I recently traveled to Michigan’s Traverse City and Leelanau County for a get-together with my brother and cousins.
One of the best parts of visiting this lovely area in June is that the strawberry crop is ready. My cousin, Joan, recounted how she had stood in a long line to purchase pre-hulled strawberries for $1.30 per pound at the Leelanau Fruit Company. Others in the strawberry queue came with handled buckets and containers of every sort. Joan purchased several pounds of strawberries for our CousinFest 2010 ™ and we enjoyed them for brunches and desserts.
Inevitably, though, when strawberries are on the menu the controversy will ensue: What kind of cake do you expect and serve when “strawberry shortcake” is on the menu?
The responses to this question divide primarily into two camps: Those who think it’s okay to substitute sponge-y angelfood cake (even storebought!) for the traditional sweetened baking powder biscuit, and those who are horrified at even the mere thought. I’m firmly in the latter camp. 
Our late grandmother, Shellie Emerson Burton, was the recurring subject of many a conversation over my visit. She had worked (very hard) in restaurant and hospitality settings through the Depression, and was competently efficient when it came to filling hungry stomachs with good, plain food. One of my earliest memories is of Grandma Burton cutting biscuit dough with a drinking glass. Her pink kitchen in the Emerson home on Washington Avenue in Alpena had an east-facing window through which the sun streamed in the morning. Our breakfasts and dinners invariably included Shellie’s famous biscuits.
Because her recipes were never written, and measurements were allocated by “feel,” my mother, and subsequently I, never could replicate Grandma Burton’s biscuit mastery. We turned to Bisquick, which produced a good enough substitute sans the lard my grandmother used. I appreciate the fool-proof product result, and find it virtually indistinguishable, especially when slathered with gravy, submerged in melted butter, drowned in honey, or smothered with berries.
So, it’s probably not surprising that I was shocked to visit households and even commercial establishments which feasibly had no qualms about serving up a rubbery wedge of angel food and calling it shortcake. You’ve got to be kidding me!
This offering appears deceptively attractive in a phony sort of way when presented. But the customer experience is decidedly underwhelming. One struggles to separate a bite of cake from its springy, unyielding main mass. Melding the delicious strawberries and their sweet juice with this product on a fork is an exercise in futility. The disappointed reveler is reduced to sopping up from the plate’s deck, staining the surface of the cake blood red as the juice wicks through its pores. It’s a sticky mess. (Not that I’d turn it down if it’s my only alternative).
Compare and contrast the delightful experience of a true biscuit, lovingly dusted with powdered or cane sugar, its flaky texture and satisfying crunch a study in sophisticated and simple contrast. The sensuous, liquid loveliness of fresh strawberry topping caressing the nooks and crannies of a well-formed biscuit is an architectural statement of complementary elements.
Throughout late June, and into mid-July, strawberry shortcake is more American than apple pie, with willing u-pickers descending on commercial patches in annual ritual. As fresh as fresh can be and then some!
I’m curious. In what shortcake camp are you? Are you okay with angelfood? Can you share a biscuit recipe? We could get even more controversial and discuss the merits of heavy cream, too! Whipped or merely poured? What about the ubiquitous Reddi-Whip? Have you ever just put the nozzle right in your mouth?
Related: Our friend Tess is rapturous about strawberries, too!
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Peter and Betsy Wuebker are location-independent professionals who share what they know about travel, simplicity and integrating work with life. 
I did get Grandma’s biscuit recipe. When she got ready to throw each ingredient into the mixing bowl, I had her stop until I put Saran Wrap over the bowl, then pulled the wrap off and dumped it into appropriate measuring cups, or spoons. It worked. I still have that recipe.
Hello Brother – Here is the esteemed Culinary Institute of America grad holding out on the rest of the family. See, Internets? The least you could do, John, would be post it in the comments.
I am totally in the biscuit camp. Growing up in Pennsylvania, I was never served strawberry shortcake with angel food until moving to Michigan!!! This is not….I repeat….this is not strawberry shortcake. It is merely strawberries on angelfood. There is no comparison.
I am a purist with the cream. I only eat fresh, real, whipped cream. That being said, growing up we only put milk on our strawberry shortcake. It was whole milk, not whipping cream.
Angel food is a cheap substitute for Shortcake. Remember Grandma referred to it as “Johnny Cake”
OK. Here’s the recipe for Betsy and my Grandma’s biscuits.
This is exqctly as written by Grandma. Please note the specific brand names of the ingredients. This is not B.S.
