Raspberry Shortcake with Raspberry Coulis & Yogurt Whipped Cream

Courtney and Tyler (my daughter and son-in-law) have some prolific raspberry bushes in their Idaho garden, and they picked a bunch to bring to us for this Raspberry Shortcake recipe for our 4th of July celebration! Not only are these the best raspberries I’ve ever tasted, but they were the perfect deep red color for this festive dessert to honor the USA and our 250 years as a nation!

Raspberry shortcake is a simple dessert that feels special without being too fussy. It has all the parts of a classic summer dessert: tender shortcakes, fresh berries, a bright raspberry sauce, and a lightly sweetened whipped cream blended with nonfat plain Greek yogurt. If you haven’t tried this combo for your whipped topping, you’re missing out! It’s great on any kind of fruit dessert! The yogurt gives it some extra texture and depth and a touch of tartness and is a nice change from regular whipped cream. It is still creamy and rich, just with a fresher taste.

The raspberry coulis is so smooth and thick and delicious! Coulis is just a smooth fruit sauce, and here it adds color, flavor, and a little tartness. It soaks slightly into the shortcake, and drizzles over the fruit and cream, which is exactly what you want. And, I have to brag here just a bit … this was Courts’ first time making coulis and it turned out absolutely perfect!

This is a great dessert for summer dinners, brunch, the Fourth of July, Labor Day Weekend, or anytime raspberries are looking especially good. You can make the shortcakes and coulis ahead of time, then assemble everything right before serving.

A Brief History of Shortcake

Shortcake has been around for centuries, and the name tells us a lot about the dessert. In older baking language, “short” referred to a tender, crumbly texture created when fat, such as butter or lard, was worked into flour. That is the same idea behind shortbread and shortcrust pastry. The word “shortcake” dates back to the 1590s, with Merriam-Webster listing its first known use as 1594. 

Early shortcakes were not the little sponge-cake cups many people associate with supermarket strawberry shortcake today. They were more like rich biscuits, crisp cakes, or cookies. Over time, shortcake became closely tied to fresh fruit and cream, especially in America, where strawberries, raspberries, peaches, and other summer fruits made a natural topping. Merriam-Webster still defines shortcake both as a biscuit or cookie and as a dessert made with rich biscuit dough and sweetened fruit. 

By the mid-1800s, shortcake began to look much more like the dessert we know today. Eliza Leslie’s The Lady’s Receipt-book was published in 1847, and a later edition includes a recipe for “Strawberry Cakes” made by rubbing butter into flour, baking the cakes, splitting them, and filling them with sweetened mashed strawberries. Most interesting for this raspberry version, Leslie even noted that raspberries could be used in place of strawberries. 

The rise of baking powder in the 19th century helped shortcake become lighter and easier to make. The American Chemical Society notes that baking powder made biscuits, cookies, and other quick baked goods more reliable for home bakers in the mid-1800s. That helped move shortcake toward the tender, biscuit-style dessert many of us know today. 

Shortcake also became part of seasonal entertaining. In the 19th century, strawberry festivals and parties were popular in New England, where strawberries were one of the first crops of summer. Strawberry shortcake became a standard refreshment at these gatherings, helping secure its place as a classic warm-weather dessert. 

That is why raspberry shortcake feels both traditional and fresh. At its heart, shortcake has always been about a tender, buttery base, ripe fruit, and something creamy to bring it all together. Whether made with strawberries, peaches, blueberries, or raspberries with coulis and yogurt whipped cream, it remains one of the simplest and best ways to celebrate seasonal fruit

Make-Ahead Tips

The raspberry coulis can be made up to a week ahead and stored in the refrigerator.

The shortcakes are best the day they are baked, but they can be made earlier in the day and kept loosely covered at room temperature.

The yogurt whipped cream can be made a few hours ahead and refrigerated until ready to use. Give it a quick whisk before serving if needed.

Also, be sure to only wash your raspberries just before you serve them. We like to keep them unwashed in a glass jar in the refrigerator until we rinse and serve them. This keeps them from getting too mush ahead of time.

Cook’s Note

This dessert does not need to look perfect. In fact, part of the charm is the way the coulis drips over the shortcake and the whipped cream settles into the layers. It is casual, fresh, and exactly the kind of dessert that belongs on a summer table.