Berry Buttermilk Shortcake

Name: Berry Buttermilk Shortcake
Prep time: 4 h 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 4 h 25 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 16 oz strawberries, washed, hulled and halved; 8 oz blueberries, washed; 6 oz blackberries, washed; 6 oz raspberries, washed; 3/4 cup granulated sugar; juice from one lemon (1-2 TB); zest from one lemon; 2 cups cake flour; 1 TB baking powder; 1 TB granulated sugar; 1 tsp salt; 7 TB cold lard, cut into chunks; 1 cup whole milk buttermilk, cold; 1 egg, beaten; coarse sparkling sugar, optional

posted by Megan on Jul 13, 2023 0 comments »

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These summer berries don’t get any sweeter, and these biscuits don’t get any easier to make. Rather than just having strawberry shortcake, make this juicy berry buttermilk shortcake instead! The best part is when all the juice from the berries soaks into the bottoms of the biscuits!?!??!! Hello?? So GOOD.

small gray plate of biscuits, berries and whipped cream. A sprig of mint leaves are near the top right hand corner and there is a strawberry off to the left.

Make the berries

Keep them whole and wash them. No fancy prep or measuring going on here, thank goodness. You’ll need a 6 oz carton each of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, along with an 8 oz carton of strawberries. After you’ve cored and halved the strawberries, toss all the fruit in sugar and a drizzle of lemon juice. Cover the bowl and let them chill in the fridge for at least a few hours to macerate and get nice and juicy!

I like to let my berries sit overnight. When it’s finally ready to serve them, they’re sitting in a giant puddle of juice and super flavorful and sweet. I could eat the berries by the spoonful, but then I’d be missing out on the biscuits.

several small gray plates with biscuits, berries and whipped cream. There is a red checkered towel off to the left hand side.

Make the biscuits

I did these with cake flour! They’re just so easy and you don’t even have to knead or do any excessive rolling out of anything. After you cut the lard into the dry ingredients, make a well in the center of the flour and pour the buttermilk into that well. Use a spatula to turn and fold the dough JUST a few times, and then dump it out onto a floured counter. There’s going to be patches of wet and dry and that’s okay.

Pat it into a 2 inch slab, use a bench scraper to fold it in half and then turn it 90 degrees one way or the other. Pat it down again and leave it between 2-3 inches thick the second time.

NOW, when you cut out the biscuits, DO NOT twist or turn the cutter. That “seals” the edges of the biscuits and they won’t rise as much. Keep the cutter well floured and you shouldn’t have any issues with sticking.

small gray plate with biscuit shortcake and blackberries on top.

These biscuits are more tender and cake like in their texture than tall and flaky. They almost start to strike the balance between actual angel food cake (kind of) and the flaky pull apart layer biscuits. Both sides of the shortcake disagreement might be partially appeased. But to be honest, I think that this berry buttermilk shortcake is in its own category. And I like my biscuits this way the most.

Brushing the biscuits with an egg wash just before baking will give them a delicious golden crust that crackles JUST a little when you dig in with a spoon. I also like to sprinkle a little coarse sparkling sugar on top of the egg wash.

Serving berry buttermilk shortcake

Let the biscuits cool just a little, maybe 10 or 15 minutes, before you serve them. The combination of the warm, tender biscuits and juicy chilled berries is 100/10 and you will NOT be disappointed in the slightest. I’ve served this with both vanilla ice cream and homemade whipped cream, either is your choice! I used whipped cream made with vanilla bean paste for the photos.

If you love the mixed berry flavor of this berry buttermilk shortcake, you’re going to want to make this easy berry crush jam. Perfect for using up leftover berries!