Strawberry shortcake is one of the most beloved desserts in American cuisine¹. It is made from sweetened biscuits (a soft, crumbly type of bread), paired with strawberries and whipped cream (cream that has been mixed until it is light and fluffy). Strawberry shortcake is a very unique dessert. Traditionally it uses a biscuit as a base, it can neither be considered cake, nor bread. Perhaps it is the best of both worlds, sharing the quality of both. Shortcake provides the perfect base for this desert because it is hard enough that the juice from the strawberries does not make the desert soggy .

While the strawberry shortcake is rather short indeed (most are only about 7 centimeters in diameter and 4 centimeters tall), the term “shortcake” doesn’t refer to its small stature². It actually points to the use of “shortening” in the dough³. When the term was coined, shortening was used to address any type of fat that was solid at room temperature. Adding fat to the dough inhibits⁴ gluten strands⁵ to form, causing them to be “short”, so the final product is easily crumbled⁶. However, I will point out that modern use of the term “shortening” refers to hydrogenated vegetable oil. Most of the time recipes for strawberry shortcake will use butter or lard .

It is believed that shortcake was a European invention, dating back to the 1500’s. Strawberries on the other hand, can be traced back to ancient Roman times, about 200 B.C.E. However, most historians agree that topping off shortcake with strawberries was a uniquely American invention. Strawberry shortcake first became popular in the Unites States around 1850. Strawberries were one of the most popular berries of the time, and considered to be a seasonal⁷ treat exclusive to the summer months. Strawberry fever was often mentioned, as it seemed people just couldn’t get enough of these sweet red berries. Many people would make strawberry shortcake to celebrate the coming of summer and to enjoy the new crop of strawberries. Strawberries were often still available during the beginning of July, so strawberry shortcake also became a favorite dessert for Independence Day (July 4th) . With advertisements and magazine articles featuring strawberry shortcakes, the dessert only became more popular.

With the introduction of the transcontinental railroad, strawberries could be shipped all over the country, surrounded by ice to keep the berries fresh. And with new advances in refrigeration, whipped cream was found in most American homes. This aided the rise in popularity of strawberry shortcake, as it could now be enjoyed in all seasons.

Nowadays, there are many different variations in strawberry shortcake. Instead of using a sweetened biscuit as a base, many people prefer using a soft cake, or bread, or even cookies. I suppose that is part of the beauty with strawberry shortcakes. While the dessert has always been composed of a pastry⁸ base and strawberries on top, there has always been a lot of room for improvisation⁹ . One of the most popular versions of the dessert available today is where strawberries marinated with sugar are heaped on a round of sponge cake, a firm, yet aerated¹⁰ cake with a structure similar to a sponge (also known as a pound cake), and topped with whipped cream.

Strawberry shortcakes have also been commercialized. Different companies such as Little Debbie and Hostess have made snack cake versions of this popular dessert, which consist of strawberry jam and whipped cream sandwiched between layers of sponge cake. While these are a far cry from the original strawberry shortcake, they are very simple and very popular.

Strawberry shortcakes are especially popular down in the South. Most of the time, we will make traditional strawberry shortcake: a hearty¹¹ biscuit topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream (though I still like adding sugar to the strawberries).

草莓酥饼是最受美国人喜爱的甜品之一。它的原材料是甜烤饼（一种松脆的面包），点缀上草莓和搅打过的奶油（经过搅拌而变得又轻又软的奶油）。草莓酥饼是一种非常特别的甜品。通常使用烤饼作为底饼，它既不是蛋糕，也不是面包。但它又具有这两者的特征，我们也可以说它是最好的蛋糕，也是最好的面包。酥饼为这种甜品提供了最好的底饼，因为它足够硬实，不至于让草莓汁把它浸透。

草莓脆饼的尺寸相当小（大部分直径只有7厘米，高4厘米），不过“短糕”这个名字并非指它的尺寸小，而是指在生面团中加入起酥油。不过最初创造起酥油这个名字时，是用来指任何在室温下为固体的油脂；在生面团中加入油脂是为了防止形成面筋条，让它能够起酥，使最终成品更加酥脆。不过需要指出的是，现在的人说“起酥油”是指氢化的植物油。很多时候，制作草莓酥饼会使用黄油或猪油。

人们普遍认为，酥饼是欧洲人的发明，可追溯到十六世纪。另一方面，草莓可追溯到古罗马时期，大约公元前200年。然而，大部分历史学家认为，在酥饼上面加上草莓是美国人的独创。大约在1850年左右草莓酥饼开始在美国流行起来。草莓是当时最受欢迎的莓类水果之一，被认为是夏季专产的季节性蔬果。我们经常提及“草莓热”，好像人们怎么样吃都吃不够这些红色的小甜莓。很多人会制作草莓酥饼来庆祝夏天的到来，以及享用新鲜的草莓。草莓大约在每年七月初上市，因此，草莓酥饼也成为庆祝美国独立纪念日（7月4日）最受欢迎的甜品。随着越来越多的广告和杂志文章宣传草莓酥饼，这种甜品也变得越来越受欢迎。

随着美国横贯大陆铁路的开通，草莓被运往全国各地，周围加上冰块进行保鲜。且随着冷藏技术的进步，搅打奶油开始进入美国大部分家庭中。这使得草莓酥饼更加流行起来，因为现在一年四季都可以享用到这种美食。

现在草莓酥饼已经有了多种不同的花样。很多人更喜欢用软蛋糕或面包，甚至曲奇饼去做草莓酥饼的底饼，而不是用甜烤饼。我想这也许是草莓酥饼的魅力之一。因为草莓酥饼使用酥油底饼，上面加上草莓，因此还有很多空间可供即兴创作。现在最受欢迎的“版本”之一就是用浸过糖浆的草莓堆在圆松饼上，松饼是一种较硬而多孔的蛋糕，组织结构很像海绵（也叫“磅饼”），顶部淋上搅打过的奶油。

草莓酥饼已经成为一种商品。小德比和豪斯特斯等公司将草莓酥饼制作成零食，在海绵蛋糕层中夹入草莓酱和搅打奶油。尽管这些小点心与正宗的草莓酥饼不尽相同，但由于食用方便倒也很受人们的欢迎。

草莓酥饼在美国南部特别受欢迎。我们经常会自己制作传统的草莓酥饼：一个心形的烤饼作底饼，顶部浇上新鲜草莓和搅打过的奶油（虽然我还是喜欢加点糖在草莓上）。