Recipe by James Beard

Strawberry Shortcake

Name: Strawberry Shortcake
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tbsp baking powder; 3 tbsp sugar; 1/2 tsp salt; 6 tbsp cold butter; 3/4 cup milk; 1 quart strawberries; 1/4 cup sugar, for the berries; 1 cup heavy cream

Beard's American shortcake: a tender biscuit split and filled with macerated berries and softly whipped cream.

By James Beard

For Beard, shortcake was a biscuit, not a sponge cake, and the berries had to sit with sugar until they made their own syrup. His American Cookery gives the plain version, which is the best one.

The dish

3 of 9 items checked

Strawberry Shortcake

cooking.nytimes.com

Claimed by James Beard

Serves 6 · 2 of 8 items checked · 4 aisles

Produce

1 quartstrawberries

Dairy & Eggs

6 tbspbutterChecked by James Beard
¾ cupmilk
1 cupheavy cream

Pantry / Durable

2 cupsall-purpose flour
1 tbspbaking powderChecked by James Beard
3 tbsp + ¼ cupsugarChecked by James Beard

Spices & Seasoning

½ tspsalt

Cooking Instructions

Hull and slice the strawberries, toss them with sugar, and let them stand at room temperature until glossy and syrupy.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, then cut in the cold butter until the mixture looks like coarse meal.
Stir in the milk just until the dough holds together, pat it out, and cut rounds. Bake at 450°F for 12 to 15 minutes, until risen and golden.
Whip the cream to soft peaks. Split the warm biscuits, spoon over the berries and their syrup, and top generously with cream.

Adapted from James Beard's American Cookery. View a published recipe at NYT Cooking (opens in a new tab)

Appears in: Chefs who taught a country to cook

Served at

Oysters and talk · Greenwich Village, New York

A clambake at East Hampton · East Hampton, Long Island

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