Lemony Strawberry Biscuit Cake

This Lemony Strawberry Biscuit Cake is a really fun way to serve soft biscuits with sky high whipped cream and macerated strawberries to a crowd. Perfect for summertime, it is sure to be a showstopper at your next summer party.

Many times when I eat strawberry shortcake during the summer, it’s delicious–but it doesn’t quite remind me of the strawberry shortcakes I had growing up. That’s because I find that many strawberry shortcakes embrace the cake part–they’re mostly sponge cake with a few strawberries thrown on top.

My grandfather ate his strawberry shortcake very specifically, and my entire family adopted it as the OG acceptable strawberry shortcake. His was definitely more of a biscuit version of the dessert, and it started with a good old box of Bisquick. Every Sunday my grandmother would make him sweetened biscuits using Bisquick that he could eat the rest of the week. The smell of those biscuits always makes me think of them.

At dessert time, he would take a biscuit, cover it in diced strawberries, then pour in a little milk. The biscuits would start absorbing all that milk and would quickly sort of wilt apart into this delicious bowl of strawberry mush. He would use his Lancaster County strawberries, which are so sweet all on their own–no need to add sugar. My grandfather would eat his strawberry shortcake like this every week. It was a real treat to visit them and share in his love for strawberries and Bisquick biscuits with milk.

So I wanted to try to bring that memory to a modern day strawberry shortcake. I had the idea to bake the biscuits close together into almost a sheet cake. My recipe made 9 large biscuits, but you could easily do 12 smaller ones. When serving, I did not feel hampered by the idea of the biscuits–it’s not like every serving needed a full biscuit. I just sliced it as I went and served pieces of it like you would do with a sheet cake.

After the biscuits are done baking, I topped them with loads of whipped cream. This whipped cream is just cream and a little vanilla–not sweetened. The strawberries here are sweetened and there is a bit of turbinado sugar on top of the biscuits to give it that crunch. Plus, the unsweetened whipped cream reminded me of my grandpa’s milk on the biscuits.

For the strawberries, I decided to macerate them to bring a unique flavor and sweetness to the biscuit cake. The addition of lemons and orange juice (or Cointreau depending on the party!) take this recipe from ordinary to extraordinary. I could just eat those macerated strawberries on their own with a spoon.

This biscuit cake is really unexpected at a summer party and I think will be a conversation starter. The biscuit base is very unique on its own–it doesn’t taste like a sponge cake, but in my opinion, it’s a sturdier and more inviting base for strawberry shortcake. The addition of lemon zest gives those biscuits that little special edge.

My grandmother making my grandfather’s favorite dessert every weekend was a real everyday act of love–this strawberry biscuit cake is an ode to them. As they say–the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach.

How I make my Lemony Strawberry Biscuit Cake

To make my Lemony Strawberry Biscuit Cake, I start by whisking together the dry ingredients for the biscuits (flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, lemon zest, salt). Then it’s time to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. The key here is cold butter. I like to do this the old school way and use both my hands and a pastry cutter (I’m actually using my grandmother’s old pastry cutter, so there’s another wave to her). You want to put a bit of elbow grease into this until the mixture resembles coarse crumbles. Then add the buttermilk.

Now it’s time to shape the biscuits onto your prepared baking tray. Dust a bit of flour on your hands and then shape the mixture into baseball size biscuits. I did 9 but I think making them a bit smaller and doing 12 would be fine too and make the cake more rectangular than square. Don’t forget to sprinkle them with a bit of turbinado sugar–I think this step is really key because the biscuits on their own are not really sweet enough without that extra crunch on top. Now bake them for 16-18 minutes at 425ºF until they’re golden.

While the biscuits are baking, prepare the whipped cream and macerated strawberries. The whipped cream is super easy–just add cold cream, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn on medium and let it go a few minutes, watching for the cream to form soft peaks. Set aside until you’re ready to assemble.

For the strawberries, dice your fruit and add it to a bowl with sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and Cointreau (or orange juice). Let it sit for a few minutes so the sugar can start bringing out the natural sugars in the strawberries.

Now it’s time to assemble! Once your biscuit cake is cooled, slather on that whipped cream. It should be piled high and oh so luscious. Then spoon on the strawberries! Delish. If I was serving this at a party, I would probably wait to assemble until party time just to keep the cake looking as nice as possible. It will look good if you do it in advance and keep it in the fridge, but the strawberries may bleed a bit into the whipped cream. It will taste amazing either way!

I hope you enjoy this super easy Lemony Strawberry Biscuit Cake–a truly impressive dessert for your next pool party!