22 Shortcake Recipes That Go Beyond Just Strawberry

In some circles, a vanilla cake stacked with strawberries and cream might be referred to as a strawberry shortcake. And though this is not exactly wrong, let’s just say it’s loosely based on this iconic dessert that should consist of a shortcake—essentially a barely-sweet biscuit—served with macerated strawberries and whipped cream. But strawberry season is short and our love for this dessert is long, so here are some other ideas for making this the Summer of the Shortcake.

How do you improve on a classic? Truly, a well made strawberry shortcake needs no upgrade at all, but this version has just enough thought put into it to merit becoming your go-to recipe. The berries are macerated with honey instead of sugar to play up their floral notes, and fresh mint brings home that taste of summer.

You knew there was going to be a chocolate moment! Since the first chocolate-dipped strawberry, the two have courted each other like sweethearts. No one will turn down a cocoa-infused biscuit in place of the usual.

This twist is for all the almond lovers out there (you know who you are). The recipe is really for the shortcakes themselves (and really simple, at that); they will bring anyone in the house to the kitchen while baking by scent alone. Pair with plain blackberries and some whipped cream, and Bob’s your uncle.

At its essence, shortcake requires some fruit, some lightly-sweet cake and something rich and creamy. This dessert uses those parameters to take this theme to the tropics, combining the strawberries with mango, sandwiching the fruit with coconutty pound cake slices and mingling with pineapple coconut ice cream. Queue up the reggae and definitely consume outdoors in the golden late-summer sunset—or when the weather stinks and you want to be reminded of a golden late-summer sunset.

A fun twist on the classic strawberry shortcake, this easy ice cream cake layers vanilla and strawberry ice cream with crunchy strawberry-cookie crumbs and a buttery cookie crust for the perfect mix of creamy and crisp textures.

This recipe takes the most important parts of shortcake—namely, the biscuits and the fruit—and swaps in ice cream, because, why haven’t we thought of that before? The berries, here, are cooked a little bit, which concentrates their sweetness and evaporates some water, so it’s a great choice when they come from the supermarket rather than the farmer’s market. But they also become warm, the better to mingle with the cold ice cream. It’s likely to become a new favorite.

This strawberry shortcake trifle layers tender cake, juicy strawberries and fluffy whipped cream into a beautiful dessert that’s as easy to serve as it is to enjoy.

What grows together goes together, as the saying goes, and never is it truer than with the pairing of these two early summer fruits. Here, they combine in a luscious strawberry-rhubarb compote sandwiched in between the layers of a proper cake that nonetheless has exactly that gentle sweetness required to do them justice. Also perfection is the inclusion of freshly whipped vanilla-scented cream.

Alton Brown knows you can find your own way with the berries and cream, and here, just focuses on the best possible biscuit. A combination of shortening, half-and-half and butter renders just that ideal fluffy-yet-dense, rich and sturdy but still crumbly texture that you want out of a shortcake. Sure, you can go the berry route, but you can also just break a hot one open out of the oven and eat it spread with salty butter.

These dainty shortcakes layer on the ginger flavor, both from fresh and crystallized, to add a little heat to the mix. The fruit topping, too, is infused with ginger, and the sour cream gives a subtle tang to the whipped cream. The result is as satisfying as the classic, but with a sophisticated air.

For our simple and iconic shortcake, we discovered a great double-stacking technique that creates super light and high biscuits that are easy to split. This makes them easy to fill without crumbling. A simple recipe like this one allows its ingredients to shine, so use the very best berries you can find.

These cake layers have a tight crumb and deliberate dryness to mimic the flavor of a traditional shortcake, but fear not—the strawberry syrup infuses them deeply with flavor and moisture. The treat employs both strawberries and cream in several different iterations, for maximum variation and interest: there’s the fresh berries combined with jelly for an uber-fresh tasting syrup, then sliced berries macerated with lemon to soften them and bring out their juices. Some of the berries are folded in with some of the cream, then some of the cream is left plain for that final white crown.

And then there are those days when the idea of lighting the oven is just impossible. These pops take inspiration from strawberry shortcake, but jump off from there. A little coconut and strawberry-flavored cereal provides an ingenious, on-theme bit of texture and flavor, and the store-bought sorbet and frozen yogurt means that everything about making them is easy-peasy. (Except for the part where you have to wait for them to harden. That part is hard.)

Light, yes, calorically, but these portions are also just light as clouds when you’re eating them, too. These fluffy biscuits get their tenderness and lightness from buttermilk, plus an added texture and flavor of sliced almonds on top. The cream is made from Greek yogurt, meaning that if you want to make a case for these being a nutritious breakfast, we certainly won’t stop you.

Alex Guarnaschelli always knows how to break the rules. Here, she swaps a tender, almost shortbready biscuit for the usual big fluffy one, and takes a page from southern Italy’s brioches with ice cream by sandwiching something cold and sweet in between—here, raspberry sorbet. The tang of the raspberry really suits the sweetness of everything else. Prepare for raves.

We love this recipe, both for its dramatic presentation (kind of like something fancy in a European patisserie case) and for its remarkable ease. Split a store-bought pound cake into slices, then layer with orange-scented fresh berries and whipped cream. A dusting of confectioners’ sugar before serving will truly transform any remaining store-bought look into something to be marveled over.

We love everything about this old-school presentation, and if you have the flavors of strawberry shortcake in mind but want the drama of a pretty cake that you can slice and serve, this is the way to go. The recipe employs a tip that you can use in general—the fact that a bit of gelatin in with the whipped cream will stabilize it and make it easy to manipulate like a frosting. This cake will slice clean and the drama of revealing the fruity treasure inside is undeniably fun.

We’ve all seen those premade “shortcakes” from the grocery store, the individual cakes with the cupped centers for catching a fruity topping. And we’ve probably all served them, as well. Jeff Mauro never settles for the status quo, though, and here, quite literally turns them on their heads. By grilling them up, he introduces a little char that makes you suddenly sit up a little straighter. Then he takes the shortcake fillings and sandwiches them between, so that, yes, you can truly pick them up and eat them like little sweet club sandwiches.

Take shortcakes on a trip to Italy! Apricots bring to mind so many Italian desserts, as its floral fruitiness is the go-to for glazing tarts and filling cookies. A fresh mascarpone cream complements it well.

These impossibly simple shortcakes emerge tender and buttery, ready to take the Mediterranean-inspired treatment. Balsamic vinegar plays the role here that lemon juice traditionally does, its acid helping draw out the sweet juices of the fruit, and its deep raisin-y undertones contributing a depth of its own. Some fresh basil is a natural partner.

Strawberry shortcake gets the petits fours treatment, each a delectable little stack with a whole strawberry at its heart. Lots of store-bought elements make assembling these confections a snap; a little toasting of the meringue hat on each adds crunch.