Shortcake generally refers to a dessert with a crumbly scone-like texture. There are multiple variations of shortcake, most of which are served with fruit and cream. One of the most popular is strawberry shortcake, which is typically served with whipped cream. Other variations common in the UK are blackberry and clotted cream shortcake and lemon berry shortcake, which is served with lemon curd in place of cream. Shortcake is also the name of a popular biscuit available in the UK, and Xiting Shortcake, a layered baked good from China.

Preparation

Shortcake is typically made with flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, salt, butter, milk or cream, and sometimes eggs. The dry ingredients are blended, and then the butter is cut in until the mixture resembles cornmeal. The liquid ingredients are then mixed in just until moistened, resulting in a shortened dough. The dough is then dropped in spoonfuls onto a baking sheet, rolled and cut like baking powder biscuits, or poured into a cake pan, depending on how wet the dough is and the baker's preferences. Then it is baked at a relatively high temperature until set.

Strawberry shortcake is a widely known dessert made with shortcake. Sliced strawberries are mixed with sugar and allowed to sit an hour or so, until the strawberries have surrendered a great deal of their juices (macerated). The shortcakes are split, and the bottoms are covered with a layer of strawberries, juice, and whipped cream, typically flavored with sugar and vanilla. The top is replaced, and more strawberries and whipped cream are added onto the top. Some convenience versions of shortcake are not made with a shortcake (i.e. biscuit) at all, but instead use a base of sponge cake.

History of Shortcake dessert

alt=Strawberry shortcake from Gibson's Steakhouse in Chicago, Illinois|thumb|Strawberry shortcake from Gibson's Steakhouse in [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]]

The short part of the name shortcake indicates something crumbly or crispy, generally through the addition of a fat such as butter or lard. The earliest printed mention of the descriptive term short – as in short cake – occurred in 1588, in the second English cookbook to be printed, The Good Huswifes Handmaid for Cookerie in her Kitchen (London, 1588). However, that recipe describes an unleavened biscuit or cookie (in the North American sense), made of flour, cream, sugar, egg yolk and spices.

Strawberries were included in a recipe for "Strawberry cake" which appeared in the June 1, 1845, issue (page 86) of The Ohio Cultivator (Columbus). The recipe was popularized by Eliza Leslie of Philadelphia in The Lady's Receipt-book (1847). These "Strawberry cakes" were made of a thick unleavened cookie of flour, butter, eggs and sugar, split, layered with fresh strawberries, and covered with a hard sugar-and-egg white icing.

The North American introduction of baking soda and baking powder as leaven in the 1800s revolutionized baking and made possible the American biscuit-style shortcake. By the 1850s, leavened shortcakes were the popular basis for American strawberry cakes, and the term strawberry shortcake became established. also contains a recipe.

International variations

In the UK, Shortcake biscuits (North American:Cookies) are a dry sweet biscuit eaten as a snack or served with Tea. They are lighter in texture than the similary named Shortbread.

Xingting shortcake, also known as Nangting Shortcake, is a Chinese baked good from Jiangsu Province. The shortcake has been made since the Qing dynasty, and is made with high-quality pale wheat flour, premium lard, and sugar, and is made up of 18 layers.

The city of Lebanon, Oregon, holds the Strawberry Festival each year on the first full weekend of June. Since 1931, the festival has featured the "World’s Largest Strawberry Shortcake", which is transported by float during the Grand Parade and then served by the Strawberry Queen and her Court to festival visitors. The title of "World’s Largest" is an honorary title. At approximately 5,700 lbs, the cake does not definitively hold the world record.

Record

The largest strawberry shortcake ever made was in the town of La Trinidad, Benguet, in the Philippines on March 20, 2004. It weighed 21,213.40 lbs (9622.23 kg).

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File:Strawberry Shortcake (13917733299).jpg | American-style strawberry shortcake with a biscuit base

File:Strawberry shortcake with whipcream.jpg | American-style strawberry shortcake with a sponge cake base

File:Strawberry short cake（ストロベリーショートケーキ） (2874857378).jpg | Asian-style strawberry cake

File:Strawberry Cake.JPG | Asian-style strawberry cake

File:Tesco 20 Mini Shortcakes.jpg|British Shortcake biscuits

File:Nantong shortcake.jpg|Nangtong or Xiting Shortcake, also known as Xiting Crispy Cake (Xiting Cuibing)

</gallery>

See also

  • List of cakes
  • List of quick breads
  • List of strawberry dishes
  • Strawberry cake
  • Strawberry Shortcake, an American Greetings character who bears the name of, and is based on, the dessert
  • Joanie Cunningham, a Happy Days character nicknamed "Shortcake"

References