Desserts Cakes Shortcake Recipes Strawberry Shortcake Recipes 16 Ways to Make the Best Strawberry Shortcake By Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves Vanessa Greaves is a Senior Editor at Allrecipes with nearly two decades of experience helping home cooks gain confidence in the kitchen. A self-taught cook who grew up reading cookbooks for fun, Vanessa lives and breathes the challenges faced by busy everyday cooks to get dinner on the table. Allrecipes' editorial guidelines Updated on May 7, 2024 Close Photo: Andreas Müller Purists may disagree, but there's more than one way to make strawberry shortcake. You might prefer a classic biscuit-type shortcake base, or maybe a sponge cake with a baked-in hollow to hold the filling is more to your liking. You can even use homemade or store-bought pound cake or angel food cake. Whichever you prefer, you'll spoon on strawberries macerated in sugar until they're juicy and dripping with syrup, and top it all off with whipped cream—and you'll call it strawberry shortcake. And we're here for it. Here are 16 ways to make strawberry shortcake, from classic to creative, including shortcut versions. 01 of 17 Strawberry Shortcake Pam Ziegler Lutz This classic strawberry shortcake is made from scratch from start to finish. Recipe creator Denyse describes this as "An old-fashioned, tender shortcake with two layers of strawberries topped with whipped cream." Note that the shortcake in this recipe is a biscuit-like cake round instead of a sponge cake, and gets its moisture from the juicy strawberries. View Recipe 02 of 17 Chef John's Classic Strawberry Shortcake Chef John Browned butter makes these shortcakes special. "For this strawberry shortcake recipe, I modified the way my grandfather made his and used self-rising flour and toasted butter for a nutty flavor. I'm hoping Armand Cianfoni would approve." – Chef John View Recipe 03 of 17 Petra's Strawberry Shortcake steph mcconnell If you're looking for more of a sponge cake as a base, this recipe is for you. Recipe creator Petra says, "As a teenager (born and raised in Germany) I made what we call Biskuitteig weekly, which is similar to sponge cake. I never really liked Bisquick for shortcake and remembered the spongy, tender texture of the Biskuitteig. I altered an old German recipe and came up with this delicious version. Also good with other fruit toppings!" View Recipe 04 of 17 Glazed Doughnut Strawberry Shortcake thedailygourmet This fun-loving twist on strawberry shortcake uses a glazed donut for the shortcake base, but you'll still pile on the whipped cream and strawberries. "BRILLIANT! Real whipped cream, yes please. Move over cheesecake, I think I might have a new favorite dessert! YUM!" – Alice Camper View Recipe 05 of 17 Skillet Strawberry Shortcake Darcy Lenz "This impressive skillet strawberry shortcake recipe eliminates much of the hassle and mess of traditional strawberry shortcakes. Instead of flouring the counter and rolling and cutting out individual biscuits, you'll bake one giant skillet biscuit cake that's topped with macerated strawberries and whipped cream." – Darcy Lenz View Recipe 06 of 17 Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake Buckwheat Queen You can be gluten-free and eat your shortcake, too: This top-rated version is made with brown rice and tapioca flours. "AWESOME!" raves reviewer DESLUE. "This was very good. My whole family enjoyed it. I just kept eating it even plain without the strawberries. It's a keeper." View Recipe 07 of 17 Easy Strawberry Shortcake Lela How easy it is? Four ingredients are all you'll need to make this dessert using store-bought sponge cake dessert cups. "This is how my mom and grandma put these together for us growing up & yummmm... just like home," says reviewer Madeline Shannon. View Recipe 08 of 17 Hot Milk Sponge Cake naples34102 If you want to make your own sponge cake cups, you'll need a special pan (you can also bake this as a single cake layer)—but this is the recipe to use. domestikate offers good tips: "This is such a great recipe for those little sponge cakes you usually find in the grocery store for strawberry shortcakes! A very simple and easy recipe. Careful not to overmix once you add the flour to maintain a light and airy batter. Also sifting the flour/baking powder is very important. I made quite a few mini cakes in a shortcake mold. Bake a little less time and grease your mold really well because they have a tendency to stick." View Recipe 09 of 17 Strawberry-Citrus Shortcake Meredith Homemade lemon pound cake forms the base for this citrus-kissed shortcake. (You can certainly use a store-bought pound cake for a time-saving shortcut.) Toast the pound cake slices to get crispy edges before topping with strawberries and whipped cream, if you like. Reviewer PULLEYHEATHER says, "If you don't have cake flour you can use 1 3/4 cups all-purpose mixed with 1/4 cup cornstarch." View Recipe 10 of 17 Cottage Pudding (Cake for Strawberry Shortcake) Andreas Müller Kaylene says, "This is a wonderful shortcake recipe my grandmother used to make for strawberry shortcake. It is moist and sweet and can be eaten by itself too. Reviewer Jamie says, "Oh my gosh this is so yummy! The only change was I made it with butter instead of shortening. I served it with fresh strawberries and pineapple topped with homemade whipped cream with a bit of cream cheese in it." View Recipe 11 of 17 Carry Cake with Strawberries and Whipped Cream fleurchic A cream cheese frosting lightened with whipped cream makes this version easy to transport, since it holds up a little longer once it's decorated. "My grandkids go crazy for this rendition of strawberry shortcake. This recipe has been in my mother's family for over 100 years." – Rick Brown View Recipe 12 of 17 Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Cake thedailygourmet Recipe creator thedailygourmet says, " This recipe is fast to assemble and while you can absolutely buy the ingredients pre-made, I prefer to make the cake part myself. You can also use angel food cake (loaf shape) or your favorite pound cake." View Recipe 13 of 17 Buttermilk Strawberry Shortcake Molly Buttermilk adds a tang to this biscuit-style shortcake. Jillian says, "What a simple, easy, and delicious dessert! I had some buttermilk I had to use up and this was just perfect. For the shortcakes, I froze the butter and grated it which is much easier." View Recipe 14 of 17 Strawberry Shortcake with Cheesecake Whipped Cream MiHeather You can use store-bought or homemade angel food cake to make this easy strawberry shortcake trifle. "Amazing. So easy to make. Light and delicious—a perfect summer dessert. Everyone loved it; was even better the next day. Will definitely make again. YUM." – hockeymom089 View Recipe 15 of 17 Italian-Style Strawberry Shortcake MrsFisher0729 Here's another trifle-style strawberry shortcake; this version uses mascarpone cheese. "Wonderful! Five minutes to make (not counting letting the berries sit), beautiful presentation, and absolutely delicious. Made this for a family dinner," says reviewer CookinginColorado. View Recipe 16 of 17 Fresh Strawberry Lemon Shortcake Lady at the Stove Lemon zest shines through the biscuits for these little shortcakes. They're topped with a lemony sour cream and yogurt mixture, macerated strawberries, and finished with lightly sweetened whipped cream. View Recipe 17 of 17 More Like This lutzflcat How to Make Strawberry Shortcake From Scratch This Surprising Ingredient Is the Secret to the Best Strawberry Shortcake You've Ever Had 15 Deceptively Easy Strawberry Desserts Go to our complete collection of Strawberry Shortcake Recipes Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit