Each June, my family loves to eat strawberries and whipped cream by the pool under the light of the full moon.

This has become our ritual because one of the common names of the June full moon is the Strawberry Moon due to Native American tribes harvesting strawberries at this time.

The full moon happens here in Scottsdale, AZ on Jun 21, 2024 at 6:07 pm. You can always find your local time for the moon phases here: http://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/.

Magical Properties of Strawberries

I’m working on a new book about adding a little magic to your summer season and fun rituals to do during the summer full moons.

I love learning the magical properties of foods and incorporating them into my cooking.

Strawberries are often associated with abundance, love, passion, simplicity, and motherhood.

In Irish lore, strawberries are a customary offer to attract faeries.

What do you associate with strawberries? You can work your own magic into this recipe.

I’ve elevated our normal ritual to a strawberry shortcake recipe that has circle shortcakes to represent the full moon. So fun!

How to make this recipe a ritual

Recipes are already rituals and here are a few tips to take it deeper:

1. After rinsing your strawberries hold them in the sunlight or moonlight asking them to be blessed with the positive energy of the summer season.
2. Hold your hands over the strawberries and imagine sparkly reddish white light pouring into them and say one of the following:
   • May abundance shower anyone who eats these strawberries.
   • May these strawberries help me/us relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of summer.
   • As I/we eat these berries, may my/our passions flourish and grow.
3. Hold your hands over the shortcake circles (before or after baking) and imagine a full moon over your head, its silvery light shining down through you and out of your hands into the shortcakes, and say one of the following:
   • May the abundant energy of the full moon infuse these shortcakes and flow into the lives of everyone who enjoys them.
   • As these shortcakes are eaten, may my/our hearts be filled with gratitude.
4. Hold your hands over the strawberry shortcakes before serving, and ask God/Universe/Spirit/Angels and say one of the following:
   • God/Universe/Spirit/Angels, as I/we eat these treats may my/our hearts be filled with your light and love.
   • God/Universe/Spirit/Angels, thank you for this food and please help me/us focus on the blessings of the summer season.
5. Enjoy your strawberry shortcakes under the light of the full moon and express gratitude for the blessings in your life.

I’d love to know if you try it and what you think or if you have any favorite strawberry recipes that you’d like to share.

Strawberry Moon Shortcake Recipe

(adapted from NYT Cooking recipe)

Ingredients:

• 2 pints ripe strawberries
• ½ cup sugar, or more to taste
• 4 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1¼ cups butter
• 3 cups whipping cream
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Rinse and hull the strawberries. Then slice. Mash up about 1/3 of them to release the juices and add the rest. Sprinkle on sugar, mix, and set aside or refrigerate. (Feel free to skip the sugar!)
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Sift 4 cups of flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, salt, and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl. Add ¾ cup of softened butter and mix it into dry ingredients. Add 1¼ cups cream, and mix to a soft dough. Then knead the dough for one minute in the bowl or on a lightly floured surface.
4. Roll out the dough to about ½-inch thickness. Use a biscuit cutter or other circle cutter to cut your circle rounds. (You can also use an upside-down glass to make your circle cuts.)
5. Use some of the butter to grease a baking sheet. Place the rounds on it. Melt the remaining butter and brush a little on the rounds.
6. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Remove from the oven and brush the tops again with some of the remaining melted butter.
8. Using a hand mixer or whisk beat the remaining cream until it thickens. Add vanilla and beat again just until thick. (I used Califia Farms non-dairy heavy cream and it turned nice and thick after being refrigerated. Feel free to use store-bought whipped cream too.)
9. Top each shortcake moon with spoonfuls of cream and berries. Enjoy immediately.

If you have any tips to add, I’d love to hear them. This recipe yielded sooooo many shortcake moons so we will be freezing them and enjoying this all summer long!

This is perfect 3 days before or after the full moon or ANY time this summer.

I hope you enjoy your Strawberry Moon Shortcake!

Tips:

• If your first batch is for a small amount of people, you can use 1/4 of the strawberries and freeze the remaining shortcakes.
• You can also halve the recipe to make fewer shortcakes.
• You can use two shortcakes per serving also. Load everything in between and top with whipped cream.
• Store-bought whipped cream is perfect too!
• I don’t give a serving size because it will vary depending on the size of the circles you cut.
• You can see a video of my process on Instagram here:
• Don’t want to bake? Simply enjoy some strawberries and whipped cream under the full moon. Or Trader Joe’s has some delicious shortcake biscuits that I used last year.