Summer Strawberry Shortcake

Chris has a summer birthday, and as long as I've known them, his family has always celebrated his day with strawberry shortcake instead of birthday cake. Which is fantastic, if you think about it. Who needs boring old icing and cake when you can pile summer's best strawberries and fresh whipped cream over a sweet, crumbly shortcake?

This year we were actually at home on his birthday, so I made him a lovely strawberry shortcake for his birthday breakfast. Served with espresso and some blueberry champagne we had leftover from celebrating the Fourth, it was a pretty fabulous way to start a special day.
Note: Some folks prefer to pour milk over their shortcake instead of whipped cream. At Chez Gourmess, I like to make a tasty homemade whipped cream with a bit of chilled heavy whipping cream, a drop or two of vanilla and a couple TBS of confectioners sugar. But, you can't go wrong with either option, so do what you like. As for the shortcakes, I've discovered that they are even more delightful with a bit of strawberry Greek yogurt mixed in. Here's my recipe:

Strawberry Shortcake  
Ingredients:
1 5-6 oz container of 2% strawberry Greek yogurt
2 TBS milk
2 TBS white sugar
1/4 cup melted butter (4 TBS)
4+ cups sliced fresh strawberries
Extra-fine sugar
Whipped cream
Minimal MESS/ingredients/clean-up: Category 1

To Do:
  • Preheat oven to 425 F. 
  • Stir baking mix, yogurt, milk, sugar and the melted butter until a soft dough forms, then drop by spoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet. You should have enough dough to make about 6 shortcakes. 
  • Sprinkle with sugar, then bake 10 minutes or until golden brown. 
  • While the shortcakes bake, mix together the strawberries and enough extra-fine sugar to coat them in a medium-sized bowl. After about 10 minutes, remove 1/4 of the strawberries and mash them, then return to the bowl.
  • When ready to serve, halve and warm the shortcakes.
  • Scoop a bit of strawberries into the bottom of each serving bowl. 
  • Add one half of the shortcake to the bowl, then top with whipped cream and a big scoop of strawberries.
  • Top the other shortcake half with whipped cream then add to the bowl. Finish with more whipped cream and a strawberry or two for garnish. 
  • Bring the remaining strawberries to the table so guests can add more to their bowls as needed.
  • Yum!
xoxo