Strawberries and whipped cream takes me back to childhood summers — berry picking, sticky fingers, long afternoons in the sun. My mom wasn’t much of a baker, but she’d turn our berries into jam, or send us out with bowls of cream and melted chocolate to dip them in. These shortcakes feel like those summers — tender sourdough biscuits split open and piled with syrupy strawberries, finished with whipped cream steeped in lemon verbena.
• The sourdough is optional — I always have discard on hand and love adding a little to my bakes for extra flavor and texture. The biscuits work just as well without it.
• Play around with the infusion. Lemon verbena is one of my favorite garden herbs, and I reach for it often with strawberries, though chamomile, lavender, and elderflower are lovely too. For fresh herbs and flowers, I steep them in cold cream overnight in the fridge; for anything dried, I warm the cream gently to draw the flavor out, then let it chill. You can also leave the infusion out and serve the shortcakes with a softly whipped vanilla chantilly.
• The cream and the biscuit dough can both be started the day before — the cream steeped overnight, the dough wrapped and chilled until you’re ready to cut and bake.
Sourdough Strawberry Shortcakes with Lemon Verbena Cream
Ingredients
Biscuits- adapted from Renee Erickson
2 cups (about 256 g) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
¾ cup (1½ sticks) very cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup (50 g) sourdough discard (optional)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Strawberries
1 quart strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered if large
2 tbsp sugar
Lemon Verbena Cream
2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh lemon verbena leaves, lightly bruised
3 tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions
Infuse the cream
- Combine the heavy cream and lemon verbena in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Make the biscuits
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and work it into the flour with your fingertips until sandy, with a few remaining visible pea-size pieces of butter.
- Stir the heavy cream and sourdough discard together, then add to the bowl, mixing with a wooden spoon until most of the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough by hand a few times, just until it comes together and the layers adhere — it will grow a little as you do. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Unwrap the dough and use a floured round 2½-inch cutter to cut out six circles. Brush the biscuits with the melted butter, sprinkle with the sugar, and carefully transfer the biscuits to the prepared baking sheet. (You can reroll the remaining dough and repeat the cutting and brushing process, but the biscuits won’t be as pretty.)
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the biscuits are puffed and nicely browned.
- Let cool for about 30 minutes before serving.
Prepare the strawberries
- Toss the strawberries with the sugar and let sit for 20–30 minutes, until glossy and juicy.
Finish the cream
- Strain the lemon verbena cream through a fine mesh sieve. Add the powdered sugar and whip to soft-medium peaks.
Assemble
- Split the warm biscuits in half. Spoon over the strawberries and their juices, then finish generously with lemon verbena cream.
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