2cups Gold Medal Flour
4 tsp. Calumet Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Morton Salt
Sift all ingredients together.
4 Tblsp Crisco rubbed into the flour mixture.
Add 3/4 cup Milk and stir until all mixed.
Pat out and cut.
Bake about 20 min or until browned in 400 ove.
She must assume you know to flour out the counter for patting or rolling out.
Wondering if she had a bad experience using Robin Hood Flour, or Clabber Girl Baking Powder, or store brand salt and shortening.
Enjoy!!
The milk was WHOLE milk, not the 1/2 or 2% crap.
It’s true that Grandma didn’t need to use a recipe. The only time she would write them down was to send to Mom. (I still have a few of those also) I was the lucky recipiant of this biscuit recipe because I needed it for my 8th grade Boys’ cooking class. She did the writing while I did the measuring after getting the stuff off the Saran Wrap.
Mmmmmmm Betsy,
What a fun and delicious post. And…a recipe for biscuits, as well.
I much prefer the biscuits to angel food cake, although I’ve had it and served it both ways. Having said that, there really isn’t even a comparison. Biscuits rule.
Cutting dough with a glass. Oh yeah! You know, I still do that. Like who needs one of those round cookie cutter thingies, anyway? Of course, you do need to remember to dip the glass in flour before making a cut. Nothing worse than having the dough stick to the rim.
Whipped cream? I confess, I’ve done the nozzle in mouth trick.
However, since we like a good quality (as in, high fat) ice cream with our short cake, we forego the whipping cream. You know, save calories. Yah?
.-= Barbara Swafford´s last blog ..Who Am I To Tell You How To Blog? =-.
Betsy, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten strawberry shortcake with the traditional sweetened baking powder biscuit. I’ve obviously missed out on something.
Now… of course, being on the gluten-free diet, neither are an option. But that’s okay. More room for the whipped cream and strawberries.
My mom used a crispy, sugary, and cloud-light meringue-type recipe for her version of strawberries and shortcake all my life, and I was always surprised when served something else. I think one of my brothers has the recipe, so I’ll see if I can get it from him. Nothing else in the world tastes like my mom’s combo. And nothing beats whipping up some heavy whipping cream into a topping for this dessert. I can see, however, that if it was a biscuit-type shortcake, then pouring might be just as tasty because around Christmas baking time, I like pouring heaving whipping cream on my morning cereal (shhh, don’t tell the calorie police).
.-= Lori Hoeck´s last blog ..Self defense as common sense is a rare trait =-.
Going to the fridge for a mouth full of Redi-Whip.
.-= Pete´s last blog ..Shortcake Wars =-.
Hi Betsy! I’m biscuits all the way, although if you don’t have those I’d sub pound cake instead of angel food. It’s really hard to get a nice angel food cake that isn’t all rubbery.
I do make really good biscuits but I don’t use much of a recipe. I start with either Martha White or White Lily self rising flour. I think it’s a Southern thing and not always available in other areas of the country. The self rising part means everything is always in proportion.
To make biscuits for a family of 7, I use 2-3 cups of flour depending on how hungry I think everyone is. To this I add 4-6 tablespoons of butter and use a food processor to combine, although you could certainly cut it in with a pastry cutter or fork. You want it all sandy/crumbly. Then I add buttermilk (probably 3/4-1 1/2 cups depending on how much flour and what the humidity is like) and stir until it just forms a ball. Don’t go too heavy on the buttermilk. You can use regular milk, too or even jogurt.
Then I turn it onto a well floured surface and pat/roll gently until about 1/2 inch thick and start cutting biscuits. These I bake in a 450 oven until just turning golden brown.
For sweet biscuits I’d add a bit of sugar, not too much, maybe 1/4 cup or so. For scones, I’d add the sugar and instead of buttermilk use heavy cream and maybe add some yummy dried currants. Then I’d brush the tops with some beaten egg white or more cream and sprinkle with sugar for a nice crunch.
Hi Jennifer – Welcome to the comments, high school buddy!
I never heard of putting milk on strawberry shortcake, that’s a new one. I’m with you on the whipped cream, although I won’t pass up a substitute if nothing else is available.
Thank you, John. Pete has put the recipe in his database. LOL on whole milk. Today we had biscuits made with heavy cream in the recipe. Other than they were flat compared to grandma’s, they made a nice biscuit. Maybe the cream is just too heavy.
Hi Barbara – Good reminder about flour-ing the glass! And ice cream with shortcake is a natural. I tend to like both ice cream AND whipped cream together.
