The Best Strawberry Shortcake
on Mar 18, 2021, Updated Oct 21, 2022
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Simple, sturdy cake is one of our favorite ways to enjoy Strawberry Shortcake. You just can’t go wrong with a fluffy cake that is layered with strawberries and finished off with whipped cream.
I look forward to strawberry shortcake every year. It means warm weather is here and strawberries are ripe for the picking. This has been one of my favorite desserts since I was a child and I’m excited to share this classic shortcake recipe with you.
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Ingredients:
- Granulated sugar: this is adding the sweet to your cake, it doesn’t have a lot (it’s not an overly sweet cake) but just enough
- Butter: I love using butter in this cake recipe, it adds flavor and is the fat in the recipe
- Egg: this helps everything to bind together
- Flour: you’ll just need a simple all-purpose flour here, nothing fancy
- Milk: this is the wet ingredient for your cake and what helps everything come together
- Fresh strawberries: it wouldn’t be strawberry shortcake with out these! This recipe is best with fresh in-season strawberries
- Freshly whipped cream: the simple joys! Freshly whipped cream is such a treat and goes so well with the cake and strawberries
How to make Strawberry Shortcake:
- Mix up your cake by adding your butter and sugar to a large bowl and mixing well.
- Add the egg and beat.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix and then beat in the milk. Bake up your cake.
- Prep your strawberries and whipped cream while the cake bakes.
- After it’s cooled a bit serve the cake with strawberries and whipped cream on top.
What happens when you put sugar on a strawberry?
I like to add a tablespoon or two of sugar to my cut strawberries and let them sit while I make the shortcake. This gives the strawberries some time to release their juices and makes a nice syrup to drizzle on top of the shortcakes. So good.
Making the whipped cream?
To make whipped cream, I simply add 1-2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla to the bowl of my stand mixer or electric mixer and whip the cream until soft peaks form. SO much better than anything pre-made from the store. Very worth the 5 minutes of prep, if you ask me.
How do I serve strawberry shortcake?
To serve strawberry shortcake I slice the cake into 9 pieces. Remove one piece from the pan and split it down the middle. Top half of the cake with strawberries and whipped cream, add the second half of cake, and top with more whipped cream and strawberries.
Storage Tips:
Store any leftover cake covered at room temperature. Separate from any leftover strawberries or whipped cream.
Strawberry shortcake is such a lovely dessert. It’s light, not too sweet, and easy to prepare. Enjoy a slice (or two) from my kitchen to yours!
More strawberry recipes:
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
- Homemade Strawberry Lemonade
- 4 Ingredient Strawberry Frozen Yogurt (5 minute recipe!)
- Strawberry Pie Recipe
Cake-Like Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1-2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled, sliced, and sweetened to your liking
- 2-4 cups freshly whipped cream, sweetened if you like
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-inch square baking dish (or line it with parchment).
- In a medium bowl, add the sugar and melted butter and stir to combine well.
- Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and beat with an electric mixture or stand mixer to combine.
- Add the milk and beat again until the mixture is smooth with no lumps. Place the batter in the prepared pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cake is lightly golden and springs back when lightly touched.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool at least 30 minutes before serving.
- To serve, slice the cake into 9 pieces. Remove one piece from the pan and split it down the middle. Top half of the cake with strawberries and whipped cream, add the second half of cake, and top with more whipped cream and strawberries.
- Serve right away.
- Store any leftover cake covered at room temperature, separate from any leftover strawberries or whipped cream.
Notes
- It’s best to use an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer for this cake. I’ve made it a few times where I stirred it all by hand and I was left with little flour chunks in my batter and cake. Incorporating the milk with an electric mixture helped to ensure there were no flour chunks in my cake.
Nutrition
And I’m dying to know, what is your go-to Strawberry Shortcake recipe? Biscuit or Cake?! Do tell! If you don’t have a favorite yet, I’d for sure try this cake recipe.
Easy recipe and delicious! Strawberries are always on the dirty dozen list so I made the recipe with all organic ingredients. It turned out great and feels good to know my family is not getting toxins in their food.
This is the best shortcake recipe I have found so far. I was looking for a recipe that is slightly sweet but not cakey and not too much like biscuits. This recipe fit the bill and even had a slight crunch to the top, which made it perfect for strawberry shortcake. Thank you!
Delicious recipe, my wife says it’s the best shortcake she’s ever had! Have you ever made the recipe in a muffin tin? Looking to make a pre-portioned version to take to a party, but wasn’t sure if the cook time would need to be adjusted?
That is SUCH a clever idea! I think it would work great! It’ll take less time to cook and I’d test the doneness of the cake by gently pressing on the cake, if it springs back it’s done and if the indent stays, it needs a little longer. Maybe bake for 12 minutes and add time from there? I’d love to know how they turn out!
Melissa, the cupcakes turned out great! At 12 minutes they were visibly not done, so I just kept a close eye. I ended up baking for 18 minutes and they were delicious! Loving this recipe 😊
Yay! Thanks for coming back to leave us some tips, such a fun idea!
Yum! This was so easy and delish small enough to make in toaster oven so I didn’t have to turn oven on so good! Thanks!
Lovely recipe for strawberry shortcake! I liked it because it’s not overly sweet. You can sweeten it up by dusting the cake with sugar but I liked it just as is. The strawberries and fresh whipped cream was the perfect ending complement to a lovely Fathers Day BBQ! Thanks!
It sounds like a lovely dessert for a lovely day! So glad you enjoyed it Heidi!
This recipe is so good, the only thing I would do differently next time is make more. The 9 servings are small and the recipe so good, everyone will want more.
Super easy and incredibly tasty. I doubled the recipe and it didn’t make it 24 hours in my house. Will definitely make again.
This is the BEST EVER SHORTCAKE!!!!!! So easy to make and absolutely delish!!!
Thank you for a fantastic recipe.
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it as much as we do. And thank you for leaving a review, I so appreciate it.
My first time making any kind of drop biscuit, saw these immediately wanted to try as not real fond of the store bought shortcake. Amazingly easy and are so delicious. Will def be making these again! Thanks for a great recipe.
Yay! So glad you liked it.
I could tell just from tasting the batter that this was going to be a good recipe…I made the cake-like shortcake, and OH MY GOD, this was AH-MAZING!!! Seriously the best shortcake I’ve ever had. And I bake constantly!
I so appreciate the comment Kiera!