Last Minute Red-White-&-Blue Strawberry Shortcake

Looking for something quick and red-white-and-blueish to throw together for your Fourth of July party? Never fear, shortcake is here.

I wanted to make a patriotic dessert for America’s big day, but making a rectangular cake and plopping fruit on it in a flag pattern has somehow lost its charm. I wanted to try something new. I dubbed this ‘last minute’ strawberry shortcake because I (almost) didn’t even have to go to the store to make it – maybe you won’t either! The only thing I didn’t have on hand was plain greek yogurt and fresh strawberries.

This dessert is ideal for any last-minute occasion because unlike many recipes that require chilling the dough in the refrigerator, the biscuits for shortcake can be thrown right into the oven and be done in 7 minutes. The only other “waiting” you have to do is for the biscuits to cool before you dress them with the cream, and mine were cooled in about 15 minutes.

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Last Minute Strawberry Shortcake (makes ~10 biscuits)

Prep time: 30 minutes | Cook time: 7 minutes

Biscuit Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt (you can always add more)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into very small bits
1 cup plain yogurt

Shortcake Ingredients

2 pints strawberries, washed
1 pint blueberries, washed
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar to a food processor and pulse until well mixed.
Add the bits of butter to the food processor and pulse a few more times until well mixed. The consistency should be almost like cornmeal.
Transfer the contents of the food processor to a bowl. Use a spoon to mix in the yogurt until the mixture can form a ball.
Use your hands to form the dough into balls that are about the size of your palm and 3/4 of an inch thick. You can adjust these measurements depending on how big/small you want your biscuits to be.
Place the biscuits on a buttered baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes. Remove them from the pan, and allow to cool on a wire rack completely before assembling the cakes.
While the biscuits are in the oven, prep the strawberries. Wash thoroughly, hull and slice. I use the straw trick, where you place the berry broad-side down and poke a straw through the tip to push out the green part on the other end. Saves a lot of time and anger.
Toss blueberries and sliced strawberries with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and set aside in the fridge while you whip the cream.
Using a hand mixer (or a whisk, if you like hard labor), whip the cream just until stiff peaks are formed when you pull the mixer out of the bowl. Add the other 1 tablespoon of sugar and the vanilla and whip for another 30 seconds, or just stir in. DO NOT overmix, otherwise it will turn into whipped butter.
Split the biscuits in half and fill them with the berries and cream. Serve immediately.