This is a fabulous old-fashioned recipe given to me by a friend. It was her mother's recipe and it is the best shortcake.  It sops up all the juice and the touch of nutmeg sends it over the top. My very favorite recipe for strawberry shortcake!

Old-Fashioned Shortcake

all-purpose flour

white sugar

baking powder

salt

nutmeg,

butter

milk

Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease an 8-inch baking pan.


Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a knife or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg and milk in another bowl; stir into flour mixture until batter is just blended. Spread batter in the prepared baking pan.


Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.


Good flavor! I omitted the nutmeg and I added 1 tsp of REAL vanilla.  Note: the baking time/temp needs adjusted. I'd suggest lowering temp to 350 and baking longer.  I followed the recipe (450/15) and it was really dark on the outside but the middle was still gooey.

I am the person who posted the recipe and wanted to comment on the baking time- the 450 degree temp results in a shortcake that is chewy on the outside and soft on the inside (which I love).  If you do not like this then bake at a lower temp for a longer period of time.  

Also this batter does not pour like a reviewer noted- it is thick and you have to spread it.  If yours turns out this way, you are doing it right! Hope that helps!

ONLY reason this is getting a 3 star is because my worst fear came true. The oven to 450 degrees was too high - so it was golden and crispy on the outside and underdone in the center - I even tested with a toothpick, which came out clean (maybe it is my oven, but doubt it, I even baked it longer than recipe called for). JUST BEWARE so this doesn't happen to you, now I have to re-do and adjust to 375 or so.....

I made this according to the recipe. It was wonderful. Softer than I expected, but it was great paired with the strawberries.

Exactly what I was looking for!  This is an easy-to-make, tasty shortcake recipe!  I followed the recipe exactly as it was stated, only change is that I added a 1/4 tsp. cinnamon &amp; baked it at 350 (mainly because our oven over bakes too easily at higher temps).  I will make this again!

4-24-2016  ~Weird.  Everything about this is weird, both before I baked it and after.  First of all, this is not a batter you pour into the pan as the instructions direct.  It is a thick batter you plop into the pan in spoonfuls and then spread out.  Second, the 450 degree oven temperature spooked me and justifiably so.  But I plodded on, curious to follow the directions as written. Needless to say, it did not bake in the directed time.  Not at all.  I kept adding a few minutes at a time until the cake tested done (covered lightly with a piece of oil so as not to overbrown the top). But it was weirdly firm.  Weird after baking as well.  Weird texture. Weird firmness, almost hard.  I did not feel good about serving this at all.  I was prepared to trash it.  Hubs said he thought it was weird too.  This was right before he said yum, he loved it.  Apparently he liked everything I disliked about it.  Two stars from me, a solid four from Hubs, I guess averages out to a 3–star shortcake between us.

I have used this recipe for two years now, every strawberry season. The only thing I change is I use cinnamon instead of nutmeg (My husband hates nutmeg. Hope to try it someday with it.), and I double the cinnamon. I have no problems with the baking time and temp as other reviewers have had. I think this is so good you can eat it on it's own. The only thing I would tell someone trying this for the first time is the recipe says to pour the batter into the pan. You can not pour this, it is a soft dough that you press into the pan.

I followed the recipe exactly as written (though I did have to bake an extra 10-15 minutes before it was set in the middle) and this was a FANTASTIC shortcake recipe! We had guests over, and all 5 of us LOVED this recipe. Delicious (especially with some fresh made whipped cream - YUMM!)

First off, this will probably be my go to shortcake from now on.  That said, due to reviews I made several changes and will do so again the next time I make this.  Because so many said they had to add baking time, I followed the directions from Trisha Yearwood's  shortcake recipe on foodnetwork.com  and baked this in a 9 inch pan instead of  an 8 inch.  (recipe is very similar)  I was able to bake at the required 450 degrees for 15 min.  I did decrease the sugar to 3/4 cup (personal preference) and thought 3 tsp(or 1T baking powder) was sufficient.  I love nutmeg, but wondered how I'd like it with strawberries so I decreased the nutmeg to about 1/8 tsp.  This was just right for me but think I'd have liked the full 1/4 tsp. as well.  Maybe I'll add some vanilla next time as well, but only as an experiment.  I really think the only necessary change on this recipe would be to either add some baking time (and risk overbrowning) or to change out your pan size from an 8 inch  to a 9 inch size.  The rest of my changes are purely personal .  We really  did love the taste and texture of this shortcake!  Thanks for this submission!

