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Strawberry Chai Shortcake

May 21, 2014


Strawberry shortcake is definitely one of my favorite desserts.  Is there anything better than a crumbly biscuit, sweet strawberries, and whipped cream?  Apparently, the only way to top it is to add chai to the mix.  It’s an incredible combination I never, ever in a million years would’ve thought of if it wasn’t for tea being this month’s Recipe Redux theme + smelling these delicious strawberries the second I walked into the grocery store, from a solid 50 yards away.

Strawberry Chai Shortcake

So, chai is like the best tea, right?  I buy an extra, fiery spicy kind and would drink it a million times stronger, even.  Do you call it chai tea?  It’s a big of a pet peeve of mine.  Actually, I wish it had an entirely different name.  This last winter when I was making a cup, one of my coworkers asked what kind of tea I was making, so I said “chai”.  She gave me the funniest look and just laughed as she explained that where she’s from (China), I pretty much just told her the kind of tea I’m drinking is tea.  I knew that chai meant tea, but apparently it’s either less common than I thought or has another name to — either way, it’s delicious and everyone should drink it by the gallon.

Strawberry Chai Shortcake

 

 

Or eat it by the shortcake-ful(?).  The strawberry soaked shortcake-ful, because despite all the tea that goes into it, the biscuit is a touch dry and soaks up all that strawberry goodness perfectly.  Cover it in whipped cream (or even ice cream, mmm) and it’s the perfect summertime dessert.  If you’re more of a traditional strawberry shortcake fan, I have you covered there, too, or you can even make it as a donut.

Strawberry Chai Shortcake

Strawberry Chai Shortcake
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 8
 

Ingredients
  • Chai, 3 tea pouches
  • 2⅔ c white whole wheat flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp. turbinado or preferred sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ⅓ c fat free Greek yogurt, regular yogurt, or vegan yogurt
  • ½ c soda water, plus extra
  • ½ c hot water
  • 1 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced (See note)
  • 2 – 4 turbinado or preferred sugar, based on ripeness of strawberries and personal tastes
  • Whipped cream (regular, light, coconut or other vegan variety)

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and spritz a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
  2. Steep 2 tea bags in the hot ½ c of water, until you’ve brewed a very strong cup of tea. Discard tea bags.
  3. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt by whisking in a bowl. Add the yogurt, stirring until the flour looks crumbly. Add the tea and the soda water, stirring until the dough comes together. You may need to add a splash or two of extra soda water, but you do not want the dough sticky.
  4. Turn out onto a floured surface. Cut the remaining tea bag and sprinkle a portion of the tea onto the dough; fold in half and sprinkle additional tea. Repeat 2 times, until tea is gone. Add more flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
  5. Roll the dough out one last time, to about ⅛ inch thickness. Loosely fold. Using a biscuit cutter or a round glass dipped in flour, cut out biscuits. Roll and fold again, if necessary, until you have 8 – 9 biscuits.
  6. Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. Spritz the tops with nonstick spray and bake for 10 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, combine the strawberries and sugar. Microwave for one minute, until the strawberries are warm. Let set aside to allow the strawberries to release their juices (I prefer at least 1 hour).
  8. Once the biscuits are cool, remove from the baking sheet and cut in half. Assemble the shortcakes as follows: biscuit half, 1 tbsp. whipped cream, strawberries, top biscuit half, strawberries, 1 tbsp. more whipped cream. Personally, I like to assemble in a bowl and get extra strawberry liquid.

Notes
If you like your shortcakes extra strawberry-y (like me) then double the strawberry mixture. The calorie estimate increases to roughly 195 when you use ⅛th of the double batch.
Rolling the dough out and loosely folding will help achieve more rise in the biscuit.
Store left over biscuits at room temp and the strawberries in the fridge.

Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 biscuit, ⅛ sauce, 2 tbsp whipped cream Calories: 180 Fat: 2.5 Carbohydrates: 36 Fiber: 4 Protein: 7

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16 Comments
    serena May 24, 2014

    Strawberry picking on Monday…then I’m making these! I adore chai…funny story about your coworker. Love the greek yogurt kightened shortcakes!

    Sarah Grace May 23, 2014

    These look delicious! I make homemade biscuits a lot and I love this idea for shortcake.

    xoxo Sarah Grace, Fresh Fit N Healthy.

    Mireya @myhealthyeatinghabits May 23, 2014

    Hi Kelly,
    In my opinion you can’t beat strawberry shortcake. And chai short cake—even better.
    I was wonder what brand of fiery chai tea are you using. The two brands that I’ve tried don’t
    compare to homemade. What is your brand?

    Alexa May 23, 2014

    Hi I am an intern with Meal Makeover Moms and I helped make their Tea party Pavlovas! I love your recipe and I can’t wait ti try it!

    Sherri@The Well Floured Kitchen May 22, 2014

    Love the addition of chai to your shortcakes, such a great idea! I actually just got back from China, and was told to pronounce it “Cha” Of course, no matter what I did no one understood me. Good thing they automatically serve tea at every restaurant. Perhaps I should have tried saying “Chai”. Oh well, maybe next time.

      Kelly May 23, 2014

      Ha! That might be the point where I start just showing pictures of what I want. Note to self: bring flash cards of all the foods I love if I ever go to China 😉

    Joanne May 22, 2014

    It’s the same thing with curry! Whenever I tell my (Indian) best friend that that’s what I’m making she laughs because that’s just such a generic word in Hindi. It basically means that you’re making dinner.

    Anyways. You know I’m strawberry obsessed! And I love the idea of using chai to spice up shortcakes!

      Kelly May 22, 2014

      That’s even better! Now also I feel like every time I use curry powder (which I add to everything, always) I should just call it generic flavor sprinkles.

    Amy (Savory Moments) May 22, 2014

    What a great twist on a classic dessert! I bet it is really delicious. I love Chai flavors.

    jill conyers May 21, 2014

    What a great twist on an old favorite. Yum! I suddenly have a craving for strawberry shortcake!

    cheri May 21, 2014

    Love this twist on strawberry shortcake. Beautiful pics!

    Marisa @ Uproot from Oregon May 21, 2014

    Love that you used yogurt in these. Chai (haha love your ‘tea’ anecdote) is delicious in baked goods!

    Baby June May 21, 2014

    I love strawberry shortcake, but it sounds like it would be even better with chai flavors! How creative! 🙂

    Leigha @ Minougirl May 21, 2014

    Ohhh myyy gosh. This looks AMAZING! I agree, strawberry shortcake is one of the tastiest desserts. But who would’ve thought of adding chai?! Well, you, obviously, lol 🙂 looks great!!