Old-Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberries and shortcakes and TORNADOES, oh my! At 4 am Wednesday, a National Weather Service alarm on our phones woke us up sounding a tornado warning. Earlier that night, there had been a tornado watch, meaning conditions were favorable for tornadoes, but at 4 am a warning went out. For those of you who are like me and tend to confuse the two terms, a warning is the more serious one, meaning that either an actual tornado had formed or that it's super likely one will. I've been through one tornado years ago in South Florida. Like people always say, it sounds like a freight train, but more huge and eerie and terrifying. In fact, it sounds like a giant vacuum cleaner, which makes sense because air is being sucked into the cyclone.

Never miss a thing, dahling! Join the email club for FREE design & decor tips, plus updates on our newest projects!

Hurricanes have never scared me too much; maybe that's because we typically get lots of warning, and maybe it's because newer Florida construction is designed to withstand high-speed winds to a certain point. But then I found out about hurricane's unwelcome plus one, the spin-off tornado. Of course, the standard advice is to go underground, but there's just one problem: in this part of the country due to the water table, there are NO BASEMENTS.

Within 30 minutes the alert passed. I stayed vigilant the whole time and sat near an open a window to listen for that dreaded spine-chilling sound. Hearing that sound makes me consider the all-powerful hand of God. Perhaps these moments of fear are for our benefit. In the meantime, while I was soul-searching, my husband was begging that I close the window due to the stifling heat and humidity which was relentless even at 4 am. Thank God, we were fine, and so was the entire area from what I can tell in the news; nothing touched down that night. I hear that quite a few parts of the country are experiencing extreme weather this summer, and I'll be honest, it's perhaps my LEAST favorite side effect of living in a storm-prone area.

But there's more to summer than the storms, and there's a reason we Americans love this season. Sunny skies. Swimming pools. School's out. Summer vacations. Sizzling cookouts and sensational fireworks. Strawberries.

Actually, Florida summers are so hot that most garden variety plants cannot survive, which means, unlike the rest of the country, our strawberries are in season during winter. Of course they are still available in stores, and in the middle of a long, heat-drenched July, there's nothing like fresh strawberry shortcake. Warm, buttery, honeyed biscuits topped with juicy red berries, yep, this is one of my favorite warm weather treats. After all, does anything say summer more than vine-ripened strawberries and home-baked shortcake in a bowl, smothered with fresh whipped cream or soaked in cold milk?

Hold on, repeat that past part - SOAKED IN MILK?!?!

Yessss... More on that below.

Have you noticed that a lot of restaurants serve pound cake or vanilla birthday cake layered with cloyingly-sweet strawberry pie filling, cool whip, and call it Strawberry Shortcake? Personally, I call that "Strawberry Cake" or "Strawberry Trifle". I've also seen the artificially flavored, oddly yellow, twinkie-like discs sold in grocery stores next to the strawberries (we were absolutely forbidden to eat those growing up, haha.) While probably fun for a treat, that type of pastry is really nothing like shortcake. Shortcake is biscuit-like, made from butter and flour, and the old-fashioned way to eat Strawberry Shortcake is warm, freshly baked, with creamy milk poured on top. In case you don't like it that way, I will also show you a couple ways to serve this dish, including the more modern, layered version above.

I like my Strawberry Shortcake the way we ate it growing up: real shortcake, fresh strawberries no added sugar, and milk. Okay, I know that last part may sound weird to most of you, but that's how we ate it growing up, drowned in yummy, ice-cold milk! It's not so strange if you consider the Mexican classic dessert Tres Leches which is cake soaked in milk, or the Italian favorite Tiramissu which is ladyfinger cookies soaked in espresso.

Remember that scene in "Old Yeller" where they eat a bowl of bread and milk for dinner? Side note, that movie made me afraid of rabid animals forever. Remind me not to watch "Old Yeller" when living on the land. That said, the movie might make you curious about bread soaked in milk!

Did you know strawberries are super low on the glycemic index? In other words, despite how succulent they seem, they are actually very low in sugar. I don't add any sugar to this recipe, just a bit of citrus juice will do. And I bake simple honey biscuits with just a hint of sweetness, instead of overly-sweet cakes, which is closer to real shortcake anyway.