This was so yummy.  My son wanted strawberry shortcake for his birthday and this was perfect.  Everyone loved it!  We ran out of strawberries so some of us just poured a little milk over it and it was delicious.  I took the advice of other reviews and baked it at 350 for 30 minutes, perfect!  Great flavors, not to sweet and loved the nutmeg!

I have made this several times. My husband and I love it. Best I ever ate!

I cut this recipe in half, with 1 egg and almond milk baked it at 350* for 25mins. Till light golden. It was so light and fluffy. My husband loved it!!

Delicious! I will quote my mom: "I think this is the best shortcake I've ever had."

Delicious! I followed the recipe, except I omitted the nutmeg and baked at 350* until golden brown and a knife inserted came out clean.  Next time I will do the same, except I'll cook it in my casserole dish instead of  the 8x8 pan so it's not so tall.

I added a little more sugar and it was very good

This was really fabulous.  We all loved it.  The nutmeg was perfect.  I followed the recipe as written except for cooking it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Beautiful color and texture.

Omg this this recipe is so yum! I put cinnamon instead of nutmeg...its very similar to a snickerdoodle. Delicious!

I love it!  Baked at 425 degrees in convention oven.  I used my hands to do the final mixing and patted into the 8 inch pan.  Crunchy on the outside, soft inside.

I followed the recipe, just omitting the nutmeg. I spooned it into a round cake pan and baked it at 350 for 30-35 minutes until the top started to get golden. It's really good with sugar, milk and strawberries. The taste and texture are wonderful- tastes so buttery. This is the type of short cake I grew up eating.

Not being a fan of nutmeg, I swapped that out with vanilla. Also I baked mine in a muffin-top pan. Takes me a few tries to figure out the timing, so this first try was more crisp cookie texture. I do like hard cookies, so that was fine with me.  And it is pointed out numerous times how dry the batter is, it was for sure.  I will make this recipe again, be it for shortcake or over sized snicker-doodle cookies (adding cinnamon sugar to top).

I followed the recipe exactly (except I added 1/2 a tsp of nutmeg instead of a 1/4) and it came out so perfect! I didn't have to adjust the temp or the time and it still came out evenly cooked. Definitly the best strawberry shortcake I've ever had.

Very sweet and easy, taste is amazing with nutmeg in it. I have made this twice now and my husband loves it.

My favorite spring/summer dessert! This recipe is so good! If I'm making it for my husband (diabetic), I substitute most of the sugar with Splenda. I love it so much I'll eat the whole pan myself. ?

Absolutely fantastic! Most perfect cake recipe for strawberry shortcake! It's sweet but not too sweet and is strong enough for the strawberries on top. I didn't alter anything and plan to use the recipe for many other desserts as well.

Followed instructions for the mix to a T, baked in my brownie pan divided into 9 wells, on convection at 350° (auto reduced to 325°) for 15 minutes, but they still looked pale so I turned it up to 400° for 5 minutes and they came out golden brown and delicious

First let me say I’ve never made a shortcake, ive only bought the spongy cups in a package from Walmart. It was definitely a quick and simple recipe. I didn’t have nutmeg so I put in a tsp of vanilla. After mixing and following directions verbatim (besides nutmeg) it was a bowl of crumbles. I was leery if this was how it was supposed to be. Nothing to lose at this point I sprayed a pie dish and dumped it all in. I followed other reviews and did 350* for 25 min since I’d recently had a high temp mishap. It did seem to bake together and we were able to slice. It was crisp on the outside and a little chewy on the inside. The flavor was delicious I’d had half a bottle of wine and self control was gone, so I had 3 pieces! Huge hit with the hubby. Wasn’t exactly the texture I was looking for so I’ll probably try a different recipe next time but I’d definitely do this one again in the future.

