Raspberry Shortcake is a delicious summer dessert that will have your family gushing with praise. Nor surprise there. Its not only a very pretty dessert, but is also incredibly delicious.
And there is no better time to make it than the summer during raspberry season when these lovely berries are much more affordable and abundant!
Its a simple dessert, having only three components. Fresh berries. Crisp buttery biscuits. Whipped cream. Easy peasy.
Once you have all of the components assembled, it goes together in a flash.
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My sister and I went to the Spurr Brother's Farm yesterday on our way home from Walmart and I picked up some lovely fresh raspberries. There is a huge difference between the berries you buy in the supermarket and those you get at a farm market.
In most cases they have been freshly picked that morning and are so delicious. I haven't had such beautiful berries since I left the U.K.
Of course I never eat raspberries without thinking back to the summer that I turned eleven years old. We had just moved to Nova Scotia from Manitoba and were staying in the apartment on top of my grandfather's house while we were waiting for our house on the base to be ready to move into.
The day finally came and my father went off to meet the moving van, telling my mother that he would be back to pick us all up soon. Thinking he would only be an hour or so my mother did not feed us lunch. We were starving.
My sister and I discovered a hoard of fresh raspberries next to the railroad tracks behind the next door neighbors. We had no idea that they were privately owned.
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We set about gorging ourselves on these lovely fresh berries until the owner yelled at us and chased us away. (I am not surprised!) And then we had to endure our mother giving us heck.
My father finally did arrive and we set out to go to our new house. As a child I was always getting car sick. I proceeded to bring up raspberries in the car on the way to our new home, and was ill for most of the rest of the day.
I think my father was vacuuming raspberry seeds out of the carpet in that car for the remainder of the time we owned the car and it was many, many years before I could look a raspberry in the face again.
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Funny how that goes. I can now quite happily eat them, although at my age the seeds do bother me a bit at times. Just one of the drawbacks of aging!
Anyways, I decided to make myself a delicious dessert with some of the berries I picked up yesterday, while they are still fresh and beautiful. Dessert doesn't get much better than this raspberry shortcake recipe.
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Freshly baked all butter crisp edged and crusted, sugar glazed biscuits. Love, love. Fresh macerated berries with just a hint of sugar. Again, love, love.
Softly whipped vanilla cream, lightly sweetened and flavored with vanilla paste (if you have it) or vanilla extract, if not.
The three together, raspberry heavenly bliss. Love. Love. Love.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE RASPBERRY SHORTCAKE
For the biscuits:
- 1 3/4 cups (220g) all purpose plain flour
- 2 TBS granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/3 cup (80g) cold butter, cut into small bits
- 1/2 cup (120ml) half cream, half whole milk (may need more)
- Cream to brush on top
- Turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top (demerara)
For the berries:
- 3 cups (375g) fresh raspberries
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar (may need more if your berries are really tart)
For the cream:
- 1 cup (240ml) cold whipping cream
- 3 1/2 TBS icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla (can use vanilla paste if you have it. Gorgeous.)
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HOW TO MAKE FRESH RASPBERRY SHORTCAKE
First make the biscuits. Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Set aside
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Drop in the cold butter. Cut the butter in until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in the milk and cream using a fork, and mix together to a soft dough. If it seems dry you can add a bit more milk.
Tip out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times to bring together. Pat out 1-inch thickness. Cut into quarters and stack the quarters on top of each other. Pat out into 1-inch thickness again. Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2 inch round sharp biscuit cutter.
Gather any scraps together and repeat. (know that they won't be as pretty)
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Brush the tops of each biscuit with some cream, making sure that it doesn't drip down the sides. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Set aside to cool.
While the biscuits are baking, stir together the raspberries and the sugar, making sure that they are all evenly coated. Leave to stand for about half an hour until the juices are released from the berries.
Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla. Whip until the cream stands up firmly, taking care not to overwhip.
To assemble split the cooled biscuits, placing a bottom half in the bottom of each of six dessert dishes. Top with a generous amount of berries and a nice dollop of the whipped cream. Place the top of the cooled biscuits on top of the whipped cream and serve. (I like to hold a few berries back to spoon over top of each serving, but its not necessary.)
