Last updated on June 13th, 2025

Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- Make Your Own Ingredients
Dietary Substitutions
Equipment
How to pick and preserve fresh-picked strawberries
More Spring Recipes

This Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake has a tender cake-like texture of a scone, that is topped with fresh picked strawberries and a dollop of homemade whip cream. My vintage inspiration is from a retro 1950 Betty Crocker recipe, my nan and mom would both make this easy strawberry dessert after picking fresh berries. It is strawberry season here in the Midwest and this is such a perfect treat to take to a Spring lunch buffet or Mother’s Day tea.

My modern modifications included adding more sugar to the shortcake, adding some baking soda in addition to the baking powder to ensure it would rise more like cake, and using buttermilk instead of milk to add some tanginess.

Ingredients

Wet Ingredients

Butter is made from churned cream that contains 80% butterfat. European butter is churned longer and has a higher fat content (82%-85%), which is why it yields more flavor.
Sugar is derived from sugarcane and provides sweetness to baked goods. The most common type being granulated white sugar. Cane sugar is a natural option that is less processed with a slightly courser texture.
Eggs are produced by female chickens and are important in baking because their proteins provide structure, they act as a natural leaving agent by trapping air that expands during baking, and they add moisture to baked goods.
Buttermilk is a cultured dairy product that adds a tangy flavor and creates tenderness in baked goods. When purchasing buttermilk, look for simple, natural ingredients such as “cultured milk”.
Vanilla provides hints of caramel and spice, enhancing the depth of flavor to baked goods. Always use a high-quality, all-natural brand made from real vanilla beans containing at least 35% alcohol.
Lemons are a tart, citrus fruit that grow on trees in warm climates. Place lemons on the counter the day you plan to use them, as they will yield more juice at room temperature.
Strawberries are a small fruit that grows on low plants near the ground, often in sandy soil and are plentiful here in the Midwest in the middle of May through late June.

Dry Ingredients

All-purpose unbleached flour is made by grinding the seeds of the wheat plant and removing the bran and germ. It has a moderate protein content of 10-12%, making it a versatile option for baking cookies, cakes, and pastries.
Instant ClearJel is a modified food starch used as a thickener, stabilizer, and gelling agent, used for pie fillings creating a clear, smooth texture rather than cloudy. In baked goods it helps retain moisture and produces a light, tender texture.
Baking powder is a leavening agent that contains both an acid, like cream of tarter, and a base, like baking soda to help baked goods rise. Use a double-acting aluminum-free baking powder to avoid a bitter aftertaste.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a leavening agent that, when combined with an acid (like lemon juice, buttermilk, or vinegar) creates carbon dioxide gas to make baked goods rise.
Pink salt is a natural rock salt mined near the Himalayas that contains trace minerals.

Make Your Own Ingredients

BUTTERMILK: Add 1 T. vinegar or lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup and add cream or whole milk until it reaches the 1 c. measure line and let it sit for a few minutes before use.

VANILLA: Purchase Grade B vanilla beans (also called extract-grade), which have less moisture and a more concentrated flavor. Place 8 oz. of bourbon (or vodka) in glass bottle or jar. Split 5-7 vanilla beans down the middle and add to bottle. Let it sit for 3-6 months in a cool, dark place. As you use it, continue to replace the bourbon and add more beans as it keeps for many years.

How to Make Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake

Step #1

Pick Fruit

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Step #2

Prep Ingredients

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Step #3

Bake Short Cake

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Step #4

Make Homemade Whip Cream & Enjoy

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Baker’s Tips

When working with biscuit or scone dough you need to work quickly and do not over handle the dough. To help keep things cold, dice the butter into small cubes and put into the refrigerator or freezer.
If ClearJel is hard to find, use cornstarch as a substitution. For every 1 T. of cornstarch, use 1 1/2 T. ClearJel. For every 2 T. flour or tapioca, use 1 T. ClearJel. You can find it online here.
Always use light-colored, aluminum baking sheets, cake or muffin pans. I either use my vintage aluminum bakeware or NordicWare aluminum or Fat Daddio’s cake pans. Aluminum is best for distributing and reflecting even heat during the baking process. Dark baking pans conduct more heat off the surface, which may lead to your baked goods to burn or darken on the edges before they are fully cooked.
Real homemade whip cream is so much easier than you think and tastes delicious compared to the waxy texture of cool whip or whip cream filled with high fructose corn syrup. Be sure to place your metal bowl and whisk attachment in the fridge before making. It is important to use superfine sugar to prevent clumps, but you could also use confectioners sugar. To prepare whip cream ahead of time, simply stabilize with 1 T. of cornstarch, ClearJel or unflavored gelatin.

Dietary Substitutions

For the past 12+ years, I have owned an all-natural specialty bakery converting conventional recipes to gluten free, vegan, wholesome, etc. Read more about it here.

TO MAKE GLUTEN-FREE

Here are some tips for gluten free baking

Use a premium gluten-free flour blend.
Be sure to let the batter rest to help eliminate grittiness. Even letting the batter sit 15 minutes will yield a light and tender baked good. You can let batter sit in the fridge overnight, and up to 3 days.
Add 1-2 tablespoons additional liquid (use the same liquid called for in the recipe) to help hydrate the flour.
Reduce the oven temperature by at least 25° to bake low and slow, since gluten-free flour is delicate and tend to burn before the center is cooked through.
Gluten-free baked goods have a shorter shelf-life than conventional baked goods and dry out faster. Store in airtight container on counter 1-2 days. The refrigerator tends to dry them out more, so it is best to freeze up to 6 months.

TO MAKE VEGAN/DAIRY FREE

Swap out the butter with vegan butter. I use Violife Plant Butter.
To replace the egg, place 1 tsp. of baking soda into your baked good and pour 1 T. white vinegar on top of the baking soda.
Replace the dairy with unsweetened oat milk

Equipment

Recommended tools: (affiliate links)

stand mixer

mixing bowl

liquid measuring cup

measuring cups and spoons

Microplane

Citrus Squeezer

How to pick and preserve fresh-picked strawberries

It is best to strawberries early in the morning before the bugs are active and to avoid the sun and heat.
Be sure to wear a hat for shade, and lots of bug spray!
Make sure you clean out the back of your car to have plenty of room for the strawberry flats to fit in your trunk or back seat of your car.
If you are going to use within 1 – 2 weeks, put berries in an air-tight container and refrigerate.
To freeze the berries for long-term storage, remove stems and then put the berries out onto a single layer or slice into halves or quarters. Place on a 1/2 sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 1 hour and then place them into ziploc bags or vacuum seal them for up to 1 year. You can also just put the bags of cherries straight into the freezer, but they may clump together from the juice.

Apryl Niksch