Sweet Summer Memories {Recipes: Strawberry Shortcake and Strawberry Lemon Shortcake with Balsamic and Brown Sugar Soaked Strawberries}

Over the summer my family and I traveled to Oregon. During our travels there we got together with my cousins that I had not seen for many years. While we were together we were reminiscing about the strawberry shortcake our grandmother used to make. We all agree that it was the best strawberry shortcake ever!

Since my grandmother was making enough for the entire group of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc...she would take out two giant bowls, throwing the ingredients in one for the shortcake and a bunch of strawberries, rinsed and with the tops taken off, in the other. For the shortcake she never measured anything, just tossed the ingredients in and mixed it together. And for the strawberries, she would put a few tablespoons of sugar in and cut them up with a can that my grandfather took the rim off the opened end and poked a few vent holes in the other end. Her shortcake was always served with vanilla ice cream. It was always perfect and enough to feed us all.

This is the method my grandmother used to chop strawberries.
Use CAUTION if you try this-the can is SHARP!

The shortcake my grandmother made is essentially a biscuit dough that is pressed into a baking pan. It is much easier to bake it in a baking pan than to cut individual biscuits, especially if you are making it for a large number of people. Although this recipe should work to be cut into biscuits as well.  So below is my recreation of my grandmother's shortcake, but on a much smaller scale.

Strawberry Shortcake

Instructions for preparing the strawberries:

Prepare the strawberries first to allow for sugar to dissolve into the strawberry juices. 

1 quart of strawberries, chopped
1-3 tablespoons of sugar, depending on taste and sweetness of the strawberries

In a medium bowl mix together strawberries and sugar. Cover and refrigerate mixture until ready for use. 

Instructions for shortcake:

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, cold and cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla, optional*




1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line the bottom an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and cut into flour mixture with a pastry blender or 2 dinner knives until the entire mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in buttermilk and vanilla. Stir with a fork until just combined. 

3. Turn the dough into the prepared baking dish and gently press the mixture into an even layer in the pan (I find that lightly buttering my fingers and lightly pressing works best). 

4. Bake shortcake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool to room temperature before serving. 

Makes 9 servings.

To arrange Strawberry Shortcake:

Take a square of shortcake and cut in half. Pour a generous spoonful of the chopped strawberry mixture over the bottom half of the shortcake,  top with vanilla ice cream**or whipped cream, then place the second half of the shortcake on top of it all.  If desired, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar, add more strawberries, and/or a dollop of whipped cream.

*I am sure my grandmother never put vanilla in her shortcake, but I like the flavor it adds. 

Strawberry Lemon Shortcake with 
Balsamic Vinegar and Brown Sugar
Soaked Strawberries

Taking strawberry shortcake to the next level with Lemon Shortcake and Strawberries Soaked in Balsamic Vinegar and Brown Sugar:

For the Lemon Shortcake, follow the shortcake recipe above, except add a teaspoon of lemon zest to the flour mixture and substitute buttermilk with milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice added. Let the milk with lemon juice stand for 5 minutes before adding to the flour mixture. (Adding lemon juice to regular milk is a buttermilk substitute hack that can be used for most baking recipes if you don't have buttermilk on hand, which I didn't. White vinegar can be used instead of lemon juice for this hack, but I wanted the lemon flavor.) Also, no need to add vanilla.

For berries shown,  place 1 1/2 quarts of hulled strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with a 1/2 cup brown sugar and a pinch of salt, then pour 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar on top; cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, give the berries a good stir. Let the berries soak in the sugar/vinegar mixture for at least 2 hours in the fridge, with giving a stir every so often. The berries shown soaked for about 24 hours. 

** There are two recipes for vanilla ice cream on the blog. One is can be found under Grandma Ruth's Frosty Pumpkin Pie and the other is under Grandma Betty's Apple Crisp. The recipe accompanying Grandma Ruth's Frosty Pumpkin Pie is the one pictured.

Enjoy!