I just made this and it deserves a rave review it turned out beautiful the flavor and texture is awesome I wouldn't change a thing I made mine in a round glass pie pan turned out perfect baked it at 425 degrees however because of the glass pan turned out perfect thank you so much for an awesome recipe I love it

This was great. Did lower the temp to 390 and baked for 20 minutes. Really perfect.

Wow! This is a great recipe! I had my doubts when the dough was not what I expected it to be, but it came out beautifully and it is DELICIOUS.  The nutmeg gives it such a great flavor.  

I used a 9 inch pan and put the oven on 350.  I just doubled the baking time, but watched it.  Turned out great.

I made this today and doubled it in a 9x13 pan.  I lined it with parchment.  Baked it at 350 unitl it was golden and checked the center with a toothpick.  After it cooled, i put it in the fridge overnight for today.  This morning, i cut it into squares and plated for later.  Topped it with strawberries (soaked the strawberries in a homemade simple syrup) and put that over the cake with homemade whipped cream.  It was delish.  The cake had a wonderful rise to it.  The last shortcake i made from a different recipe didnt' rise much.  Def would make this again.  I have a really nice photo but for some reason it won't let me add that!

Amazing!!! Perfect balance of crumble and sweet for strawberry shortcake. I used cinnamon in place of the nutmeg.  This will definitely be a family favorite for years to come!

This short cake is so good,it's good without anything on it. I do prefer cinnamon instead of nutmeg.

Great simple recipe.  I didn't have nutmeg  so went a different route.  I added a teaspoon of lemon extract. Omigoodness, just lovely with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.  Like others, I baked at 350 for about 40 minutes.  Turned out perfectly.

I love this recipe!!! I will never buy store cakes again!!! It's so easy, and they taste amazing! This was the first time I have made the recipe at my new house but 15 minutes was a little to long, but for my other oven it was perfect!

The cake was delicious. A little crusty but that made a nice texture. Yum!

Didn't change a thing but did mess up on the oven temperature.  Still was great.  Even better when you get the temperature correct.

This was so thick and hard to spread in the pan.  I added more milk.   I had to bake it longer than said, and it was very crumbly .

I love this recipe! I made it just as written and the nutmeg flavor is wonderful. This will be my go-to recipe for strawberry shortcake from now on.

I doubled this recipe to make in a 9x13 pan. I also reduced the heat to 375 to allow it to bake longer. When it looked "almost done," I increased the temp to 450 for 5-7 minutes to ensure the "crusty" top would be there (as this is crucial to a good shortcake, in my opinion).

Best I've had, ever! Light and just the right texture. I used vanilla instead of the nutmeg and baked it at 350 until almost done and golden. Then lowered oven to 325 for the last 10 mins until pick came out almost clean...and let.cool in pan to let after heat cook it all throughout. Perfection!

This is a fantastic recipe. The only thing I did was lower the temp to 400, but I had to cook it twice as long. The last 5 minutes of cooking, I placed a sheet of tin foil so it wouldn’t burn.it came out perfect. Thank you so much for posting!

Great shortbread cake and the nutmeg is a nice touch. I halved the recipe and added 1/3 cup cane sugar to sweeten it up. I like it sweet and rustic - pressed dough into a glass pan and it's perfect!

This is the exact recipe I was looking for - this is the type of shortcake I grew up with - didn't change anything in the recipe and I don't feel it is necessary.

easy to make and oh so yummy smothered in fresh strawberries!  i'll be making it again!

