Strawberry shortcakes are THE dessert to make in the Spring. If you can find wild strawberries, or at the very least, really flavorful ones from a farmers market, this is nothing short of heavenly.
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Very lightly flour a clean counter or work surface.
Combine the flour with 2 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or use your fingers to rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Alternately you can pulse the butter into the flour mixture in a food processor, stopping when it reaches the coarse crumb texture.
Add the half-and-half or milk and stir just barely combined. Turn the mixture onto the lightly floured surface. Use your hands to lightly mix the dough just until it barely holds together. Pat it out into a circle or a rectangle about 1/2-inch thick.
Use a 3-inch round biscuit or cookie cutter to cut out the shortcakes, keeping them as close together as possible to minimize extra dough. Make sure you use a sharp biscuit cutter vs. a glass, and press down and pull straight up without twisting; twisting will hinder their rising as they bake. If you dip the biscuit cutter in flour in between each biscuit cutting, it will help prevent sticking. You can collect the scraps and re-pat them out into a 1/2-inch disk and cut out another 2 or 3 when you are done. Try to handle the dough as little as possible. You should have 12 circles when you are done.
Brush a baking sheet with some of the melted butter. Transfer half of the biscuits to a baking sheet. Brush the tops with a bit of the melted butter. Place the rest of the biscuits on top of the buttered biscuits, and brush the top with a bit more of the melted butter. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the shortcakes.
Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Meanwhile, put the berries in a medium bowl and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar or to taste. Toss with a fork and lightly crush some of the berries so you have some different textures going on and some of the juices are released. This will also help keep the berries from slipping and sliding on the shortcakes.
Once the berries are macerating, make the whipped cream. Place the heavy cream, sour cream, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla in a clean bowl (if you chill it first, the cream will whip up faster), or the bowl of a standing mixer outfitted with the whisk insert.
Use a whisk or a handheld electric mixer on high speed to beat the cream, moving it all around the bowl, until it starts to form stiff peaks (or turn on the standing mixer). Stop beating at this point – overbeating can cause the cream to separate. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Just before serving, cut each biscuit crosswise so you have a top half and a bottom half. Place the bottoms halves on plates, layer on some strawberries, then some whipped cream, replace the top of the shortcake, then spoon over some more strawberries and whipped cream. Serve immediately.
Notes
The biscuit dough is quite crumbly, which is by intention. As long as it can hold together when you pat it into a rectangle, there is enough moisture in it.
When you cut the biscuits, cut them as close together as you can, with as little dough left behind on the cutting board as possible. Yes, you can roll the scraps up and cut out another couple of circles, but the more you handle the dough the less tender it becomes, so try and get as many biscuits out of the original rectangle as possible.
The tops of the biscuits are brushed with a bit more half-and-half or milk, and sprinkled with sugar before they go into the oven, resulting in a beautifully browned and slightly crunchy top. If you can find coarse or demerara sugar, use that. The raw sugar you see in the market is perfect.
Make biscuits with some height to them, at least 1/2-inch per layer. as you will be cutting them horizontally and then filling them with strawberries and cream.
If you dip the biscuit cutter in flour in between each biscuit cutting, it will help prevent sticking.
If you chill the mixing bowl first, the cream will whip up faster.