cake · dessert

Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcake

It’s strawberry season!! Don’t even think about letting June pass without fresh strawberry shortcake. I may have called the farm I like to pick fruit from incessantly until their message said the fields were ripe and they were open for picking. My kids used to love going to eat pick fruit with me, but now they all boycott. They say I take too long and pick too much. Don’t be fooled… whenever they come, they also get trapped with the “Just one more” and “ooh, look at this one!” mindset.

One finished shortcake, halved, with strawberries and whipped cream in the middle, on a white plate.

Strawberry picking is very good right now, at least in central Maryland. The berries are flavorful and firm. They were plentiful enough when my mom and I went last weekend for us to easily gather 20 pounds. And then she left for Myrtle Beach the next day, so we’ve been making all the strawberry things… scones, cupcakes, jam, and this shortcake.

I love strawberry shortcake. Generally the cake (biscuit) is a bit salty to balance out the sweetness of the cream and berries. And this one has chocolate. It’s essentially a chocolate chip biscuit. And it’s delicious. I saw this Whole Grain Sprouted Wheat Flour at Wegmans and decided to give it a try with these. I would do it again. Often I use half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour in baked goods (not cake or cookies though). This recipe worked well with 100% whole wheat flour. So that plus the fresh strawberries makes it essentially health food, right?

The original recipe also calls for a chocolate sauce. I have made this strawberry shortcake with that as well. But as I’ve gotten older, my tastebuds can only do so much sweetness. I’ll include the chocolate sauce below in case you want to go over the top!

One finished shortcake, halved, with strawberries and whipped cream on top of the bottom half. The top is behind on a white plate.
Print
One finished shortcake, halved, with strawberries and whipped cream in the middle on a white plate.

Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcake

Course Dessert
Yield 6 servings

Ingredients

For the shortcakes

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed (1/2 stick)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, plus extra for brushing
  • 1/3 cup plain yogurt
  • 1/4 cup chocolate, chopped (I use either 60% or 70% cacao)
  • turbinado sugar

For the berries

  • 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and mashed
  • 4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

For the whipped cream

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

For the chocolate sauce (optional)

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp light corn syrup
  • 4 oz semisweet (or bittersweet) chocolate, chopped

Instructions

For the shortcakes

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

  2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.

  3. Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry blender or two knives until butter is the size of peas (don't overwork it… bigger pieces make a flakier biscuit). Add chopped chocolate and mix lightly. Stir cream and yogurt together in a second bowl, add it to the flour mixture, and blend with a fork just until dough comes together (I actually use a rubber scraper instead). Don't overmix!! Pat out dough onto a lightly flour surface into a circle about 1-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-ish inch round cutter, cut out as many shortcakes as possible and place on prepared baking sheet. Gently press scraps into a 1-inch thick circle and cut out remaining biscuits (you should have six. I had six and a mini one).

  4. Brush with heavy cream and sprinkle lightly with turbinado sugar (regular sugar is also fine). Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

For the berries

  1. Crush 1 cup of strawberries in a bowl with a potato masher. Stir in fresh berries, sugar, and lemon juice. Let stand for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

For the whipped cream

  1. Beat cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla together in a bowl with a mixer on high until soft peaks form.

For the chocolate sauce (optional)

  1. Bring cream and corn syrup to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat until steamy but not boiling. Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and pour warm cream mixture over top. Let stand briefly to melt, then whisk until smooth. (This sauce is also good on ice cream).

To assemble

  1. Halve the shortcakes horizontally. Place bottoms on serving dishes, cut side up, then top with strawberries, whipped cream, optional chocolate sauce, and remaining shortcake halves.

Notes

Source: slightly adapted from Cuisine at Home, Issue 69 June 2008
 

One thought on “Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcake

What do you think?