Summer Berry Stacked Shortcake

- Total Time
- About 1½ hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 3cups/385 grams all-purpose flour
- 3tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1tablespoon baking powder
- ½teaspoon baking soda
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- ½cup/120 milliliters buttermilk, chilled
- ½cup/120 milliliters heavy cream, chilled
- 1large egg, cold
- 8tablespoons/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), cold and cut into ½-inch pieces
- 2teaspoons turbinado sugar
- About 5 cups/700 grams mixed summer berries
- 1 to 2tablespoons granulated sugar (for ripe summer or store-bought berries, respectively)
- 1tablespoon lemon juice
- ½teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½cup/120 milliliters Greek yogurt
- ¼cup/30 grams confectioners' sugar (unsifted)
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1½cups/360 milliliters heavy cream
For the Shortcakes
For the Berries
For the Cream
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Trace an 8-inch circle onto two pieces of parchment paper. Line two baking sheets with the paper, writing-side down.
- Step 2
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together buttermilk, cream and egg in a liquid measuring cup.
- Step 3
Use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is the size of small peas. Make a well in the center and pour in the liquid. Stir the mixture together until just combined, then use your hands to knead it a few times until the dough comes together. It will be the texture of thick cookie dough.
- Step 4
Divide the dough into two equal pieces, place each onto one of the prepared baking sheets and use lightly damp hands to press it into a circle just inside the traced line. (Do your best to pat the tops flat while keeping the edges perpendicular to the pan.) Chill the dough on the baking sheets in the refrigerator until firm, about 15 minutes (dough can be chilled up to 4 hours). Just before baking, sprinkle each round with 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar.
- Step 5
Bake the shortcakes until golden and cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool completely.
- Step 6
While the shortcakes are cooling, macerate the berries and make the cream: Add berries, sugar, lemon and vanilla to a large bowl. Use a fork to gently mash up to ¼ cup of the berries. (This doesn’t have to be exact, but you want to create a little bit of liquid if your berries aren’t naturally super juicy.) Stir gently to combine and let sit for about 30 minutes.
- Step 7
For the cream, add the yogurt, sugar, vanilla and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium speed until combined. Add the heavy cream, and whip until very firm peaks form. (You can complete the shortcakes, cream and berries up to 4 hours in advance, refrigerating the cream and berries until ready to serve.)
- Step 8
To serve, place one of the cooled shortcakes on a serving plate. Top with half of the cream followed by half the berries. (Don’t spread the cream quite to the edges, as it will spread when you add the other shortcake.) Repeat with the remaining shortcake, cream and berries. If there is a lot of extra berry juice left in the bowl, serve it alongside the cake.
- Step 9
Slice the cake with a long serrated knife and serve. The shortcake can be layered up to about 1 hour in advance and stored in the fridge. It will soften as it sits.
Private Notes
Comments
I have learned that one can pop sugared berries into the microwave for about 20-30 seconds and achieve the kind of maceration that can take an hour or more. They're like berries picked in the field on a warm summer day, warmed by the sun!
In regard to all the summer fruit dessert recipes -- if the fruit is ripe, you can cut up and cook it quickly in the microwave with a bit of concentrated apple juice, roast or grill it and refrigerate or freeze for later, or cut up and freezi in pieces to use in salsas and salads. Process in your food processor and freeze it in ice cube trays and use for smoothees with greek yogurt and coconut milk. No need to adulterate with sugar and white flour.
Next time I will make the cake layers MUCH thinner and I will whip the cream stiffer. Otherwise, delish.
9-inch cakes (eyeballed against a cake pan - did not bother to trace and cut circles) were very overdone at 15 mins. A knowledgeable friend says short cake generally takes only 10 mins. I baked the cakes the night before and didn't think they suffered for it. I needed to do something a day ahead (total prep time was almost 2.5 hrs!) and didn't think the whipped cream or very ripe berries were good candidates to sit overnight. Fun for July 4!
Absolutely make the cake layers thinner (that is, more than 8 inches). Also be careful not to over bake them. Mine were more than ready at 19 minutes. But this is a great recipe. My guests loved it.
Do you think I can put the batter in a waffle iron?