Strawberry Shortcake

For me, the moment that marks the beginning of spring isn’t when I spot the first cherry blossoms or pack away my winter coat — it’s when I bite into my first strawberry of the season. Homemade strawberry shortcakes are the very best way to showcase the freshly picked, super-juicy spring berries.

The lemon-scented drop biscuits in this recipe are super tender on the inside (thanks to the heavy cream), and crisp and golden on the outside (thanks to the small pieces of cold butter in the dough). They’re a far cry from the dry, bland shortcakes you might be used to — and they pair perfectly with the super-juicy strawberries and fluffy, barely sweet whipped cream.

This simple strawberry shortcake recipe is quick to whip together and lets the naturally sweet strawberries shine. Here’s how to do it.

• It boasts the best, easiest biscuits. The drop biscuits used in this recipe let you skip the kneading, cutting, and re-rolling often found in shortcake recipes. Instead, you’ll stir together the dough with a fork and your fingers, then scoop mounds onto a baking sheet — taking all of five minutes.
• It makes smart use of your ingredients. Lemon zest flavors the biscuits, while the juice is used to macerate the strawberries and balances their natural sweetness. Heavy cream is used for whipped cream and stirred into the biscuit dough to make them ultra-tender. Granulated sugar draws the juices out of the strawberries, and sweetens the biscuits and cream.

• Strawberries: You’ll need 2 pounds of fresh strawberries.
• Granulated sugar: For the biscuit dough and to macerate the strawberries.
• Lemon: You’ll use the lemon zest to flavor the biscuits and the lemon juice in the macerated strawberries.
• All-purpose flour: You’ll need 2 cups of flour, spooned and leveled.
• Unsalted butter: Make sure the butter is cold when you incorporate it into the flour.
• Heavy cream: For the biscuit dough and to make whipped cream.

1. Macerate the berries. Combine the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a large bowl and toss to combine.
2. Begin the biscuits. Place the zest and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a large bowl, then rub between your fingertips until the sugar is aromatic.
3. Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir with a fork.
4. Add the butter. Add the butter and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour mixture until it forms pea-sized pieces.
5. Add the cream. Drizzle in the cream and mix with a fork until combined. The dough will be sticky.
6. Form into mounds. Form the dough into 8 large, tall mounds using a large spoon or ice cream scoop and space 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of the biscuits with remaining sugar.
7. Bake the biscuits. Bake until the bottoms of the biscuits are deeply golden and the tops are lightly brown.
8. Whip the cream. Combine the heavy cream and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed just until stiff peaks form.
9. Assemble the shortcakes. Split the biscuits in half crosswise. Spoon strawberries over the bottom half and top with a dollop of whipped cream. Finish with the top biscuit.

“Short” is an English word meaning to make crisp with fat (such as butter or lard). While shortcakes these days take on many forms — from those yellow sponge-y store-bought rounds to fluffy cake-like layers — I prefer crisp and buttery biscuit-like shortcakes (which, it seems, may be the most traditional, too).

• Macerate the strawberries ahead: Macerated strawberries can be covered and refrigerated up to 24 hours before serving. The longer they sit, the more their flavors will concentrate and intensify. They’ll also get softer and release more juices, so you may want to use a slotted spoon to scoop the berries onto the biscuits to avoid a soggy shortcake.
• Make the dough ahead: You can make the dough a day in advance and store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to bake.
• Make the whipped cream ahead: You can make whipped cream in a day in advance, too — you may want to briefly re-whisk before assembling.

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