This is absolutely my favorite recipe for a shortcake – these Best Shortcakes, sometimes called Cream Scones. There’s very little cream involved, but it’s transformative!
Three Berry Shortcakes
And while you might look at these and think “drop biscuit” and possibly identify these with a Bisquick thing (believe me, nothing could be further from the truth) these are so much more. You’ll “get it” with your very first bite.
About Best Shortcakes – Cream Scones:
I know they’re all rough and rustic. Don’t let that fool you – if you could imagine the most delicious, tender, rich scone ever, that’s what the shortcake is. It would look more refined perhaps if it were patted out and rolled, but what you’d lose is the drama, the height, and some of the tenderness, not to mention the bumpy nubbly top to catch and hang onto to the luscious whipped cream and the berries and sauce. Oh my.
When I serve this to most people, I can tell they don’t expect the utter fantastic fantabulousness (that’s a word now!) of these shortcakes. I can tell because they’re always so casual as they get ready to take a bite – then their eyes light up with surprise.
And when that taste is accompanied by sound effects (more than once I’ve gotten a little moan) isn’t that what keeps us cooks going? A thousand criticisms can be wiped away but one small guttural response!
Serving:
This is my go to shortcake whenever I make strawberry shortcake. And when it’s a summer holiday, I love to go all out and make my Three Berry Shortcakes. That makes this a red white and blue dessert.
The shortcakes are wonderful eaten as scones, either baked with a small fruit like blueberry or baked with dried fruit like raisins or currants. If hand mixing, drop them into the flour. If using a food processor, drop them onto the dough when it’s dumped on the counter.
At our house, we hope for leftovers after I make so we can gobble up one or two for breakfast.
Making the Best Shortcakes:
Make these and you’re going to feel like a pastry chef! And serve them and I swear you’ll feel like a genius!
There are only a few ingredients, and whether you whip them up with a food processor or by hand, they take just minutes to prepare and no time to bake up. Yanno, you don’t have to tell anyone how easy these are if you don’t want to. A little mystery ups the street “cred.”
The Things to Pay Attention To:
Work quickly, work simply, and don’t overthink or overwork that dough. You want some big chunks of butter along with some small chunks and you’ll just want the dough to barely hold together and to be a little clumpy. I can’t stress enough how important it is not to overwork. Just trust the process.
Use cold butter, and cold milk and work quickly so the shortcakes don’t warm up. Open the butter wrapper, cut the butter into 1/2″ pieces, and toss it in the freezer right on the wrapper while measuring the other ingredients.
When mixing into the flour mixture, keep the butter in larger chunks; it’s fine if some are the size of peas, but a little larger is even better. This is easier to do by hand; be careful if using a food processor.
Once the liquid is added, mix or process as little as possible in your food processor or bowl. Dump it on the counter and bring it together with your hands. Just gently encourage it into a dough by gently folding and patting. It should be lumpy!
Be gentle when dividing into scones. Just make separate clumps and only move it to shape it if absolutely necessary. Every time this dough is manipulated, it goes a bit from an extremely moist, tender crumb inside to a bit sturdier, less airy, and more compact crumb. Embrace the rustic look and shape because they are so perfect inside. The perfect texture and crumb, moist throughout, and absolutely the best, ever, shortcake.
When adding the cream and sugar to the top, it’s best to shape the dough into individual shortcakes on your counter then dab the cream on. Sprinkle with sugar. Then transfer using a thin flat spatula to your baking sheet. That keeps any excess sugar from burning on the cookie sheet and making the bottoms of the scones dark.
Don’t use a dark cookie sheet if possible. Parchment helps. Don’t overbake! They should feel slightly soft when pressing on the top and as they cool they’ll firm up. Better to sacrifice browning than to have a dry scone! Cool on a rack so they don’t keep cooking on the hot baking sheet.
Saving Money on Best Shortcakes – Cream Scones:
I’ve gotten to the point where I buy almost all my baking goods, including perishables like butter, cream, eggs, and milk, at Aldi. Their everyday prices rival the best grocery store prices. You buyer’s club will usually have good prices on these items, too, but the quantities are always going to be arger.
If you don’t have either nearby, you can save money by cherry-picking sales, paying special attention to the butter and cream prices, around any holiday. The best sales are usually from pre=Thanksgiving through New Years and around Easter. Biu at a low and stock your freezer. Butter can literally be half-price during one of the great baking holidays like Easter or Christmas…I used to just count the weeks until the next holiday and buy enough to last until the next.
It’s a good idea to always freeze flour or any flour containing item when you bring it into the home to avoid the possibility of any “peskies.” Three days in the freezer does it. 30 days in the fridge works, too, but that’s admittedly a long time!
Best Shortcakes
Best Shortcakes
Don’t be fooled by looks! These are some of the best shortcakes you’ll ever taste!
- Prep Time: 8 - 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups of flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup sugar
- 6 tablespoons cold butter
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk or half & half
- 2 tablespoons sugar (this is additional sugar)
- A little milk, half & half or cream to brush tops
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Place flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a food processor and pulse several times. Cut the butter in half, then in small pieces. Add to flour and pulse, carefully, several times. You want large pieces (about the size of a pea) left. Gradually add milk or half & half while pulsing. Stop when it still looks crumbly – it shouldn’t be totally mixed at this point.
Dump on to counter and mix a little with your hands until it just holds together, but is still very shaggy looking. Divide into six pieces. (Note, sometimes we divide into 8 and just bake for a little less time.)
Place on baking tray in mounds. Do not attempt to smooth out, they should be “clumps” – lining the tray with parchment or foil helps with clean up. Brush tops with milk or cream – just use a little from the whipping cream you’ll use to serve with it. Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15 – 17 minutes. Do not overbake – better to sacrifice a little browning than to have dry shortcakes. Watch carefully. Turn the tray halfway through.
Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container. These are best the same day, but still good the next. The crispy exterior tends to soften with storage.
Notes
To make the scones use whole milk or half and half or a mixture of milk and cream. Full cream is too rich, but the scones are excelent with either milk or half and half.
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I’ll be sharing Best Shortcakes at Fiesta Friday #290 this week. I’m “hosting” this week, along with Angie of Fiesta Friday, so be sure to stop by and check out all the posts from all the bloggers! I’m seeing great things so far!
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