Desserts
British
BritishStrawberry Shortcake
Buttery shortcake layered with strawberries and cream, shown three ways. Basic uses shop sponge and squirty cream; Ultimate bakes proper scone-style shortcakes with vanilla mascarpone cream and macerated strawberries.
Vegetarian
Nut-free
Ultimate version
Vanilla-butter shortcakes, balsamic-macerated strawberries and whipped mascarpone-vanilla cream.
Per serving£2.95
Total cost£11.80
Time51 min
Ingredients for 4
- Shortcakes
- 250 g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 75 g cultured unsalted butter , cold, cubed
- 50 g golden caster sugar
- 120 ml buttermilk
- 1 egg , for glazing
- Macerated berries
- 500 g ripe English strawberries , hulled and halved
- 2 tbsp golden caster sugar
- 1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar
- Vanilla cream
- 150 g mascarpone
- 200 ml double cream
- 1 vanilla pod , seeds scraped
Method
- Heat oven to 210C/190C fan. Rub butter into flour and baking powder, then mix in the sugar.
- Stir in buttermilk to a soft dough, pat to 3cm thick and stamp 4 rounds; glaze with beaten egg.
- Bake 14-16 minutes until deep golden, then cool on a rack.
- Macerate the strawberries with sugar and balsamic for 20 minutes until syrupy.
- Whip the mascarpone, double cream and vanilla seeds to soft, pipeable peaks.
- Split each shortcake, spoon over the macerated berries and their syrup, and crown with the vanilla cream.
Equipment
- baking tray
- round cutter
- stand mixer
- piping bag
The three ways, side by side
Budget
Shop-bought sponge flan case, tinned-quality strawberries and aerosol cream.
Better
Homemade sweet shortcake biscuits with hand-whipped cream and lightly sugared berries.
Ultimate
Vanilla-butter shortcakes, balsamic-macerated strawberries and whipped mascarpone-vanilla cream.
