4 Levels of Strawberry Shortcake: Amateur to Food Scientist | Epicurious

We challenged chefs of three different skill levels - amateur Billy, home cook Gina, and professional chef Umber Ahmed - to make us their take on a classic strawberry shortcake. Once each level of chef had presented their creations, we asked expert food scientist Rose to explain the choices each made along the way. Which strawberry shortcake will you be bringing to the picnic?



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[DJDragonFlyJonezNJ]

"i can neither confirm or deny if i heard of Diplomat cream, its a diplomatic answer"🤣🤣🤣🤣

[moveslikeninja]

"it's not too sweet"
honestly my highest form of a compliment for a dessert too LOL

[tcgtpl]

A rare case where all levels actually make the same thing. Usually it’s Level 1 - here’s a quick & cheap version. Level 2 - I’m going to make a higher level version. Level 3 - Screw this. I’m making something completely different.

[buttonenfuego]

"I'll be having an Aperol Spritz in the garden". This guy is my tribe

[henryault]

Ideas for future episodes:
- 4 Levels of Ribs
- 4 Levels of French Onion Soup
- 4 Levels of Cubans
- 4 Levels of Chicken Francese
- 4 Levels of Stir Fry
- 4 Levels of Snickerdoodles
- 4 Levels of Arancini
- 4 Levels of Pot Pie
- 4 Levels of Bibimbap
- 4 Levels of Chocolate Lava Cake

Edit: Everyone is free to come up with more ideas in addition to this list so that the people of Epicurious will know what we would like to see in the future.

[maromania]

I had no idea a shortcake was usually scone-like. I've only ever seen it with pound cake or (FAR more commonly in my area) angel food cake!

[jjayday_well]

I love Level 2 & 3. It's not making it complicated, it's about wanting to give yourself or your loved ones the best you can make. Excellent.

[KyleBaran]

Oh, it's been a hot minute since we've seen Rose!
I like the messy look that Gina had for her finished product. It has that sort of rustic appeal that uhh, I remember there was an Italian pizza on here that looked kinda rough but it looked 10/10 too

[Talowolf]

I saw Rose on History Channel's Foods that Built America. I got excited and told my mom, : "Hey, I knew her before she got cable channel famous!"

[wrecklisseve]

I'd buy Umber's cake, I'd try to make Gina's cake, I'd end up making Billy's cake. And I want an Aperol Spritz with Billy.

[nizarkayous]

Level 3: make a complicated cake.
Level 2: make a slightly less complicated cake.
Level 1: there it is, cake is cake.

[bdc.]

Happy to see a familiar face : Rose! It's been a while!😃
also great to see Billy and Gina again! their On The Spot episode with Chef Saúl still makes me laugh😂😂

[cozyeden]

Keep bringing Billy back! He is SO funny.

[TheDragonCupcake]

I wish they put the recipe to the level 3 cake in the description like they have with some of their other dishes before 😔 the biscuit shortcake version is nice and all but a light fluffy cake that isn’t super sweet sounds great

[Lynn]

Yay, four levels is back! I've missed it so much!

[benjaminmurray]

I have always looked forward to Rose's scientific breakdown of the processes. Man I've learned so much from this series and I have put it into practice and the results are amazing 👏

[faneeshrg]

Level 3 chef clearly shown what top chef level is compared to the others. No disrespect to them but Chef level 3 just showed off her skill set like a pro (Well she is a pro)

[startrek]

I guess I make level 1/2 for this one. I use shortcakes that are premade. Maserated strawberries that haven't actually sat long enough to let the juice out. And then canned whip on top. :D

[AthenaKeatingThomas]

Yay, you're back!
It's easy to make whipped cream out of heavy cream, a bit of sugar and a bit of vanilla. It's delicious! I've used small blenders or an immersion blender to do it. The hardest part is cleaning the tools. Once you do that, there's no need to return back to canned whipped cream!

[plantmommich]

Billy, Gina, and Umber are my new fav