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And there you have it. One of summers finest, simplest, most delicious dessert offerings. If you are looking for some other fruity desserts, you might enjoy the following:
JAM JAR TRIFLES - The nice thing about these, aside from their ease of preparation and deliciousness, is that they are adaptable to whatever fruit you happen to have in season!
STRAWBERRY AND RHUBARB CRISP - This delicious baked dessert makes the most of seasonal berries and rhubarb. Delicious sweet and fruity base, topped with a buttery oat filled crumble topping. Delicious!
SPICED SUMMER BERRY COMPOTE - One of the best uses of the summer berries. Rich and heady. Beautifully colored. Simple. Perfect with some cold ice cream, vanilla of course!
Raspberry Shortcake
Yield: 6
Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 50 Min
Simple to make and beautiful to look at, this is a delicious summer dessert everyone loves. All butter biscuits. Macerated fresh berries. Vanilla infused whipped cream. It doesn't get much better than this!
Ingredients
For the biscuits:
- 1 3/4 cups (220g) all purpose plain flour
- 2 TBS granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/3 cup (80g) cold butter, cut into small bits
- 1/2 cup (120ml) half cream, half whole milk (may need more)
- Cream to brush on top
- Turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top (demerera)
For the berries:
- 3 cups (375g) fresh raspberries
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar (may need more if your berries are really tart)
For the cream:
- 1 cup (240ml) cold whipping cream
- 3 1/2 TBS icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla (can use vanilla paste if you have it. Gorgeous.)
Instructions
- First make the biscuits. Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Set aside
- Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Drop in the cold butter. Cut the butter in until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
- Stir in the milk and cream using a fork, and mix together to a soft dough. If it seems dry you can add a bit more milk.
- Tip out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times to bring together.
- Pat out 1-inch thickness. Cut into quarters and stack the quarters on top of each other. Pat out into 1-inch thickness again. Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2 inch round sharp biscuit cutter.
- Gather any scraps together and repeat. (know that they won't be as pretty)
- Brush the tops of each biscuit with some cream, making sure that it doesn't drip down the sides. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Set aside to cool.
- While the biscuits are baking, stir together the raspberries and the sugar, making sure that they are all evenly coated. Leave to stand for about half an hour until the juices are released from the berries.
- Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla. Whip until the cream stands up firmly, taking care not to overwhip.
- To assemble split the cooled biscuits, placing a bottom half in the bottom of each of six dessert dishes. Top with a generous amount of berries and a nice dollop of the whipped cream. Place the top of the cooled biscuits on top of the whipped cream and serve. (I like to hold a few berries back to spoon over top of each serving, but its not necessary.)
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Don't you just love summer! I do! The warm temperatures, the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables, This is one of my favorite times of the year.
I am really happy to share a beautifully healthy pasta primavera recipe with you today that makes good use of our fresh summer produce and goes together in a snap! Bright, colorful and delicious!
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Normally Primavera is a creamy pasta dish that is served in the spring time with fresh spring produce, but this version is a much healthier version! With roasted tomatoes, shallots, garlic, corn and zucchini it shouts the best of summer to the rooftops.
It is so delicious you won't miss the cream at all! Trust me on this!
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This is the best pasta primavera recipe I have ever tasted with bright fresh flavors, lots of color and plenty of crunch. I guarantee you will fall in love with it as I have done!
I adapted the recipe from a cookbook I have called Once Upon a Chef by Jennifer Segal. It is a book filled with lots of quick fix weeknight meals and lush weekend options, with many updated spins on old favorites!
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SUMMER PASTA PRIMAVERA
This is a beautiful combination of some of the best flavors summer has to offer!
- 1 pint (285g) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3/4 tsp sugar
- 1 small zucchini (courgette) washed, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch dice
- 1 ear of corn, husked and kernels cut off
- 6 ounces (170g) dry fusilli pasta
- 1 1/2 TBS butter
- 1/2 tsp Herbs de Province
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup (25g) grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus more to serve
- 1/4 cup (8 g) tightly rolled fresh basil leaves, julienned
- small handful of toasted pine nuts or flaked almonds
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I used grape tomatoes, which I cut in half. So sweet and delicious. I had banana shallots and I sliced them very thinly after peeling. A nice sharp knife makes short work of this. I find that if you cut off a tiny sliver of shallot from the one underside of the shallot it won't roll around on your cutting board and that makes things a lot easier.
