Easy Strawberry Shortcake

I’ve got a very simple and delicious recipe for you today that will go perfectly with your 4th of July meal…or any summer meal for that matter: Easy Strawberry Shortcake!

Strawberries are one of my family’s favorite fruits. Our whole family goes berry picking at a local farm at the end of May to get our own delicious, organic strawberries. The kids have such a fun time that we usually bring home a big haul, and then I have to figure out what to do with all that fruit!

This year, I decided to whip up a quick, weekday night dessert, using my Chocolate Chip Scones recipe. I left out the chocolate chips to make just a plain cake, but by all means, if you like chocolate and strawberries together (who doesn’t?), leave them in!

To start, bake a batch of scones and let them cool. I popped my scones into the oven right before dinner was ready, so that they were done before we finished eating.

Next, wash and cut your berries. I sometimes add some sugar to my strawberries if they aren’t quite sweet enough. This will also help to make a sugary syrup that tastes so good when it soaks into the cakes 🙂

You’ll also want to make some freshly whipped cream right before you are ready to eat. The stuff in the can is alright in a pinch, but seriously, whipping your own takes just a minute or two and it is really worth the trouble.

To make my whipped cream, I used about 1 cup of whipping cream, with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, whipping them together with an electric hand mixer until it turned into whipped cream.

To assemble your cakes, take a cooled scone and slice it in half horizontally.

Next, spoon some berries onto the bottom half of your scone, making sure to pour a bit of the juices on as well.

Lastly, top the berries with the other half of the scone, add a nice big dollop of cream to the top, and add a strawberry to decorate.

There you have it…a very quick and yummy dessert that your whole family will love!