Skip to Content

Mixed Berry Shortcake

August 29, 2024

Warm from the sun and bursting with crimson juice, fresh berries embody summer more than anything else. Celebrate their ripe perfection with this simple, classic mixed berry shortcake.

Categories

Mixed berry short cake with whipped cream on a plate

Berry Season Is Shortcake Season & Thus Is the Best of All Seasons.

Ohhh those plump, beautiful, falling-off-the-vine ripe summer berries. They’re superstars, right? They almost stand alone, but a delicate touch—a perfect not-too-sweet mound of shortcake and a kiss of whipped cream—can take them to realms beyond our earthly reaches. When a winters’ worth of rain seeps into the soil and teams up with blazing summer sun to deliver fruit so perfect, so brilliantly-hued and complex in flavor, we wonder what we did to find ourselves living in a universe that could produce a food this amazing. Uh, yeah, so anyway—we like berries. And, while we love to snack on them fresh—we follow the unwritten U-Pick rule of “one for me, one for the bucket”—this simple, stunning mixed berry shortcake is the ultimate use for fresh summer berries. And our recipe, if we may say so, is the ultimate shortcake recipe.

two small plates with mixed berry shortcake and whipped cream

Mixed Berry Shortcake Element #1: A Citrus-Scented Shortcake

You’ve probably eaten strawberry shortcake at some point in your life—if not, we’re so sorry—but the “shortcake” piece of the berry shortcake recipe puzzle is often a little disappointing. And we get it—it’s hard to think about anything other than berries when they’re in season. As we see it, though, in order to do justice to those gorgeous berries, you’ve got to make a really darn good shortcake. But, what is a shortcake, exactly? Well, it’s essentially a sweet biscuit—buttery, flakey, and tender. Our shortcake recipe relies on butter (and plenty of it) and buttermilk to make it truly delicious. Here’s everything you’ll need to make the shortcake:

  • Flour
  • Sugar
  • Baking powder
  • Unsalted butter
  • Citrus zest
  • Buttermilk
glass bowl with butter, flour, lemon zest for homemade shortcake
shortcake dough in a glass bowl
baking sheet lined with parchment paper topped with shortcake dough
shortcake biscuits on a baking sheet

Mixed Berry Shortcake Element #2: The Berries!

Berries. We love them all. While we love a good strawberry shortcake as much as anyone, why limit yourself to just strawberries? And what—are we supposed to stop eating shortcake when strawberry season ends?! AS IF. Berries of all kinds, beginning with strawberries, start flooding our farmers markets in March (on a good year) and they’ll last well into September and (in a good year) even October. So! If you expand your shortcake horizons to include different types of berries, you’ll be able to enjoy shortcake even longer! You can use any berry you love in this recipe—you could even toss in some peach or nectarine slices, and nobody would be mad about it—but here are a few of our very favorite berries to give the shortcake treatment to:

  • Boysenberries. Most likely a raspberry-blackberry hybrid (a lot of berry varieties are a bit murky in origin) that’s been around since at least the 1930s, boysenberries are insanely plump and juice-filled. Plus, if you’re u-picking, they’re one of the easiest to pick!
  • Raspberries. Did you know that there are tons of varieties of raspberry out there? There are spring raspberries, fall raspberries and black raspberries and even purple raspberries, and we especially love a giant, tart variety called Tulameen raspberries. All of them are wonderful in shortcake.
  • Strawberries. Of course! Just be sure to use them at the peak of their ripeness! We like to check for brilliant red insides (not white or pithy)—that always seems to promise insane sweetness and fragrance.
  • Blackberries. Just like raspberries, there are a gazillion types of blackberries out there. If you find a farm in your area, it’s fun to go picking and taste the difference between the varieties! You won’t be surprised to hear, though, that we love them all—we’ve never met a ripe blackberry we didn’t want to eat.
Mixed berry shortcake with whipped cream on glass plates

Tools You’ll Need:

More Berry Recipes To Celebrate Summer

Mixed berry short cake with whipped cream on a plate

A Berry Good Shortcake Recipe.

Oh sheesh. We couldn’t resist a little berry pun. It’s not even a berry good one, is it? Well anyway, we hope you love this recipe and that it helps you soak up these long, lazy summer days. If you try it out, we’d love to hear about it! Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

💌 Let's Stay Together

There are so many great ways to receive all of our latest recipes, meal tips, and inspiration.

Mixed Berry Shortcake

  • Serves:  6
  • Prep Time:  30 min
  • Cook Time:  15 min
  • Calories:  864

Ingredients

Biscuits

  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons orange or lemon zest
  • ¾ cup buttermilk, chilled

Whipped Cream

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Toppings

  • 4 cups fresh seasonal berries (we like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and cherries)
  • 2 tablespoons raw sugar
  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh mint

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the center position. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.

  2. Make the biscuits. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking powder.

  3. Add butter pieces to the bowl and toss to coat in flour. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the pieces are the size of peas. Alternatively use a food processor to cut in the butter by pulsing the mixture about 12 times. Dump the mixture into a large bowl. Add the zest and toss to combine. Stir in the buttermilk until just combined and there are no more dry parts. Do not overmix.

  4. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press to incorporate all the crumbs. Break into 8 equal parts and form into shaggy rounds about 1-inch thick.

  5. Arrange the dough pieces 1-inch apart on the prepared sheet pan. Bake until slightly golden on top, 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

  6. Meanwhile, make the whipped cream. Place the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla, into a large mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously until the cream forms medium-stiff peaks. Alternatively, use an electric or stand mixer on high to whip until the cream has medium-stiff peaks.

  7. Place the biscuits on a serving platter, dollop with whipped cream, top with berries, and sprinkle with raw sugar, and mint.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 864
  • Protein 8 g
  • Carbohydrates 99 g
  • Total Fat 47 g
  • Dietary Fiber 34 g
  • Cholesterol 163 mg
  • sodium 62 mg
  • Total Sugars 46 g

Mixed Berry Shortcake

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

or

    Any questions?

    Need to change up some ingredients? Unsure about a step in the method? Click the Ask a Question button above. We’re here for you.

  • Jenn

    I could eat this every day! The lemon zest in the biscuits is such a nice touch!

    Thanks Jenn! We love the citrus in these biscuits too!