawberry cardamom blondies, it’s just such a good pairing that is just a little unexpected.
What Makes these Strawberry Shortcakes Special?
- A flaky buttermilk scone shortcake has just a bit of cinnamon and cardamom for a whimsical take on the classic shortcake.
- Fresh strawberries shine with light sugar and a touch of lemon to make them pop.
- A little cardamom in the lightly whipped cream means its impossible not to eat the whole bowl on its own.
Ingredients
There are three main components to this strawberry shortcake – the buttermilk scone shortcake, the macerated strawberries and a sweetened whipped cream. Let’s take a look at the major ingredients in our recipe:
- All-purpose flour. The base for our shortcake scones.
- Buttermilk. Provides a slight tang and a tender texture.
- Baking powder. Gives our shortcake a nice lift for a super tall pastry.
- Fresh strawberries. Don’t use frozen berries here. Make this recipe when it is peak strawberry season. You will end up with berry mush if you use frozen berries.
- Granulated sugar. Sugar not only gives our shortcake and whipped cream a little sweetness, but it also is reasonable for creating that delicious strawberry sauce.
- Heavy whipping cream. Needed for our whipped cream. Do not substitute milk or half and half here.
- Cinnamon & cardamom. A little ground spices in the shortcake and whipped cream go a long way.
DIY Buttermilk
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can DIY your own by adding 1 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to the same amount of whole milk. Let it stand at room temperature for 5 minutes and you will notice the milk thicken and turn tangy.
Making Shortcakes
Shortcakes are a version of favorite buttermilk scones. The difference is shortcake is slightly “leaner” or “shorter” with less butter making them less rich. Why is this better you ask? Because you want the shortcake to be sturdy enough to support the saucy strawberries without disintegrating.
There are a few key things to keep in mind when making shortcakes.
Keep ingredients cold. Cold ingredients will give us a flakier final texture. When cold butter goes into a hot oven it creates steam and gives our dough a lift.
Only use as much buttermilk as needed. I give a range of buttermilk because we only want to add enough to create a shaggy dough, not a soupy dough. There are a lot of factors that can influence how much buttermilk you really need, so add slowly.
Quick lamination. Lamination means to fold dough to create layers. We are going to do a quick single lamination by folding the dough like a letter. A pastry like croissants may do 3 or 4 intricate folds to create those very flaky pastries.
Chill before baking. Freeze your final cut shortcakes before baking to really rechill the butter to give a great lift.
Macerated Strawberries
Macerated strawberries – terrible name, delicious food. And macerating sounds fancier than it is. When, in reality, we are just stirring some sugar into sliced berries. Yeah, that’s it. The sugar will pull out the juice in the berries and thicken naturally into a sauce. All it takes is a little time to do its thing.
Sweetened Whipped Cream
Nothing is easier than homemade whipped cream. Even if you don’t have an electric mixer, it doesn’t take much manpower to whip heavy cream into shape. The key is to not over whip. Overwhipping makes for a more buttery than creamy texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
The shortcake dough can be made and frozen until ready to bake. Freeze until solid on a parchment-lined tray then transfer to a freezer-safe bag or container. However, shortcakes with strawberries should only be assembled right before eating or the sauce will make the cakes too soggy.
Absolutely, make a classic strawberry shortcake by removing the cinnamon and cardamom spices.
Definitely! Strawberry is the classic, but any berry will work well. If you have a particularly tart berry, you may need to add just a little extra sugar.
Liberally add flour to the work surface and top of the dough. Add enough to make the mixture workable. The shortbreads may not rise as high, but will still be delicious.
Spiced Strawberry Shortcakes
Ingredients
Macerated Strawberries
- 420 g fresh strawberries, stems removed and sliced 1 pound container
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Buttermilk Scone Shortbread
- 360 g all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 50 g granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 113 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 ¼ cup buttermilk divided
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Egg wash (1 large egg + 1 tablespoon water)
- Coarse Sugar like turbinado
Cardamom Whipped Cream
- 1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Macerated Strawberries. Stir together sliced strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Let sit for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.420 g fresh strawberries, stems removed and sliced, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- Buttermilk Scone Shortbread. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Using fingertips or pastry cutter, rub in cold butter until mixture is sandy and some larger pea-sized clumps of butter remain.360 g all-purpose flour, 50 g granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1 teaspoon salt, 113 g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- Stir egg and vanilla into 1 cup of buttermilk. Stir into flour mixture. Only add remaining buttermilk if mixture is dry. The final texture should be sticky and shaggy but not wet or soupy.1 1/4 cup buttermilk, 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Pat into a rectangle about 4" x 8". Fold the top of the dough down and bottom of the dough up, folding into thirds like a letter. Pat dough back out into a 4" x 8" rectangle, trim away edges and slice dough into 8 equal squares.
- Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops of the shortcakes with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.Egg wash, Coarse Sugar
- Freeze sheet pan until strawberries are nearly ready to rechill dough. Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). When ready, bake for 18-22 minutes, turning sheet pan once, until golden brown.
- Cardamom Whipped Cream. While shortcakes bake, whip together all ingredients for whipped cream until just stiff with hand whisk or electric mixer.1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Assembly. To assemble, slice shortbreads in half top with strawberries and generous scoop of whipped cream. Assemble right before enjoying.
Notes
- Shortcake dough can be made in advance and baked when ready. Freeze completely on sheet pan before transferring to freezer-safe container.
- Strawberries should be made no more than 1 day in advance or berries will get soggy.
Disclaimer: We test all recipes using the metric weights shown, we cannot guarantee outcomes when switching to US measurements.
