Blueberry Shortcake

Almost everyone loves strawberry shortcake. But why stop there when strawberry season is over; switch to blueberry shortcake! Bold-colored blueberries are packed with antioxidants and have a lot of health benefits but most importantly they also taste great. What more could you ask?

You could improvise your own recipe for blueberry shortcake if you’re an experienced baker, but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. This one ticks all the right boxes with easy preparation and bright, fresh flavor.

Ingredients for Blueberry Shortcake

• Sugar: Sugar is used as a sweetener in all three of the dessert’s components: the filling, biscuits and whipped cream. It also combines with the berries’ natural pectin to help thicken the filling.
• Lemon juice: The tartness of lemon juice balances the sweetness of the sugar and berries. It also provides the acidity needed to help the sugar and the berries’ own pectin to thicken and set.
• Fresh blueberries: The blueberries provide the fruit filling in the shortcakes. The mixture of cooked and uncooked berries allows for a thickened sauce while still preserving the fresh-berry flavor.
• Flour: All-purpose flour is the base ingredient in the shortcake biscuits, giving them most of their body and texture.
• Baking powder: The baking powder in this recipe helps the biscuits rise up light and fluffy.
• Butter: The cold butter is cut into the biscuits to help make them flaky, while the softened butter is spread on the finished biscuits after they’re split.
• Half-and-half (or milk): The milk or light cream moistens and binds the biscuit ingredients and adds a bit of richness beyond what comes from the butter.
• Heavy cream: Heavy whipping cream is whipped to make a topping that’s layered into the shortcakes along with the berry filling.
• Confectioners’ sugar: The optional confectioners’ sugar can be sprinkled over the finished shortcakes as a decorative garnish.

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the blueberry filling

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Heat your oven to 450°F. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar, lemon juice and 2 cups fresh blueberries. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove your saucepan from the heat and let it cool for 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 cups of blueberries. Let the filling cool to room temperature.

Step 2: Mix the biscuit dough

Abbey Littlejohn for Taste of Home

While the filling cooks and cools, combine the flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder and salt. Cut in the chilled butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the half-and-half or milk until the dry ingredients are just moistened (don’t overwork the dough).

Step 3: Bake the biscuits

Abbey Littlejohn for Taste of Home

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut the dough with a floured 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet and bake them for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. While the biscuits are hot, split them in half horizontally and spread the insides with the softened butter. Set the biscuits aside to cool.

Step 4: Assemble the blueberry shortcakes

Abbey Littlejohn for Taste of Home

Just before serving, pour the heavy cream into a small, chilled mixing bowl. Beat the cream until it begins to thicken with chilled beaters. Add the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar and continue beating the cream until soft peaks form. Spoon whipped cream over the bottom of each biscuit. Top the cream with the cooled blueberry mixture and then a biscuit top. Sift or sprinkle confectioners’ sugar over the top and then serve the shortcakes immediately.

Abbey Littlejohn for Taste of Home

Blueberry Shortcake Variations

• Use your favorite biscuit recipe: This biscuit recipe is simple and reliable but you may already have one you prefer. If you’re a novice it’s fine to stick with the recipe you know. The same holds true for experienced biscuit-makers with a tried-and-true favorite. If you still haven’t found a favorite, feel free to browse our biscuit recipes until you find one that works for you.
• Change up the “cake” part: Depending where you grew up, the “cake” of a shortcake may or may not be a biscuit. Some recipes call for baking an actual cake and cutting it into portions, while others use a sponge cake recipe baked in muffin tins. Some even use slices of angel-food cake. Use whichever of these you like base of cake you prefer.  In a pinch you can use the store-bought equivalent. We’ll never tell.
• Swap with other seasonal fruits and berries: Blueberries (and of course strawberries) aren’t your only shortcake options. You can use this recipe’s basic method with a range of other berries and fruits as they come into season. Raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries or currants are all easy options. Gooseberries and rhubarb are very tart so you’ll probably need extra sugar (and cook the full 4 cups, rather than leaving half raw). Cherries, peaches, apricots, plums and other stone fruits are also excellent in shortcake. Some may not have enough pectin to thicken naturally, in which case you’ll need to add a bit of cornstarch or other thickener. Feel free to browse our various shortcake recipes for inspiration, if needed.

How to Store Blueberry Shortcake

Once the shortcakes are assembled they need to be eaten immediately so they don’t become soggy. If you know the recipe makes more portions than you’ll use at one sitting, your best option is to store the filling and biscuits separately. The biscuits can be bagged and stored at room temperature. The blueberry mixture should go into the fridge, in a food-safe storage container with a tight-fitting lid.

Can I make blueberry shortcake ahead of time?

You can prepare the filling ahead of time and refrigerate it. You can also make the biscuits a day ahead of time, if you wish, though they’re best on the day they’re made. The cream should always be whipped immediately before you assemble the shortcakes.

How long will blueberry shortcake keep?

Once you’ve assembled the shortcakes, their lifespan is limited to a couple of hours at most before the biscuits become soggy and the whipped cream deflates. If you’ve kept your leftover biscuits and filing separate, they’ll each keep for up to three days. Heavy cream should always be whipped as needed because it doesn’t hold well unless you stabilize it with unflavored gelatin. That’s a good technique to master, especially if you live in a hot and humid climate, but it’s usually easier just to whip the cream as you need it.

Can I freeze blueberry shortcake?

Again, the finished shortcakes are meant to be eaten quickly but the biscuits and filling can be frozen separately. Package the biscuits into freezer bags or a freezer-safe container with a tight-fitting lid. The filling can be frozen in a similar container and then thawed for use, though the fresh berries will be soft and leak a lot of juice when they’re thawed. Alternatively you can prepare just the cooked part of the filling for the freezer and add the fresh berries after thawing and warming the thickened filling. The biscuits and filling will retain their quality for about 0ne month.

Blueberry Shortcake Tips

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Can I use canned biscuits?

Yes, you certainly can. It saves time and cleanup and if your biscuit-baking skills aren’t fully developed it can save you some stress as well. Similarly, you can add the lemon juice and fresh berries to a prepared blueberry pie filling. It won’t taste quite as fresh but it’s the kind of thing you can whip up in a hurry, if needed.

I really struggle with biscuits. How can I stack the odds in my favor?

Over-mixing your biscuit dough is probably the single biggest mistake people make. It really takes a light hand, otherwise you’ll get biscuit-toughening gluten development. You can help your cause by swapping out the all-purpose flour for cake or pastry flour. Those are very low in gluten and are more forgiving.

How can I make the shortcakes look prettier for serving?

Shortcakes are a homestyle dessert that are more about tasting good than being Instagram-worthy. The easiest way to give them a bit of visual polish is by upgrading the topping. Instead of a sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar, spoon additional whipped cream on top of the biscuits (or better yet, pipe a rosette) and drop a few extra fresh blueberries onto the cream. Then thin a bit of leftover blueberry filling just slightly with water and spoon it in a circle or half-circle around each shortcake. A leaf of fresh mint, if you have it, adds a vivid contrasting color (it’s the dessert equivalent of a sprig of parsley).