Strawberry Basil Shortcake

This strawberry basil shortcake is the perfect summertime dessert. Tender shortcake biscuits topped with homemade strawberry jam, macerated berries with basil, and fresh whipped cream.

Strawberries alone are one of my favorite things about spring and summer.

And for this recipe, they get even better! Sweet sliced berries tossed in sugar and basil are paired with fresh stovetop strawberry jam on a homemade shortcake biscuit! This dessert is pure summer.

Ingredients:

• Strawberries
• Basil
• Brown sugar
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Granulated sugar
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Unsalted butter
• Heavy whipping cream
• Vanilla bean paste

How to make strawberry shortcake:

This dish is easy to make but does have a few steps for each element.

Get your berries macerating by adding your sliced berries with brown sugar and fresh basil. Let them sit in the fridge until the sugar is dissolved and the berries are soft.

Make your fresh stovetop jam by cooking down berries, water, and sugar. You’ll love how easy it is to put together this jam!

Get together your biscuits by making a dough and cut into 4 big pieces. This gives you a fresh fat biscuit for stuffing and topping. I like to brush my biscuits with heavy cream before they bake so the top gets golden brown.

Lastly, whip up your heavy cream so you have fresh whipped cream to serve with your shortcake!

To assemble just cut open a biscuit, slather with jam, and top with both macerated berries and whipped cream.

Variations and substitutions:

As delicious as this recipe is as written I know a few of you will want to change things up! Here are a few fun ways to make this dish extra special!

Herbs: I used fresh basil for this shortbread but fresh mint would also be an excellent addition or replacement. If you’re feeling extra fancy, fresh thyme is a lovely addition as well.

Store-bought jam: If you don’t feel like making the jam element of this dish, you can easily skip it OR just use your favorite store-bought jam. My personal favorite is Bonne Maman.

Cool Whip: No time to whip your own whipped cream? Use Cool Whip or even whipped topping from a spray can!

FAQ’s

More strawberry dessert recipes

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• Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
• Fresh Strawberry Bread
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Strawberry Basil Shortcake

Author: Brandy O’Neill

This strawberry basil shortcake is the perfect summertime dessert. Tender shortcake biscuits topped with homemade strawberry jam, macerated berries with basil and fresh whipped cream.

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Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

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Ingredients

For berries:

• 1 cup quartered strawberries
• 2 tablespoons basil rolled and sliced (chiffonade)
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

For jam: 

• 1-1/2 cups quartered strawberries
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon water

For shortcake:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons cold butter cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

For whipped cream: 

• 1-1/2 cup cold heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat liner.

For berries:

• Add all ingredients to a small mixing bowl, stir to combine, cover and keep cold in the refrigerator.

For jam:

• Add ingredients to a 10-inch skillet set over medium-high heat. Stir to combine and let the berries warm over the stove. They will start to soften and using your spatula crush some of the berries. Leaving some of the berries whole and some smashed.
• Cook until the berries are a jam consistency, about 10 minutes. Let cool.

For shortcake:

• In a bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt.
• Add cold butter to the flour mixture and cut in using a pastry blender until the flour only has a few pea-size pieces of butter left throughout the mixture.
• Add cream and stir until the mixture just comes together. It will be sticky so don't freak out.
• Flour a board (or counter) and lay out the dough. Top the dough with a little more flour and pat out the dough to a rectangle that is 3/4 inches thick.
• Cut the dough into 4 pieces and place on your prepared baking sheet. Baste the tops with a little heavy cream and bake for about 20 minutes or until fully cooked.

For whipped cream:

• Add all ingredients to the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on high until the heavy cream is holding stiff peaks.

For assembly:

• Cup open shortcake, top with jam, fresh berries and whipped cream.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 489kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 287mg | Potassium: 201mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 1199IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 99mg | Iron: 2mg

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword strawberry shortcake

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