There is no way this recipe was tested. It doesn't figure. The temp is too high, the batter doesn't pour as the recipe indicates,  and it is way too dry without adding more milk then whats called for. 
     I kept adding milk until it was  at least spoonable into the prepared pan. ( I am assuming a prepared pan means butter/margarine and dusted with flour) although it didn't specify. 
Also I added vanilla since i was already adding liquid. 
lowered the temp to 350 and 25 minutes. Actually came out pretty good. Hard to screw up the taste using  good ingredients . 
I would love to talk to the person that tested it.

Came out really light and delicious, just like my shortcake to be more dense. Cooked at 375 for 20 minutes and perfectly cooked. 4 stars because the temp and time listed on the recipe wouldn't be appropriate for this cake, glad I read the comments.

This was a very nice shortbread recipe that I made to go with my Easter dinner. I made fresh strawberry sauce to go on top and it was very delicious. I recommend this recipe.

This cake is nummy.  However, while the temp is set high to give the golden crisp on the outside it should likely be turned down through the cooking process to facilitate the inside cooking as well.  Mine was burnt on the outside and raw in the middle.  Followed directions exactly however, I did need to add a bit of extra milk as it was still very powdery when mixed.  So now need to cook another one as the parts that were cooked tasted real good and were a nice texture.  Also quite easy to make with my kitchenaid mixer doing all the work.

Perfect as is! My new favorite shortbread recipe.

I make it all the time.  My husband loves it.  I do add a little more milk as it seems a little dry, and I lower the oven temp to about 400 and bake it a little longer.

I have made this several times and it doesn't seem to get completely done in the center.

I couldn’t get it to cook in the middle. And I think it had too much baking powder...I could taste it. Also didn’t have the shortcake texture I am used to.

Wish I would have read the reviews first but it still came out yummy. Reduced sugar by a quarter cup. Used heavy cream over milk.

This is an excellent recipe exactly as written.  Be sure to gently stir in the milk/egg mixture into the flour for a tender cake.   The baking directions worked perfect for me in a dark nonstick 9 inch round pan.  The cake absorbs the strawberry juice perfectly.    I wouldn’t change anything about it.

The first bite wasn't bad.  By the second bite when the taste sunk in, it wasn't good.

If you follow the baking instructions, the outside of the cake will get overcooked while the inside is undercooked. I wasted an hour of baking only for this to happen, and once it’s done there’s not much you can do and you’ll end up with an inedible shortcake.

This is the best shortcake recipe that I have found so far.  Followed the recipe exactly. Slightly sweet bread and crusty edges. Great texture!

My family and I absolutely loved this short cake.  I used both strawberries and black berries for my topping and of course whipped topping.  My only complaint is that it got a little too done on top.  Next time I will bake at 375 to 400 and see if that solves the problem.  The taste and texture are both wonderful.

This is a very good short cake. I made it for strawberry short cake kabobs. I cut it up in 1`inch cubes. Way better than the bought short cake. Easy to make.

No, just no.  I cringed at the 1 c of sugar and I should have followed my gut instinct.  Shortcake should be slightly sweet, this was like cookie dough sweet.  And cookie dough texture.  I’ll just say it wasn’t for me but tastes vary.

Everyone at our party loved this. Great flavor! My mistake was baking it too long. I did change the temperature to 350 and baked for just about 20 minutes (when it was brown on top as instructed in the comments).  I waited just a bit too long to take it out. I was worried.  t had a crusty outer layer and soft center and the strawberry juice softened it up just perfectly.  Im going to make this again. Thanks for sharing!

I was looking for something to make and ran across this.  I looked at the recipe, read the reviews, and immediately jumped up to make it.  It just finished....YUM!  (of course I had to take a corner off to taste it).  I made the recipe as is except I replaced the sugar with Swerve (doesn't mess with your blood sugar) and replaced nutmeg with cinnamon and vanilla.  I just sat down to not only write this but to add it to my recipes as I will be making this again and again.  I can't wait for my family to have dessert tonight!  Thank you so much for sharing this deliciousness.

old-fashioned shortcake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total: 1 hours

Servings: 4.5

Cost: $8.40 /serving

Author : Jennifer Kuchnicki Merzlicker

Ingredients

Instructions

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