Strawberry shortcake is one of those classic desserts that feels comforting and familiar. It’s elegantly simple, using only a few ingredients to let the flavor of fresh strawberries shine through. My version of strawberry shortcake keeps the classic elements of fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and a biscuity shortcake but introduces a few subtle tweaks to balance the sweetness and add a deeper flavor. Consider it an evolution of your classic shortcake–a new and intriguing experience layered onto a backdrop of familiar comforts.
While some prefer a more cakey shortcake and others go for biscuits, my miso strawberry shortcake uses a modified biscuit base. In doing some research on shortcakes (because does anyone really know what a shortcake is?), I found that shortcakes are often very similar to biscuits but contain additional sugar and egg, which contributes to leavening and a slightly more cakelike consistency. The cakelike consistency is supposed to do a better job at soaking up the juices from the strawberries as opposed to a more classic biscuit. I started with a buttermilk biscuit for the tanginess and slightly lighter texture and adjusted the recipe to add an egg and slightly bump up the sugar. The result is a fluffy, layered biscuit with a nice rise and just enough sweetness to get squarely out of the savory camp.
For the whipped cream filling, I decided to add a little bit more flavor and body to the cream by whipping heavy cream together with some mascarpone and just a slight hint of sweet miso. The sweet miso gives the whipped cream mixture the slightest savory note, which on its own is borderline not sweet enough, but paired with the fresh strawberries, is the perfect balance to their sweetness. Please do forgive me for all of the different types of dairy in this recipe–I just couldn’t bring myself to add a cup of heavy cream to a biscuit after incorporating so much other butter and cream into the dessert. For the strawberries, I macerate them in a little bit of lemon zest, lemon juice, balsamic, and black pepper to create a natural sauce from the strawberry juices.
Fresh strawberries are in season, so I hope you’ll give this one a try! You need no equipment and can whip up the dessert in relatively little time.
Miso Strawberry Shortcake
Course: Cakes and custardsDifficulty: Baking session8
shortcakes40
minutes25
minutesThese miso strawberry shortcakes are made with buttery, biscuit-like shortcakes, fresh strawberries with balsamic and black pepper, and a dreamy mascarpone miso whipped cream to balance the sweetness. They are a beautiful evolution of an old classic. Feel free to tailor the recipe to your tastes–adding only balsamic and no lemon juice, adding in basil if you’d like or subbing mascarpone for creme fraiche.
Ingredients
- For the shortcakes
2 1/2 cups (313g) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold
2/3 cup cold buttermilk
1 egg
- For the strawberries and cream
2 pints strawberries
1-2 tsp balsamic
1 tsp lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/3 (67g) cup granulated sugar
A few generous grinds of fresh black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup mascarpone or creme fraiche
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp sweet saikyo miso
1 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
- Cut the butter into small cubes. Add to the flour mixture and use your hands to press and flatten the butter pieces. Do this, working quickly, until you’ve had a chance to squish each piece, and you have a mix of some small pea-sized pieces and some larger flat pieces. Make sure the butter stays cold.
- Measure out the buttermilk and use a fork to whisk the egg into the buttermilk. Make a well in the flour-butter mixture and pour the buttermilk into the center. Use a fork to mix together, then use your hands to press the dough a little bit, helping to distribute the moisture and bring the dough together. You can gently squeeze some of the dough together between your fingers and your thumb to help it come together. Once the dough has just come together, place it onto the counter or a cutting board and use your palms and fingertips to press the dough out into a rough square shape. Cut into four quadrants, stack them on top of each other, and use your hands to again press down. This stacking motion will create layers in your biscuit. Keep patting the dough with your hands until you have a rectangular shape that’s about 3/4″ thick.
- Use a 3″ cookie cutter to cut about 8 biscuits out of the dough. To get 8 biscuits, you will likely need to bring the dough scraps together a couple of times. Try not to work the dough too much, but just gently squeeze the scraps inward and help press them together and pat down until you get a 3/4″-thick mass you can cut from.
- Place cut biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for 15 minutes so they’ll maintain their shape while baking. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375. Brush the top of the biscuits with buttermilk, and if you’d like, sprinkle a little sugar on top. Bake for 22-27 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Prepare the strawberries and filling
- While the biscuits are baking, remove the tops of the strawberries and cut into quarters. Very small strawberries can just be cut in half. Add to a bowl with the balsamic, lemon juice, zest, granulated sugar, and black pepper, and stir together. Let sit until ready to serve. During this time, the sugar will draw out moisture from the strawberries, creating a little sauce.
- Right before you’re ready to serve, add the mascarpone, heavy cream, vanilla, miso, and confectioners’ sugar to a large bowl. Whisk together until you achieve soft peaks.
- To serve, cut each biscuit in half. Top the bottom biscuits with a generous spoonful of strawberries and a large dollop of cream. Top with another biscuit and if you’d like, add another dollop of cream and a few berries on top.
Notes
- If you’re not going to serve all shortcakes on the first day, I recommend whipping up a smaller batch of the whipped cream mixture so you have just enough for that serving. When refrigerated overnight, the whipped cream changes texture and loses it’s smooth fluffiness.
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