Name: Mini Shortcake Cups
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 16 mini cups
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 cups angel food cake cut into cubes; 1 cup Strawberries chopped; 1 cup Blueberries; 2 cups Whipped cream

Sweet and simple mini shortcake cups made with angel food cake, whipped cream, and plump berries. Great for patriotic holidays or all summer long, and can easily be prepped in advance!

Mini Shortcake Cups for Summer

It’s likely that someone will correct me for using the term “shortcake” in this recipe name. Strawberry shortcake is traditionally made with a sweet cake or biscuit, so technically, these cute little cups are not shortcakes. But I called them mini shortcake cups because I know plenty of people who have adapted the old favorite by using angel food cake.

For an even more portable, no-dish option, skewer everything instead, these strawberry shortcake kabobs are a no-fork take on the cups.

So where do the blueberries come in you ask? Just like in our American Flag Brownies, the blueberries create a patriotic color scheme making them perfect for Memorial Day or the 4th of July!

The summer months bring us bushels and baskets full of ripe strawberries, raspberries, and other seasonal fruits. Summer also means that we want to try and keep things a little lighter in the dessert department, so angel food cake is an ideal choice.

RELATED: you might also like this recipe – American Flag Cupcakes

A Few Helpful Tips

I used basic white plastic spoons with a few star-shaped foam stickers. Easy peasy. If you’re looking for cute, try the short wooden spoons. But be forewarned, you can’t find those at Walmart or the dollar store, you’ll have to plan ahead and order them or find a party supply store that carries them.

When looking for containers for these individual shortcake cups I found some plastic snack cups with lids at Walmart in the aisle where plastic utensils, paper plates, and napkins are sold. I thought these were ideal in case anyone wanted to take any home, they could just pop on a lid!

You can use Cool Whip if you like. I actually used whipping cream and I beat it in my mixer with some powdered sugar. I don’t have anything against Cool Whip or canned whipping cream. To each his own. So you go ahead and use whatever you like best. It won’t offend me!

If you want to make these mini shortcake cups ahead of time you totally can just don’t add the whipped cream until you are almost ready to serve them. Whipped cream, especially fresh that you have whipped yourself that does not contain stabilizers, can begin to collapse as time passes by. It’s safe to add the whipped topping a few hours before serving, just keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to hand them out.

Ingredients for Mini Shortcake Cups

CAKE – You can make an angel food cake from scratch, or you can grab one from your local grocery store already made.

BERRIES – I opted for blueberries and strawberries as I was prepping them for the Fourth of July, but you can easily substitute with any combination of berries you wish!

WHIPPED CREAM – If you are preparing your strawberry shortcake cups in advance, I would highly recommend whipping up a batch of stabilized whipped cream, or opting for Cool Whip. Regular whipped cream is great, but it will not last as long and tends to deflate.

Helpful Kitchen Tools

plastic snack cups
plastic spoons or wooden ice cream spoons
paring knife
serving tray

I have a patriotic American flag kabob recipe that uses angel food cake as well, so if you have leftovers from these little cups, don’t despair! You can definitely use them up there.

Variations of these little Shortcake Cups

You don’t have to stick with just blueberries and strawberries. Heck, some people might not like strawberries (gasp!). You can use raspberries for the red fruit and blackberries for the “blue” fruit. There’s a photo below showing a few different variations, do whatever you want!

There are no rules. You could even bake up a box of white cake or use a pound cake if you want. You just do whatever makes you happy and that will make your guests happy too.

Serving Suggestions

I think you’re really going to love these mini shortcake cups because they are so incredibly easy to throw together, they are small, but not too small, and they look totally fun and impressive. When food looks fun, it draws people in. Oh, and they’re less than 60 calories per cup!

Serve your cups chilled with a wooden or plastic spoon for scooping and enjoy!