I cut my zucchini into thin slices lengthwise after cutting off the stem and flower end. It was then very easy to make 1/4 inch cuts down the length of the vegetable and then crosswise into a 1/4 inch dice. In the Chef world this is called small dice.
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I find it much easier to husk a cob of corn by trimming away the base end first and then peeling it from the bottom up. No corn silk stays behind.
Of course this is not possible to do if your corn comes already half husked. I hate it when shops do that. I would rather husk my own corn. Once husked it is very simple to just take a sharp knife and cut off the kernels. Do this in a bowl if you don't want corn flying all over the place!
To julienne basil, wash the leaves, pat dry, stack one on top of the other, and then roll tightly into a cigar shape. Cut crosswise with a sharp knife into julienne cuts.
The original recipe called for toasted pine nuts. I could not find those anywhere and so I used flaked almonds. A most delicious choice and quite comparable in flavor!
You can easily make your own herbs de Province. You can find my recipe for this tasty herb mixture here. Its a very easy make.
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HOW TO MAKE SUMMER PASTA PRIMAVERA
This is such a quick and easy dish. It is now considered to be one of my favorite things to make. I can't wait to have some company over so that I can make it for them!
Line a medium sized baking sheet with aluminum foil and preheat the oven to 450*F/235*C/ gas mark 7. Prep all of your vegetables.
Place the tomatoes and shallots on the baking sheet. Toss them with the oil, garlic, sugar and salt to coat. Spread out on the baking sheet.
Roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until beginning to soften and brown.
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While this is happening, put a pot of lightly salted water on to boil. Add the pasta when it boils and cook until al dente according to the package directions.
At the end of the 15 to 20 minutes, remove the baking sheet and add the corn and zucchini. Toss all together with a rubber spatula, spread out and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes longer, just until crispy tender.
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Drain your pasta and return it to the saucepan. Add the contents of the baking sheet, along with any juices and give it a toss together. Add the butter, herbs de Province, pecorino Romano, basil and toasted nuts. Toss together well and adjust seasoning as desired.
Spoon out onto heated bowls, drizzle with bit more oil and serve. Pass additional cheese as desired.
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This was extremely delicious and yet so healthy. Who says healthy can't also be delicious! Every mouthful was filled with beautiful flavors and textures!
This is a dish which is very rich in flavor. I enjoyed it as a main dish, but it would also make an excellent side dish to fish, chicken, pork, beef, etc. I can see it going very well with a side of grilled Italian sausages!
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If you are a fan of quick and easy pasta dishes you might also enjoy these delicious recipes:
MARTHA STEWARTS ONE PAN PASTA - One thing I love about this tasty pasta dish is that everything cooks in one pan, even the pasta (linguini) . . . you just add the dry pasta and other ingredients, including water, and it cooks all-together in the pan. No fuss, no muss . . . no faffing about with having to drain this or that . . . the water, tomatoes, etc. condense along with the starch from the cooking pasta to create a delicious sauce.
BOW TIE PASTA WITH SPROUTS AND BACON - Pasta, sprouts and bacon are three of my absolute favorite things, so I just love this dish. Its a very simple recipe and goes together really quickly if you have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go. The sprouts get all caramelized on the edges, which I really love. Crisp salty bacon and those nutty crispy-tender sprouts in a creamy sauce with plenty of cheese scattered over top! What's not to love about this!
CHEESY TUNA SKILLET PASTA - This is a fabulously tasty skillet meal. It goes together really quickly and is done in about 15 minutes time maximum. While it is cooking you can be putting together a nice salad to serve on the side. Easy peasy. Its like your favorite Tuna Casserole, or Tuna Helper I guess. Cooked on top of the stove, all in one dish. Again, no fuss, no muss.
Summer Pasta Primavera
Yield: 2
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 Min
A delicious pasta dish which is a fabulously tasty combination of delicious summer vegetables. Wonderful as a main dish for two or as a side dish along side of your summer grills for three.
