What do you do after you go strawberry picking on one of the few sunny days of the year? Bake, of course! Last weekend we decided to take the boys to one of the local Strawberry farms and to say they enjoyed themselves was an understatement! D. (our strawberry obsessed 2 year old) in particular looked like he’d died and gone to heaven. And as much as I too love strawberries on their own, I love them even more when sandwiched with cream between shortbread, à la Strawberry Shortcakes!
It turns out that Strawberry Shortcake has regional differences in terms of what kind of biscuit is used. I’ve come across many recipes that use scones and sponge but to me a Strawberry Shortcake will always be made with good old fashioned Shortbread. I chose to add pistachios to the shortbread in this recipe as a friend of mine did similar when she brought of batch of Strawberry Shortcakes to work a while back and I always remembered them tasting delicious – of course I could have just asked for her recipe but hello social-anxiety preventing such things – plus I find it give them an extra little crunch where the cream might have soften the shortbread.
I’m all about the summer recipes just now and think these fruity, creamy little biscuits are just what’s needed for adding a bit of sweetness to any sunshine gathering. And if you’re not lucky enough to be getting any of that sunshine (like us) then they’re at least sure to bring a little bit of metaphorical sunshine into your day.
Granny’s Top Tips:
♥ Be careful not to over-whip your cream. When you think it looks nearly ready, stop. It will continue to firm up even after you finish whipping.
♥ Why not mix up the flavours? Try a raspberry shortcake, or even using a chocolate shortbread?
Ingredients
For the Shortbread
- 100 g Caster Sugar
- 200 g Salted Butter at room temperature
- 300 g Plain Flour
- 50 g Pistachio Kernels
For the Filling
- 300 ml Double Cream
- Strawberries washed & halved
- Icing Sugar
Instructions
For the Shortbread
- Pre-heat you oven to 160°c and grease your baking tray with a little butter.
- Cream together the butter & sugar in a large bowl until it becomes light & fluffy.
- Sift in your flour and mix to form a stiff dough. Roughly chop your pistachio kernels and add them to the dough. Tip the dough onto a floured worktop and gently knead until smooth.
- Roll your dough to around 5mm thick and cut into circles. Transfer each shortbread to your pre-greased baking trays and prick each one with a fork on top.
- Bake at 160°c for around 15-20 minutes until the edges of the shortbread are golden.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool on their tray for around 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Filling
- Cut your strawberries in half, dust with around a teaspoon of caster sugar and stir. Put aside to macerate.
- Whip your double cream in a large bowl until it thickens. Add a teaspoon of icing sugar if desired.
- Once your shortbread has cooled completely, spread a dollop of cream onto the underside each biscuit. Add the strawberries to half of the cream-topped the biscuits, either neatly arranged in circles or randomly, if preferred. Use whatever cream is left to fill any gaps in the strawberries.
- Sandwich your strawberry & cream topped biscuits with the biscuits with only-cream.
- Dust with a little icing sugar to complete.
What kind of biscuit do you associate with Strawberry Shortcakes?
Ooh! These Strawberry Shortcakes look so yummy, and very summery too. Commenting as BritMums Baking Round-up Editor. :) x
hi
I am making these for a bake sale next week, how long can I make the biscuit part in advance and keep them in an air locked boxed?
I chose to make your recipe as I totally agree with you that it should be shortbread biscuits and not a scone mixture. These are gorgeous and we all thoroughly enjoyed them!
Lovely crisp, buttery shortbread, and the pistachios were a nice touch. Went down really well for a Summer Sunday lunch dessert.