Hi Davina – Not so fast! Gluten-free biscuit recipe to the rescue, inspired by Alton Brown (Pete’s favorite Food Channel host): http://www.domestifluff.com/2009/08/my-favorite-gluten-free-biscuits/ Would you try it and report back??
Hi Lori – Now this is an outlier: meringue! I would love to see the recipe for this. I make a mean lemon meringue pie, but wouldn’t you know it, Pete doesn’t like it (not just mine, but all). I’d like to try your mom’s.
LOL Dear!
Hi Tracy – Your recipe sounds awesome. I will have to look for the flour recommendations. Biscuits are a Southern cook’s pride and joy, or at least a rite of passage, aren’t they? I really like the way yours is versatile for scones, etc. Thanks.
That’s wild, my husband is from Alpena, and his mom still lives there!
As long as there’s whipped cream, I don’t care what the strawberries are served over. I do like a good poundcake, but biscuits are good too.
Hi Tara – Welcome to PassingThru! Too fun about Alpena! I haven’t been back there in years, and would like to visit again. The memories are fading. My mother and her siblings graduated from Alpena High School in the 1940′s, and the house they lived in on Washington Ave. makes a brief appearance here: http://passingthru.com/2009/06/on-bob-and-marys-80th-birthday-in-galena/ Thanks for your comment and we hope you’ll stick around! I poked around on your blog, LOL’d and subscribed.
Shortcake. (I use Bisquick, but I am learning to make the real scratch kind.) Real whipped cream. Sometimes vanilla ice cream. Sometimes both (for the decadent/rebellious mood). Angel food cake as a LAST resort. Worst: those packaged “shortcakes” in the store that aren’t angel food and aren’t biscuits. (3 hours later…)
Soooo, getting back to this thread – I got so inspired by all this SS talk and the fresh picked strawberries I bought at the Mill City Farmers Market yesterday that I made shortcake tonight. Buuut, I didn’t have enough Bisquick – so I filled in with my Sturdiwheat pancake mix. A little grainier but with a good nutty flavor and texture. Also, no whipping cream (geez) – so, it was vanilla ice cream. You do what you have to do. Yum yum.
Oh, and….
since I have been studying scratch baking I thought your “bleaders” (blog-readers) would like to know that the baking science books (like King Arthur’s Flour) all say that cutting the biscuits with something sharp – like a cookie/biscuit cutter keeps the biscuits flakier than the glass – which is thicker and smushes down the dough on the sides – preventing some of the highly desirable flakiness. In not an expert, I just read what the experts write. Happy biscuiting everyone.
Hi, Betsy (and John, too),
Thank you for sharing this! It was a WONDERFUL trip down memory lane! Yes, biscuits rule—the scratch kind and nothing else—and angel food cake is forbidden. I’d rather have the strawberries plain than ruin them with crumbly cake bits. Thank you, too, for the gluten-free link. Like Davina, it’s a must for me.
Loved your family recipe story! I remember the time my mom found a list of ingredients written out by her grandmother and figured they were for the bun-like rolls she recalled at big family dinners. After several experiments with measurements, she replicated “Grandma’s Farm Buns.” There’s a sense of continuity and connection in stories like these, and the added bonus is keeping alive the tradition of delicious REAL food.
PS: Mom served our shortcakes with milk instead of whipped cream. Delicious soaking into the biscuit.
.-= Julie´s last blog ..A Brand New Venture =-.
LOL Betsy – I tried to avoid this when you put the pic on Facebook. I love strawberries but I really need to lose weight.
Strawberry shortcake is a whole lot different in the UK. For us – a biscuit is a scone. We would call the things you call cookies – biscuits.
So for us, a strawberry shortcake would have strawberries, cream and a type of biscuit (cookie to you) called shortbread.
We do eat your type of strawberry shortcakes too but we call them scones with strawberries and cream. I really like them with clotted cream. And now I really really want some – I guess just one can’t hurt.
.-= Cath Lawson´s last blog ..Is Your Fear Of Sales Suffocating Your Business =-.
Thank you for sharing the recipe I will be back to copy it down for my referral.
I definitely am a biscuit person or scone ( a northwest tradition more like biscuits than English Scones) And biscuits taste best cut with a glass…though the GF flours often take the sharper edged steel cutter. I make both GF shortcakes and GF Angel Food for my family…we have most family birthdays in June and July and that is the preferred dessert choice. I will need to send Davina some GF baking mix w/o lard….(Oh these mixes come in so handy – not like the trying old days!)