Ingredients
- 1 pint (285g) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3/4 tsp sugar
- 1 small zucchini (courgette) washed, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch dice
- 1 ear of corn, husked and kernels cut off
- 6 ounces (170g) dry fusilli pasta
- 1 1/2 TBS butter
- 1/2 tsp Herbs de Province
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup (25g) grated pecorino Romano cheese, plus more to serve
- 1/4 cup (8 g) tightly rolled fresh basil leaves, julienned
- small handful of toasted pine nuts or flaked almonds
Instructions
- Line a medium sized baking sheet with aluminum foil and preheat the oven to 450*F/235*C/ gas mark 7.
- Prep all of your vegetables. Place the tomatoes and shallots on the baking sheet. Toss them with the oil, garlic, sugar and salt to coat. Spread out on the baking sheet.
- Roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until beginning to soften and brown.
- While this is happening, put a pot of lightly salted water on to boil. Add the pasta when it boils and cook until al dente according to the package directions.
- At the end of the 15 to 20 minutes, remove the baking sheet and add the corn and zucchini. Toss all together with a rubber spatula, spread out and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes longer, just until crispy tender.
- Drain your pasta and return it to the saucepan. Add the contents of the baking sheet, along with any juices and give it a toss together. Add the butter, herbs de Province, pecorino Romano, basil and toasted nuts. Toss together well and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Spoon out onto heated bowls, drizzle with bit more oil and serve. Pass additional cheese as desired.
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
I was cleaning my fridge today and found myself with a few bits and pieces that needed using up. Some milk, eggs, bread and a bit of strawberry jam in the bottom of a jar. I could have just made a bread and buttery pudding, but I wanted to do something a little bit more special than that.
One of the things I really enjoyed in the UK was their propensity for creating beautiful puddings/desserts out of next to nothing. The British are masters at creating delicious desserts, or puddings as they are lovingly referred to over there.
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I decided to make a small batch Queen of Puddings. You might be tempted to ask what is Queen of Puddings. Its a fabulous dessert!
Invented back in the 1600's Queen of Puddings is bread crumb thickened set custard, spread with jam and topped with meringue. Essentially it is the perfect way to use up a bit of bread, eggs, jam and milk!
And who better to go to for inspiration than the "Queen" of puddings herself, Mary Berry! I love Mary Berry and the recipe I am sharing with you today comes from this cookbook, her complete cookbook.
I have to say that I have not enjoyed the GBBO a fraction as much now she is not on it anymore. She made that show in my honest opinion!
No, I am not a person that deals well with change.
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This is a recipe that I adapted from the book. Essentially I cut the recipe down to feed only three people and I converted the measurements to North American measures so that people in North American could also cook it.
I have made Queen of Puddings on here before. You can find that recipe here, and it is a very good one, but it's not Mary Berry's. I wanted to try hers.
I did make a few changes. One, I used more jam than she did. I needed to use what was left in the jar and I like jam. I had no desire to be stingy with the jam.
Also I added cream of tartar to the meringue to give it more stability. Its not something you see being used very often in meringue in the UK, but trust me when I say it makes a huge difference.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE QUEEN OF PUDDINGS
This is such a simple pudding, using very simple every day ingredients. I am sure you have everything you need to make it in your fridge and larder right now.
For the pudding:
- 2 large free range egg yolks
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) whole milk
- 1 TBS butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 1/2 TBS fine granulated sugar
- the finely grated zest of 1/2 orange
- 3/4 cup (45g) fresh white bread crumbs
- 3 TBS strawberry or raspberry jam, warmed
For the meringue topping:
- 2 large free range egg whites
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 7 TBS fine granulated sugar
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For the milk, I always use whole milk. In fact that is all I have in my house. Its just richer in flavor and as being a single person household I can't really afford to have more than one kind of milk in the house and so I buy and use the one that will get the most use. Whole, not skim.
For the bread crumbs I used a couple of slices of stale homemade Brioche bread. Rich and eggy and beautifully soft.
The jam was the last of my strawberry jam from last year. My sister had given me a jar. Beautiful, delicious and not as high in sugar as some.
