Individual Strawberry Shortcake with a Soft Crumb

Set out all-purpose flour, baking powder, and kosher salt before you start Individual Strawberry Shortcake with a Soft Crumb. The batch is written for 2 servings.

Count on 25 minutes of prep, 15 minutes of cooking, 1 hour of resting, about 1 hour from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

For the Lemon Shortcake

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small pieces
• Zest from 1 lemon {be very careful to only remove the dark yellow!}
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream for brushing shortcakes, optional
• turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top, optional

For the Strawberries

• 2 cups strawberries cored and quartered
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar or more to taste – taste your strawberries first!
• ½ tablespoon fresh lemon juice

For the Lemon Whipped Cream

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon rind freshly zested – careful not to grate the bitter pith!

How the cooking goes

Make the Shortcakes

1. Heat the oven to 400°F and prepare a sheet pan with baking paper.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, kosher salt and sugar.
3. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry knife or by rubbing the butter into the flour using your hands. Do this until the mixture holds its shape when you squeeze.
4. Mix in the lemon zest until evenly distributed.
5. Slowly add the milk to the mixture and toss with a fork. Continue to add milk until the mixture just comes together in a cohesive ball. It’s not the end of the world if you accidentally add a tiny bit of extra milk. The dough should be light, not sticky, and not crumbly.
6. Divide dough into four equal portions, or pat into one larger circle. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
7. Press each piece of dough into a circle approximately 3/4 inch thick. Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
8. Oven-bake shortcakes on your prepared sheet pan for approximately 15 minutes or until the bottoms are golden and the tops are just beginning to brown. While your shortcakes cook, make your strawberry topping and whipped cream.

Make the Strawberry Lemon Filling

1. Wash, dry, and hull the strawberries. You use the pointy end of a vegetable peeler to do this as efficiently as possible with minimal waste. Quarter the berries and smash half of them in a bowl using a fork or whatever device you find easiest. They don’t have to be perfectly mashed, we just want to get the process going!
2. Put the un-mashed berries to the bowl, sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice and stir.

Make the Whipped Cream

1. Chill your whisk and bowl. Or save your arms and use a electric mixer instead.
2. Tip whipping cream into your chilled bowl and sift powdered sugar directly over the whipping cream.
3. Put the lemon zest. You can taste it at this point to see if you would like to add more zest.
4. Beat briskly to combine. If whisking in a electric mixer or with a hand mixer, it is best to whip on medium-low speed. This will give you a dense, rich whipped cream that is akin to having whipped it by hand.
5. Whisk vigorously until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Continue whisking if you want stiff peaks or if you want to pipe the whipped cream.

Assemble the Shortcakes

1. Strain the excess juice from the berries and reserve the juice.
2. As you can see in the pictures it helps to place one shortcake on the bottom, top it with strawberries and whipped cream and then repeat the process with another shortcake. You actually cut each shortcake in half and made 4 small portions. Drizzle with the reserved strawberry lemon juice.

After it comes off the heat

Let the pan settle before you slice, so the crumb stays together. Cover leftovers once they are cool.

If you want another plate from Cakes, open Mini Smores Milk Chocolate Cheesecakes Baked Until the Center Springs Back and Mardi Gras Bundt Cake Baked Until the Center Springs Back.