Easy strawberry shortcake recipe | Australia's Best Recipes

What is a strawberry shortcake?

When strawberry season's here you'd be hard pressed to beat a strawberry shortcake for the ideal summertime dessert. Here a wickedly crumbly biscuit sandwiches together the best new season strawberries and a healthy dollop of cream. While there are several variations to the classic recipe, choose one that creates a scone-style biscuit that can be easily split and filled with its famous strawberry filling.

Tips for perfect biscuits

The key to perfectly short biscuits is a light hand. Use the same techniques as you'd use for a perfectly light shortcrust pastry: a light touch, cold ingredients and a cool kitchen.

What you'll need

300 g plain flour, sifted
¼ teaspoon salt
55 g caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
120 g butter, chopped
125 mL single cream
1 egg, beaten
1 egg white extra, lightly beaten

For the filling

1 punnet strawberries
2 tablespoon caster sugar
250 mL double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 200°C. In the bowl of a food processor pulse together the flour, salt, ¾ of the sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs. Don't worry if there are still large pieces of butter in the mix as these will come together in the next step.

Step 2

In a bowl, whisk together the cream and egg, then add to the food processor. Pulse the mix until it just comes together and forms large clumps.

Step 3

Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and using a rolling pin gently roll the dough until its 2cm thick. Using a glass dipped into flour, or a 6 cm pastry cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place them on baking-paper lined trays. Reroll any scraps and cut them out to use up as much of the dough as possible.

Step 4

Brush the tops of the shortcakes with the egg white and sprinkle with the reserved sugar. Pop the tray into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Once done, let them cool on a wire rack while you prepare the filling.

Step 5

To make the filing, crush half the strawberries with a fork. Add one tablespoon caster sugar and mix to combine. Whip the cream with the vanilla extract and remaining caster sugar. Gently fold the crushed strawberries through the cream.

Step 6

Using a serrated knife, carefully cut the shortcakes in half. Fill each cake with a generous spoonful of the strawberry cream and top with the remaining fresh strawberries. Replace the top half of the biscuits and serve immediately.