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HOW TO MAKE QUEEN OF PUDDINGS
This is really a very simple make. As you know I can be rather lazy. I had enough of complicated when I was working as a chef. I tend to like cooking much simpler things in my every day life.
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch deep metal pie tin. Set aside.
Place the milk into a saucepan with the, orange zest, butter and first amount of sugar. Heat just until the butter melts, the sugar dissolves and there are bubbles around the edge of the pan.
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Beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Gradually add the milk mixture, whisking continuously. Stir in the bread crumbs and then pour the mixture into the buttered dish. Leave to sit for 15 minutes.
Pop into the preheated oven and bake until just set, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Beat the egg whites along with the cream of tartar until they start to stiffen. Continue to beat whilst adding the sugar for the meringue one tablespoonful at a time. Beat until the meringue is glossy and forms nice stiff peaks.
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Spread the jam over the bread custard. Spoon the meringue over top covering it completely and making nice peaks.
Return the pudding to the oven for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until the top of the meringue is crisp and golden brown. Serve warm and spooned into bowls.
The British would enjoy this with additional lashings of warm custard or pouring cream. I enjoyed it just as is.
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I can remember when I first moved over to the UK being a bit confused when it came to the term "pudding." For me pudding had always been a milky dessert, thick and creamy, available in three flavors, vanilla, butterscotch and chocolate.
It came in a box and you could either cook it or you could get boxed mixes that allowed you to make it "instantly."
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In the UK "Pudding" is the term they use to describe the dessert course. It can be pie, or crumble, or cake, ice cream, or bakes such as this one, etc. It is always delicious and is most people's favorite part of any meal.
It will come to the table accompanied with jugs of warm custard sauce or cold cream for pouring, whereas here in North American we might enjoy our "puddings/desserts" with cold ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.
The British never sweeten their cream and I have to say I quite got used to it that way and love it. We eat far too much sugar here in North America I think!
Anyways, I hope you will be inspired to try this very traditional, very delicious, simple British dessert!
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STICKY TOFEE RICE PUDDING - Creamy and rich there is no sugar in the rice pudding itself. It relies on the sweetness from chopped dates to flavour it, and some vanilla. Topped with a rich toffee sauce and toasted pecans.
MIXED BERRY PUDDING - Rich, hearty, warming and delicious with stewed summer fruits . . . berries . . . blueberry, raspberry, blackberry . . . baked at the bottom of the dish, with a light blanket of cake baked on top . . . buttery and rich . . . with a moist yogurt batter. Delicious!
BUTTERMILK LEMON PUDDINGS FOR TWO - Lemon pudding on the bottom, dense buttery buttermilk cake on top. Delicious served with fresh tart berries. It doesn't get much better than this!
Mary Berry's Queen of Puddings (small batch)
Yield: Serves 3
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 H & 5 M
A delightful pudding that never fails to please, downsized for the smaller family. A bit of this and a bit of that and a lot of British ingenuity. Delicious!
Ingredients
For the pudding:
- 2 large free range egg yolks
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) whole milk
- 1 TBS butter, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 1/2 TBS fine granulated sugar
- the finely grated zest of 1/2 orange
- 3/4 cup (45g) fresh white bread crumbs
- 3 TBS strawberry or raspberry jam, warmed
For the meringue topping:
- 2 large free range egg whites
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 7 TBS fine granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch deep metal pie tin. Set aside.
- Place the milk into a saucepan with the, orange zest, butter and first amount of sugar. Heat just until the butter melts, the sugar dissolves and there are bubbles around the edge of the pan.
- Beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Gradually add the milk mixture, whisking continuously. Stir in the bread crumbs and then pour the mixture into the buttered dish. Leave to sit for 15 minutes.
- Pop into the preheated oven and bake until just set, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Beat the egg whites along with the cream of tartar until they start to stiffen. Continue to beat whilst adding the sugar for the meringue one tablespoonful at a time. Beat until the meringue is glossy and forms nice stiff peaks.
- Spread the jam over the bread custard. Spoon the meringue over top covering it completely and making nice peaks.
- Return the pudding to the oven for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until the top of the meringue is crisp and golden brown.
- Serve warm.
Thanks so much for visiting! Do come again!
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