Sugar Free Strawberry Shortcake
My parents love to remind me of the time, as a child of four, I insisted that the waiter at a restaurant in Italy brought me fresh strawberries and cream for pudding in December. I could be quite bossy forceful determined at that age…ahem…ok, maybe still now…
While I may still stubbornly dig my heels in on many an issue, I have learned since that time the joys of eating seasonally. And while I do still buy some out of season produce, and often use frozen fruit or veg year-round, I am pretty good at keeping the fresh treats of spring and summer to those months. And it makes them all the more special.
So I was pretty excited when fresh, ripe, seasonal, beautiful strawberries started to abound this year. They are at the peak of their deliciousness, and so I cannot resist putting them in just about anything.
Enter the strawberry shortcake. A classic for a reason: a soft and fluffy English scone topped with layers of fresh whipped cream and fresh juicy strawberries drizzled in a sweet strawberry sauce. It’s heavenly.
And now, it’s sugar free. In fact, you can make it sweetener free, too, if you like. I do. At this time of year, strawberries are so sweet there is simply no need to sweeten them further.
So enjoy this summer dessert that has all of the sweet flavours of an indulgent food, but none of the added sugar!
Layer of soft, fluffy English scones, fresh whipped vanilla cream and fresh ripe strawberries drizzled in a strawberry sauce, all without the added sugar (or sweetener).
- 260 g (2 cups) flour (my favourite is half and half wholewheat and plain flour)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 110 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 180 g (3/4 cup) yogurt, buttermilk or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon sugar free vanilla extract
- 150 g (1 cup) fresh strawberries, chopped
- 1 teaspoon rice syrup, raw organic honey or stevia, optional (use this for sweet-toothed people and use less each time)
- 250 ml (1 cup) double (heavy) cream + 1 teaspoon sugar free vanilla extract (or the seeds of 1 vanilla pod), whipped to soft peaks
- 1 punnet fresh strawberries, to serve
-
Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas 7. Make the scones by pulsing the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a food processor to mix, then adding the butter cubes and pulsing for 30 seconds or so until blended in to resemble a mix of coarse and fine breadcrumbs. Add the yogurt or buttermilk and vanilla and pulse until just coming together as a dough (if it looks too sticky, add more flour and pulse to combine - if it looks too dry, add just a tiny bit more yogurt until it just comes together). Roll out the dough on a floured surface until it is about 2-3 cm thick (you don't want a thin dough) and use a circular cookie cutter to cut out rounds of dough (you should get 8-10 scones). Place on a lined baking tray and brush with a little melted butter or beaten egg, then bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden, risen and cooked through. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
-
For the strawberry sauce, add the chopped strawberries to a saucepan with the syrup, honey or stevia (if using), and set over medium heat until the strawberries are soft and releasing their juices, stirring regularly (this will take about 5 minutes). Use a fork or hand held blender to mush to a thin sauce and set aside to cool.
-
To assemble the shortcakes, halve the scones and layer with whipped cream, fresh sliced strawberries and the strawberry sauce (you can just use one scone and fill the centre for 8-10 servings, or you can add as many layers as you like for less, more hungry, people).
Thanks for the recipe we just had the scones with cream and strawberries it was yummy! I love the idea of adding vanilla to the cream.
Glad you enjoyed it Izzy! 🙂