Strawberry shortcake is an ode to peak-season fruit and tender biscuits

Strawberry shortcake might not look fancy, but, when made with care, it’s sublime.

The tender, buttery biscuit acts as a lovely foil to the juicy, lightly macerated fruit, as well as a sponge for the ample juices that the berries produce when combined with sugar. A wispy cloud of whipped cream — whether with soft or stiff peaks is up to you — adds a silky richness without taking the dessert over the top.

The entire composition is a little messy, and this is by design. Even better, you don’t have to be a professional pastry chef to make it well.

Strawberry shortcake is widely viewed as a quintessentially American dessert; however, the shortcake part traces its origins to the late 1500s British cookbook “The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin,” which describes unleavened biscuits made with flour, cream, sugar, egg yolk and spices. In his 1602 play “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” William Shakespeare used the term to name a character, Alice Shortcake.

According to food historian Gil Marks, what distinguished American shortcakes was the introduction of a leavener, such as baking soda or baking powder, making them lighter and fluffier compared with their British predecessors. The recipe as we know it today, though without whipped cream, was popularized by Eliza Leslie’s 1847 cookbook “The Lady’s Receipt-Book.” Today, there’s even a National Strawberry Shortcake Day — June 14.

When I started making strawberry shortcake at home, I cycled through a few recipes I liked fine enough, but none blew me away. The version I fell for came from chef Larry Forgione’s cookbook, “An American Place,” named after his influential New York restaurant. (Full disclosure: I co-authored a cookbook with Forgione’s son, Marc Forgione.)

Forgione’s recipe differs from others in that it uses hard-cooked egg yolks — pressed through a sieve — in the dough, which produces a more tender biscuit with a superior taste and texture, thanks to the extra fat. Reading the introduction, I realized Forgione’s recipe came from none other than famed chef and cookbook author James Beard, who got it from his mother.

There’s science behind why this clever technique works. The small shreds of the hard-cooked egg yolks are combined with the dough’s dry ingredients without contributing additional moisture, which reduces the amount of gluten formation and prevents the dough from getting weighed down with too much liquid. While gluten development is essential in providing structure to baked goods, too much of it results in a tough, unpleasantly chewy baked good. While it might seem like a fussy extra step — hard-cooking eggs just for the yolks — it makes such a big difference, I can’t recommend it enough. (You can also buy hard-cooked eggs at the store these days, if you don’t want to bother doing it yourself.)

In his cookbook, Forgione recalls Beard’s remark, which couldn’t be truer: “When I made it for Jim at the restaurant, he paid me the ultimate compliment: ‘There can be no dessert better, only fancier.’”

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Strawberry Shortcake

For the strawberries and whipped cream:

3 pints (1½ pounds/680 grams) fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped into ½- to ¾-inch pieces

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1½ cups (360 milliliters) heavy cream

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

For the biscuits:

12 tablespoons (1½ sticks/170 grams) cold unsalted butter, divided

3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (75 grams) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon plus 2¼ teaspoons (21 grams) baking powder

¾ teaspoon fine salt

3 hard-boiled large egg yolks, pressed through a fine-mesh sieve*

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (270 milliliters) heavy cream, plus more as needed

1 tablespoon demerara or turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Macerate the strawberries: In a large bowl, gently toss the strawberries with the granulated sugar. Set aside for at least 1 hour or refrigerate until needed. You should have about 3 cups.

Make the biscuits: While the strawberries are macerating, position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425°F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.

Cut 10 tablespoons (140 grams) of the butter into ½-inch cubes and chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (28 grams) of butter and set aside. (Alternatively, you can melt the butter in a microwave in 15-second intervals at 50% power.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt until well combined. Add the chilled butter and, using your fingers, toss the butter pieces to coat in the flour mixture. Working quickly, flatten the butter pieces with your fingers, continuing to toss them in the flour mixture, until they are a mix of lima-bean- and pea-size pieces. Add the egg yolks and gently fluff the mixture with your hands to thoroughly combine. Add the cream, then stir with a fork until the dough just starts to hold together. Use your hands to press the dough into a cohesive lump, adding more cream, 1 teaspoon at a time, as needed to help it come together.

Generously flour a clean countertop and turn the dough out onto it, pressing it together as needed. Working quickly, pat or use a generously floured rolling pin to roll out the dough to a thickness of 1 inch (2.5 centimeters). (If you don’t have a cookie or biscuit cutter, you can cut the dough into 8 squares or rectangles with a sharp knife.) Using a floured 2½- to 3-inch (6.5- to 7.5-centimeter) cookie or biscuit cutter, punch out 6 rounds, wiping the cutter clean and reflouring as needed. Use a decisive up-and-down motion, rather than twisting the cutter like a corkscrew, to help the biscuits rise. Gather up the scraps, reroll and punch out 2 more rounds.

Arrange the rounds on the prepared sheet pan, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes. (You can also refrigerate the biscuits, covered, for up to 1 day.)

When ready to bake, lightly brush the rounds with the melted butter and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake for 17 to 23 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes.

Make the whipped cream: While the biscuits are baking, chill a medium bowl in the refrigerator or freezer. Once they’re cooling, set the bowl on the counter; add the cream and confectioners’ sugar; and, using a hand mixer on medium-low speed and gradually increasing to high, whip the mixture until stiff peaks form, 4 to 5 minutes. You should have about 3 cups.

Assemble the shortcakes: Use a fork to perforate the shortcakes in half across the equator, then remove the tops. Place the bottom halves on dessert plates and top each portion with about ⅓ cup of the strawberries. Spoon about ¼ cup of the whipped cream over the berries and finish with the shortcake tops. Serve right away, with the remaining whipped cream and strawberries on the side.

Servings: 6-8 (makes 6 to 8 shortcakes)

Substitutions: For strawberries, use blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches or nectarines. For demerara sugar, use more granulated sugar.

*Notes: To hard-boil the eggs, bring a medium (4-quart) pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Gently lower the eggs and cook for exactly 13 minutes. While the eggs are cooking, in a medium bowl, prepare an ice bath and set it nearby. Using a spider or slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to the ice bath and let cool completely, about 20 minutes. Peel the eggs, then halve them and gently push, or spoon, out the yolks. Reserve the egg whites for another use, such as a light egg salad, or eat them as a snack. If you don’t feel like hard-boiling eggs, you can purchase them at well-stocked supermarkets.

Make ahead: The berries need to macerate for at least 1 hour and up to 1 day before serving. The unbaked biscuits need to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and up to 1 day before baking. If chilling the biscuits for longer than 1 hour, cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap to ensure they don’t dry out.

Storage: The biscuits are best served warm, right after they are made, but can be stored in a container, with a lid slightly askew, at room temperature for up to 1 day. Refrigerate leftover strawberries and whipped cream, separately, for up to 1 day.

Nutritional information per serving (1 biscuit, ⅓ cup strawberries and ¼ cup whipped cream), based on 8: 642 calories, 46 g fat, 26 g saturated fat, 58 g carbohydrates, 944 mg sodium, 200 mg cholesterol, 8 g protein, 3 g fiber, 20 g sugar.

— Adapted from “An American Place: Celebrating the Flavors of America” by Larry Forgione (William Morrow, 1996)