Strawberry Shortcake Cups
Strawberry Shortcake Cups are an easy and delicious light dessert. These mini dessert cups are the perfect handheld dessert for upcoming summer barbecues, gatherings, and holidays!
I love serving strawberry shortcake in the summer because it is so light and refreshing! My strawberry shortcake cake is also a stunning dessert that is easy to make but looks so pretty!
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos and more helpful success tips.
How To Make Strawberry Cups
I made these strawberry cups a little lighter by using angel food cake instead of traditional shortcake. That way you can have 2 cups (you’re welcome!) However, if you prefer regular shortcake, feel free to substitute that instead. It will be equally as good.
You will only need a handful of ingredients – strawberries, angel food cake, an orange, powdered sugar, whipping cream, and vanilla.
For this recipe, I chose to use a store-bought angel food cake, but feel free to make your own if you prefer.
If you’re in a hurry, feel free to use store-bought whipped topping and simply stir in some zest (you’ll need about 4 cups of whipped topping, also known as Cool Whip). I highly recommend making freshly whipped cream, but I use shortcuts too, so no judging here if you use store-bought.
FAQs
You’ll need to use ten 9-ounce cups. You can use smaller cups and make more, or larger cups and make less, depending on how many mini dessert cups you want to make. Smaller mason jars also work well for serving these strawberry trifles.
No, frozen strawberries are way too mushy and will leave the strawberry cups soggy and unappealing. Stick to fresh strawberries for best results.
Sure! Mix in a few fresh raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries. Just make sure you clean and dry them before adding them to the mini dessert cups.
Variations!
CAKE: You can try different cake options, such as regular shortcake, pound cake, or even strawberry cake for an even more intense strawberry flavor.
WHIPPED CREAM: I have made these 24 hours in advance, but the whipped cream does get watery. To fix this, you can follow these directions for the whipped cream portion: In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with the powdered sugar and vanilla until soft and creamy. In another bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream just until soft peaks form. You’ll want them to collapse, not stand up. Add the cream cheese mixture and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the orange zest.
You can also use store-bought Cool Whip or use those cans of redi-whip.
More Tasty Strawberry Recipes
Strawberry Shortcake Trifle Cups
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (910g) strawberries
- 1 orange
- 2 cups (475ml) heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup (55g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 (11 oz)(312g) angel food loaf or cake
- 10 (9oz) clear plastic cups
- Mint leaves for garnish optional
Instructions
STRAWBERRIES:
- Wash and cut your strawberries into quarters (reserve a few strawberries to cut in half for garnish if desired). Place in a medium sized bowl. Zest the orange and reserve for later, you will need about 1½ teaspoons of zest. Juice the orange and add to the strawberries. Gently toss the strawberries and orange juice, set aside.2 pounds (910g) strawberries, 1 orange
WHIPPED CREAM:
- In a large bowl whip the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla together just until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the reserved 1½ teaspoons of orange zest, set aside. Cube the angel food in to small bite sized pieces.2 cups (475ml) heavy whipping cream, ½ cup (55g) powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla
ASSEMBLY:
- Cube the angel food cake into ½" cubes. Gently toss the strawberries in the juice one more time.1 (11 oz)(312g) angel food loaf or cake
- Place a small amount of angel food in the bottom of a cup. Top with a few strawberries (don't be afraid to get some of the orange juice in there as well) then whipped cream. Repeat layers one more time. Repeat for remaining cups. Top with a strawberry half and mint leaf if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- I have made these 24 hours in advance but the whipped cream does get watery. To fix this you can follow these directions for the whipped cream portion: In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with the powdered sugar and vanilla until soft and creamy. In another bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream just until soft peaks form. You’ll want them to collapse, not stand up. Add the cream cheese mixture and beat until stiff peaks. Fold in the orange zest.
If your looking for an elegant desert to make look no further! The added orange is what makes these stand out from all the other recipes for this treat! Do not hesitate to try this! I served it for a baby shower and made 20! I did add Knox unflavored gelatin to stabilize the whip cream as the other person in a comment suggested and it held up very, very well! total hit! thank you!
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment!! Totally made my day so much better!! Thank you so much for sharing about the gelatin as well!
Celeste, can you tell me how much gelatin you used?
I made a double recipe for an outdoor July 4th party of twenty. Everyone raved about it! I did, however, make a few recipe adjustments. First, I used heavy whipping cream but radically reducted the amount of sugar as I don’t like overly sweet whipped cream. I added about 1/4 cup to 4 cups of whipping cream. I didn’t add orange to the cream, but I did use unflavored gelatin to stabilize the whipped cream so it wouldn’t deflate or get watery. I used a combo of pound cake and angel food cake for the cake layers and it tasted really good. Doubling every ingredient worked perfectly for 24 – 10 ounce cups, with one exception: I had to run out and get another 2 cups of whipping cream to complete the top layer. I piped the cream for all layers. I assembled the cups about 4-1/2 hours before we ate, and they held up beautifully! Thanks for this recipe! I will definitely make it again.
I am so glad you like the trifle cups!! And thank you much for sharing all your tips, I greatly appreciate it!
What size are the cups you used? I am making this for a graduation party:)
Sorry just noticed it says 9oz cups!
No problem!! Let me know how everything goes!! 🙂
Hello! Planning on making these for a work event next week but I need to make them ahead of time. Do you think they would be ok to make the night before and refrigerate or does it get mushy?
THANK YOU:-)
Just from my personal experience, I wouldn’t make this over 3 hours in advance. The leftovers are still good but yes it does get mushy. You could, however, prep everything and place into separate containers the night before then assemble the trifle cups a couple of hours before serving. I would also replace the homemade whipped cream for store bought whipped cream because it can get a little watery if made to far in advance. Hope this helps and I hope you enjoy!!
Did you used the powdered gelatin? I need to make like 35 cups.
No, I didn’t. Thanks for asking and let me know how they turn out!
I’m planning a rehearsal dinner for my son and his fiancée, and I couldn’t decide on a dessert. Well, his 2 favorite desserts are strawberry shortcake and trifle, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to come across this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing!
I am so glad I could be of help!!! Please let me know how everything goes!
Love anything strawberry shortcake related – especially for Spring!
Thank you so much, Thalia!!