There are plenty of ways you could make this dish prettier or fancier, but since I eat it for breakfast, I usually keep it simple, straight-forward, and not too sweet. However, if you want to dress it up, there are lots of fun variations like the layered version I made above. To make it fancy, consider adding lemon zest to the biscuits and sprinkle granulated sugar on them, and make a quick batch of whipped cream for a topping. Or for a more dessert-like option, you could layer the strawberries and shortcake in a glass dish with vanilla ice cream and call it a parfait. And for a sugar-conscious option, you could make homemade ice cream sweetened with honey. Check out the link to the right for the whipped cream maker my husband gave me last Christmas - I love it!

For a patriotic treat, add a few blueberries or blackberries, and BAM! You've got a red, white, and blue concoction the whole family can enjoy this coming Labor Day, or anytime you want an all-natural treat. Looks like it's time to get to baking, so here's my recipe, tried and true!

---

OLD-FASHIONED STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Prep Time: 20 mins / Serves 4

RECIPE

Shortcake Biscuits:

3 Tbsp butter, just softened

2 Tbsp honey

2 1/4 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk, room temp

Strawberry Mixture:

3 cups sliced strawberries

1 Tbsp honey

1/4 cup orange juice (or fruit punch + a squeeze of organic lemon juice)

Optional: more cold milk / homemade whipped cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Cream butter and honey.

3. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and use a hand mixer to blend everything into a crumble.

4. Add milk. The mixture may appear unevenly blended; that's okay.

5. Shape dough with your hand into 8 semi-round, semi-flat biscuits. They don't have to be perfect in shape, this is a rustic shortcake.

6. Bake for 9 minutes at 450 degrees.

7. While your shortcake biscuits bake, toss together strawberry mixture.

8. Serve one of several ways:

Old-Fashioned: Place 2 warm biscuits per bowl, top with 3/4 cup strawberry mixture, and pour cold milk over the dish just before eating it.

Modern Parfait: Break apart biscuits and layer in mason jars with strawberry mix and whipped cream.

---

STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS WITH PHOTOS

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Notice the "Bisquik" label on my canister? That is not the brand name biscuit mix inside! It is my own, all-natural imitation mix which I will share another time. For now, you can use flour/baking powder/salt per the recipe above and it will work the same.

2. Cream butter and honey.

3. Add flour, baking soda, salt, and use a hand mixer to blend everything into a crumble.

4. Add milk. The mixture may appear unevenly blended; that's okay.

5. Shape dough with your hand into 8 semi-round, semi-flat biscuits. They don't have to be perfect in shape, this is a rustic shortcake. They will rise as they bake. i actually got 9 out of the last batch.

6. Bake for 9 minutes at 450 degrees.

7. While your shortcake biscuits bake, toss together strawberry mixture. When I don't have orange juice on hand, I use no-sugar added cranberry juice, or even my toddler's no-sugar added fruit punch for the juiciness factor, plus a squeeze of lemon juice to keep the berries fresh after slicing. Orange juice has the same effect. Tip: Lemon juice also prevents sliced apples from browning.

If you buy juice versus using fresh lemon, I recommend organic, because the non-organic version by this same brand contains a preservative while the organic juice doesn't. It's more expensive, but I don't like my juice laced with chemicals when obviously it can be produced without them.

8. Serve one of several ways. Scroll down to see two different presentations.

OLD-FASHIONED: Place 2 warm biscuits per bowl, top with 3/4 cup strawberry mixture, and pour cold milk over the dish just before digging in.

Ahh! This is the way I remember it. I eat this dish for breakfast, seeing as it's just biscuits, fruit, and milk.

MODERN PARFAIT: Break apart biscuits and layer in mason jars with strawberry mix and whipped cream.

If you make your own whipped cream, you can control the amount of sugar, or don't use any at all.

This version is striking in presentation, making it a fun option to surprise everyone at your table.

Perhaps the whipped cream makes it feel more like a dessert, even though it doesn't require any sugar.

Any way you serve it, your family and guests are sure to enjoy this fresh, summery treat!

And now, the most meaningful taste test of all... the TODDLER TASTE TEST!

Child-approved! Well, that's all I need for confirmation; if Babygirl loves it, it must be good. Speaking of love, sending a bit of extra love out there during this hot hummer, knowing many areas are experiencing weather emergencies like our tornado warning the other night. I hope you all are well and making time to enjoy the little things this summer.

With Love,

Molly

P.S. For more design & decor fun + updates on our newest projects, subscribe for free HERE!