Do you want to know a super simple breakfast dish that will be a hit at your next girly brunch? Or for today’s occasion – Mother’s day brunch? Home made strawberry shortcake with fresh picked strawberries and fluffy buttery biscuits. That’s not all. They’re sandwiched together with a lilac infused whipped cream. I’m being extra and totally ok with it. Shortcake is basically a biscuit, but with a bit of added sugar.
Strawberry shortcake is definitely a seasonal treat, as lilac season does not last very long, and fresh picked, juicy strawberries are a spring delight! I promise they make a huge difference in taste than the store bought ones. You know, if you’ve done a taste test. The smaller, the sweeter. I arranged them on these beautiful powder pink platters from Creating Comfort Lab and used Piglet’s dove gray linen tablecloth and linen napkins to create a Mother’s Day brunch table. By adding green ivy and fresh lilacs to the table, it created the sweetest little table for my mom, grandma, and me.
Is Lilac Edibile?
Lilac, or syringa, the botanical name are edible, however, I always have though the smell is more invigorating and romantic than the taste. The sweet but slightly tart berries pair so well with the lilac whipped cream. Lilac is definitely hard to come by, especially in Texas. I have my sources, but always been jealous of my Oregon food blogger friends who can easily pick magnificent blossoms of them. There are so many ways to incorporate this short lived spring flower into your bakes! Whipped cream is just one of them. Try my lilac cookies here!
What's First?
First pick strawberries because strawberries with little stems are the sweetest! Here’s a picking tip- these are clearly not sprayed with pesticides so the bugs- literally every bug will be after them for a sweet dessert. Slugs, ants, you name it. I wear gardening gloves when picking them at the local farm and they protect my hands. Sweet Eats Farm and Sweetberry Farm outside of Austin are the two I frequent during the spring.
What You Need!
- Fresh chopped strawberries
- Sugar
- Lemon zest for the zing!
- Fluffy biscuits
- Fresh picked lilac for garnishing and for the whipped cream
- Heavy whipping cream – I have not tried coconut cream, but this would be a great vegan version!
How to Make Fluffy Biscuits
For the biscuits heat oven to 450 degrees. A hot oven is key to delicious biscuits. Mix the dry ingredients together well – flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut cold butter into the dry mixture with a pastry cutter until it resembles the size of peas. Stir in milk slowly and form into a ball of dough. Add flour to a surface and knead the dough about 20 times. Flour a rolling pin and roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter press down and cut out 10-12 rounds. Add to a piece of parchment paper and bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden. Allow to cool for five minutes, then brush with honey and sprinkle on course sugar.
How to Make Lilac Whipped Cream
Pick the flowers off the stems and give them a good rinse. Make sure and use fresh lilac, as store bought are sprayed with pesticides.
In a small saucepan slowly heat the cream with out bringing to a boil. Stir in 1/4 cup lilac flowers (fresh not store bought) and remove from heat, cover and let steep for an hour. Strain the flowers out and allow to cool completely. Alternatively, you can pour cold cream over the flowers and let sit in the fridge overnight. Both ways work well.
Once cool, with an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream until stiff. Add in 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar as you whip it. This will help create stiff cream which makes it easy to spread onto the biscuits.
How to Assemble the Shortcakes
To assemble the shortcakes, spread the whipped cream on the top of one biscuit. Arrange the strawberries on top, then sandwich it with a second biscuit. Cover the second biscuit in whipped cream and garnish with a lilac flower and small strawberry with a stem.
I promise these will be a hit at your next brunch. They’re sweet, romantic, and a seasonal favorite. Serve on pretty pink plates and garnish with lilac flowers. Adorn your table with fresh lilac in little medicine bottles to infuse the table with the beautiful fragrance! It will be a wonderful sensory experience!
Strawberry Shortcake Brunch Spread
These fluffy strawberry shortcakes with fresh and juicy strawberries are the perfect romantic addition to your brunch table. Serve them to your mom on Mother’s Day!
- Prep Time15 min
- Cook Time10 min
- Total Time25 min
- Ready in35
- Yield12 biscuits
For the Biscuits
- 4 cups strawberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- Softened butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon course sugar
For the Lilac Whipped Cream
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup fresh lilac flowers
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Preparing the spices
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. A hot oven is key to delicious biscuits.
Mix the dry ingredients together well – flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Cut cold butter into the dry mixture with a pastry cutter until it resembles the size of peas.
Stir in milk slowly and form into a ball of dough. Add flour to a surface and knead the dough about 20 times.
Flour a rolling pin and roll it out to about 1/2 inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter press down and cut out 10-12 rounds. Add to a piece of parchment paper and bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden.
Allow to cool for five minutes, then brush with honey and sprinkle on course sugar.
For the whipped cream, in a small saucepan slowly heat the cream with out bringing to a boil. Stir in 1/4 cup lilac flowers (fresh not store bought) and remove from heat, cover and let steep for an hour. Strain the flowers out and allow to cool completely.
