They are made with a dough of flour, sugar, butter and double cream, the last of which is an unusual ingredient but gives the shortcakes a lovely soft texture. Bicarb is added to give an extra lightness to the dough.

How do you make strawberry shortcakes?

As in scone-making you should aim to handle the dough as little as possible, as this can make the shortcakes tough and chewy if it is overworked.
It’s best made in a food processor if you have one, pulsing together the flour and butter base. It’s also important to keep everything as cool as possible, so we include a step to chill the butter and flour after pulsing.
Once you’ve brought the dough together for cutting, have a shallow bowl of extra flour ready that you can dip your cutter into. This will help release the dough in perfect circles.
To prevent sticking, line large baking sheets with baking paper and make sure there is plenty of space between the shortcakes as they will expand.

How do you prepare strawberries for the shortcakes?

The classic filling for these is a whipped vanilla cream (sometimes called Chantilly cream) and strawberries. For the strawberries, cut off the green stalks and down into the white cores a little, then slice. To bring out the strawberry flavour, you can sprinkle with a couple of pinches of caster or icing sugar, toss then leave to macerate for 15 minutes.

How do you make whipped cream for strawberry shortcakes?

When whipping cream, it’s best to use cream that has come straight from the fridge. You will need to use double cream or whipping cream as it needs a high fat content in order to whip properly. Single cream or low-fat cream won’t work for this.

Put the cream in a large bowl with the vanilla and icing sugar, and start whipping on a medium speed with electric beaters. Keep going until the cream starts to thicken but keep an eye on it and stop occasionally to lift the beaters out the bowl to check how thick it is. You don’t want to overwhip as it can become grainy or even separate and turn to butter if you go too far.

If you think you have overwhipped, take the beaters from the bowl, scraping the excess cream back in. Add 1-2 tbsp of milk and use a spatula to whip into the cream, adding a little more milk if needed. You should be able to soften the cream back to softly whipped.

What tools do you need to make strawberry shortcakes?

For this recipe you’ll need a food processor, electric whisk, baking sheets, baking paper and a metal cutter.

How do you store shortcakes?

If you want to make the shortcakes ahead of time it’s best to bake them, then store in an airtight container for a couple of days before filling. You could also freeze them for up to three months. Defrost at room temperature overnight before filling, following the recipe.

325g self-raising flour
80g caster sugar
plus extra for sprinkling
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
130g unsalted butter
diced and chilled
1 lemon
zested
200ml double cream
plus extra for brushing
1 egg
beaten

FILLING

300ml double cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp icing sugar
250g strawberries
hulled and thinly sliced
100g strawberry jam
warmed in a small pan

Method

step 1
Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Put the flour, caster sugar, bicarb and a pinch of salt into a food processor and very briefly pulse to combine. Add the chilled butter and lemon zest and pulse the butter into the dry ingredients until combined but not resembling breadcrumbs. Transfer to a separate bowl and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
step 2
Whisk the cream and egg together. Remove the bowl from the fridge and slowly pour in the cream mixture a little at a time, stirring into the flour mixture with a fork. Once the dough is starting to come together, use your hands to fully bring together to form a dough.
step 3
Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out to a thickness of about 3cm. Use a 7cm round cookie cutter dipped in flour to cut out as many shortcakes as you can. You may need to reform the scraps to get all 8.
step 4
Put onto a baking-paper-lined baking tray in two rows of four, sitting them 1cm apart from each other. Brush with a little extra cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 15 minutes or until well-risen and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
step 5
Whip together the double cream, vanilla and icing sugar until holding soft peaks.
step 6
Split the shortcakes in half, spread a teaspoon of melted strawberry jam on one half followed by a dollop of cream and a few sliced strawberries and put the other half on top to serve.