I have been making this recipe for berry shortcake every fourth of July for over ten years. How can that even be possible?! TEN YEARS! Ugh — enough about my old age (for now) and on to this ridiculous shortcake recipe.

Strawberry shortcake is one of those desserts that everyone likes, so I can’t believe people settle for anything less than this version. Obviously strawberries are the key ingredient, but without a base they’re just sugary — still delicious, but sugary — strawberries. I used to be a fan of the angel food cake base, but since I tried these sweet, salty and buttery biscuits, I’ve never looked back. I think you’re going to feel the exact same way!

Before you panic, these aren’t your regular biscuits. I’ve actually never been able to perfect the buttermilk breakfast biscuit. But these babies are seriously fail proof. If you can push a button, you can make these biscuits.

The key to making them truly perfect is to freeze the butter for about 10 minutes before you slice it into cubes, and after you slice it, freeze for five more minutes. This ensures that the butter is cold, cold, cold when mixing so it dispurses evenly throughout the dough and melts while baking in the oven to create pockets of buttery goodness throughout. My mouth actually started watering just thinking about it.

The final step, and how I make my strawberry shortcake even more patriotic, is to add blueberries. Top it off with homemade whipped cream and you’ve got your classic red, white and blue dessert!

Speaking of homemade whipped cream, it’s really the only way to go. If you’re crunched for time, use your favorite store bought topping. But trust me when I say that taking the extra four minutes to whip your own thick, luxurious perfectly sweetened whipped cream. Again, cold is your key here so make sure the bowl you’re using to whip in is super cold!

I hope your family loves this dessert as much as mine does!

Star-Spangled Berry Shortcake

Print Recipe

Star-Spangled Berry Shortcake

Ingredients

4 cups approx 1 pounds strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered
2 cups blueberries
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 cups heavy cream
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Toss the berries with 3/4 cup sugar and sit aside, stirring occasionally.
Using a food processor: pulse flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup sugar, and the salt until combined. Next, add the small cubes of butter, and pulse about 10-12 times until there are some pea-size bits of butter remaining.
Whisk together the eggs and 1/2 cup cream and pour into the flour mixture. Pulse 25-30 times until large clumps begin to form.
Using a 1/2-cup measuring cup, form the dough and tap out onto a baking sheet. Recipe should yield 8-10 biscuits.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden. Transfer to a rack to cool.
While those bake, beat the remaining 1 1/2 cups cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar with the vanilla until soft peaks form.
To serve, either slice the biscuits and half or serve whole. Top with the berries, their liquid and some whipped cream.

Notes

adapted from Martha Stewart

Star-Spangled Berry Shortcake

Star-Spangled Berry Shortcake

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

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