Light and fluffy strawberry shortcakes are fun to make if you are looking for a sweet dessert to fulfill those sweet tooth cravings.

A perfect dessert during the spring or summer and with strawberries in season, strawberry shortcake will be a delightful dessert to indulge in.

Strawberry shortcake is a dessert with a crumbly biscuit or scone-like consistency – sweet strawberries in between and light whipped cream to top it off.

Although no one knows when exactly strawberry shortcake was first made, this dessert goes back far in history. According to examiner.com, the history of strawberry shortcake dates back when Native Americans introduced it to American Settlers in the 1400s. But the actual creation and name of strawberry shortcake was not set in stone until 1847, when Eliza Leslie presented the recipe of strawberry cake, which was similar to a shortcake recipe and called for “The best, freshest butter, flour, eggs and sugar to create a pastry similar to a biscuit or scone in taste, look and consistency.”

While you can take the easy route by buying Bisquick or premade sponge cakes, making homemade strawberry shortcake will not only be fun, but it will taste better because you put a lot of hard work and love into it.

After making this recipe for the first time, I have learned baking takes patience and hard work. Since I was new to baking, I was not sure what to expect, but I ended up having fun with this recipe.

This recipe was adapted by www.chefinyou.com

Strawberry Shortcake

Fruit and layering topping:

8 cups strawberries

8 tablespoons sugar

2 cups whipped cream

Shortcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 large egg, lightly beaten

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Start by making the topping of the shortcakes. Take three cups of fresh strawberries, rinse them, and then cut the stems off and slice them down the middle.

From there, take the strawberries and place them into a bowl, chop them up and mash them with the side of a kitchen knife.

Slice the remaining strawberries and stir in the sugar. Let the berries sit in the sugar for 30 minutes or up to two hours.

While the berries are setting in the sugar, heat the oven to 425 F.

For the shortcakes, combine the flour, three tablespoons of sugar, baking powder and salt; whisk for a minute.

Grate the butter into the dry ingredient mixture. If you don’t have a grater, cut the butter into small cubes before putting it in the dry ingredients. Whisk the ingredients for two minutes together until it has a coarse texture.

In another bowl, combine the beaten egg and the milk for one minute. Pour the egg and milk mixture into the butter and flour mixture, and continue to mix until large clumps form.

Turn the dough mixture into a floured work surface and gently knead until it comes together. It is very important that you do not overwork the dough itself because your shortcakes will not turn out light and fluffy – they will turn out flat and hard.

Next, use your fingers to pat down the dough into a 9-inch-by-6-inch rectangle that is about ¾-inch-thick. Use a biscuit cutter and cut the dough into six dough rounds. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, you can use a cup to cut out the dough.

Place the dough rounds one inch apart on a small baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg white.

Bake the shortcakes until they are golden brown for about 12 to 15 minutes. Then place them on a baking rack to cool for about 10 minutes.

Jane Park can be reached at [email protected]