Loved this post…and I too thought Tess’ strawberry post was amazing…that cutie picking and tasting ones of each color…awesome.
.-= Patricia´s last blog ..Graduation =-.
Hi Elaine – I didn’t know that about the sharp edge. I wonder if our grandmothers deliberately chose a drinking glass for the effect on the biscuits, or if it was just the handy choice? Good to know about the Sturdiwheat pancake mix substitute, as well! It’s fun to feel confident enough in the kitchen to make inspired substitutes. I’ve only recently begun to study and understand what might work. Observing my husband and my brother get around the kitchen is inspiring. Thanks.
Hi Julie – Another one who had strawberry shortcake served with milk! And yes, you’re right, there is great continuity in these recipes. When I see one written in my mother’s hand, the memories flood back. Our sense of belonging is rooted in these traditions – just look at the strong opinions on this thread!
Hi Cath – I was hoping you or Hilary would weigh in with the UK perspective! I did know that a biscuit with you is really a cookie, but I didn’t know you’d serve strawberry shortcake with a shortbread (cookie). I bet it’s delicious. Every Christmas I eagerly await my friend Tauron’s English shortbreads and hoard the tin from everyone. My son is particularly fond of shortbread to the point where he will consume all available supply without regard for others. Oh, and clotted cream: delicious! I am sad that I let the gross name prevent me from trying it for years. Seriously. . . clotted? LOL
Hi Patricia – I think it’s great that all these gluten-free recipes are developed. Someone mentioned just the other day that there is “real” angelfood (presumably home made) which is quite divine. It’s too bad the cheesy store-bought substitutes ruined its reputation. And yes, Tess’s post reminded me to slow down and taste the little moments.
Hi Betsy .. here in England .. we would use shortbread – well certainly at home, or Eton mess = home-made meringues, gooey in the middle, with Cornish Cream preferably!
All other type of cake would be given the eye – and to be polite .. we’d eat it – but wouldn’t be too happy.
So interesting the American approach .. now my taste buds are up for strawberries .. I hope your get-t0gether was a thoroughly happy event ..
Happy Days – Hilary
.-= Hilary´s last blog ..Lazy- Hazy- Mazey Days of Summer – two approaches to revitalising town life in the 21st century =-.
That photo of the dessert on the deck table is one of the best pix I’ve ever seen in my entire 46 years!!
Yes, I do admit to taking a short cut via rubbery angel food cake, but there is really no substitute for the real short-cake biscuit deal made by feel. Hey, that rhymes!
You’ll have me baking it tomorrow!!
xo
Betsy – I’m like your son with the shortbread too. And clotted cream is awesome. Hope Pete’s mom is recovering.
.-= Cath Lawson´s last blog ..4 Stupid Bucket List Mistakes To Avoid =-.
Good Lord! Thanks for the link to that recipe. I will let you know how it works out.
Thanks.
.-= Davina´s last blog ..13 Signs Your Ego is Driving Your Blog =-.
I worked in the Leelanau fruit company examining the strawberries the summer of my junior year in high school. My first cousin is married to the foreman there who has worked there the past 30 plus years and lives just a couple of houses from the business. My mothers parents lived just past Suttons Bay on Kolarik road and my dads family lived on Alpers road. I know the places you speak of as most of my summers were spent there from the age of 10 to 21 when we moved back to Michigan. How the June air smells so different than other places. Thanks for the memories. By the way try the Joy of Cooking Book for their buscuits, Don loves them. paula
Hi Hilary – Catching up on the comments. Eton mess sounds dreamy – similar to what Lori mentioned? Given the eye, LOL, I get the visual. The eye would have the raised eyebrow? Thanks.
Hi Jannie – don’t you want to devour that photo? Happy baking!
Hi again, Cath – I’m like my son with the shortbread as well. Back in the day when I was in Sunday School, I couldn’t wait to see if Teacher served a Nabisco-made shortbread called “Lorna Doones.” Loved it even then!
Hi Davina – Hope it worked!
Hi Paula – Welcome to PassingThru! I do remember driving up to visit your family over winter break in college and I believe you and I were in a carload caught in a blizzard on that trip somewhere in the Leelanau back roads. I still don’t know how Leelanau Fruit can make a profit selling hulled strawberries for $1.30/lb. Maybe they get the high schoolers for cheap? And yes, June air and summer in general is most glorious. Best to you and Don, miss you lots.