Barbara Costello’s Strawberry Shortcake Sheet Cake Recipe

​1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt​1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½-inch pieces​

½ cup well-shaken buttermilk​

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream, plus more if needed​

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

For the strawberries and cream topping

​1½ pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced​

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar​

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice​3 teaspoons vanilla extract​

1½ cups heavy cream

Directions​

1. Prepare the shortcake: Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.​

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and use your hands to toss it in the flour to coat. Use your fingers to mash each piece of butter into a flat piece, tossing it in flour as you go. Aim for pieces around the size of a nickel.​

3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk and ½ cup of the cream. Stir gently until just combined, with a few dry spots remaining. Use your hands to fold the dough over itself in the bowl a few times, until the dough is evenly moistened, but be careful not to overwork it. The dough should just hold together and should not be crumbly. There should still be visible pieces of butter. This may require adding another tablespoon or two of cream.​

4. Turn out the dough onto the sheet pan and sprinkle a bit of flour over the top. Use your hands or a rolling pin to press or roll the dough into a rough oval ½ inch thick. (If the dough seems at all warm or the butter is very soft, refrigerate for 10 minutes.) Brush off any excess flour, then brush with the remaining 2 tablespoons cream and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.​

5. Bake the shortcake until golden brown and crisp at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on the pan.​

6. Prepare the strawberries: In a large bowl, stir together the strawberries, 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let macerate briefly, stirring the mixture occasionally until ready to serve.​

7. When ready to serve, whip the cream: In a medium bowl, combine the cream, the remaining teaspoon granulated sugar and remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla. Use an electric hand mixer or whisk to beat the mixture to medium peaks.​

8. Transfer the shortcake to a serving platter (or leave on the sheet pan!). Top with swoops of whipped cream, then carefully spoon the strawberries and their juices over the cream. Slice with a serrated bread knife and serve immediately.

Excerpted from the book Every Day with Babs by Barbara Costello. Copyright © 2025 Motherhood Media, LLC. Photographs copyright © 2025 by Dane Tashima. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.