The secret to endless summer…

I wish I could bottle up summer and keep it forever. (This guy may be onto something…)

It’s only July, but I’m doing everything I can to hold on to the season. I come home from trips with edible souvenirs (most recently, a bottle of mirto, a popular Sardinian myrtle berry liqueur) and squirrel away jars of frozen pesto that I can use to brighten up the doldrums of winter.

I love an ingredient that lets summer linger. A jar of jam, a handful of frozen berries, or a bag of freeze-dried fruit can capture a fleeting moment at its peak.

Now, there’s nothing I’d change about a classic strawberry shortcake. Its charm comes in part from how ephemeral it is: ripe berries at their sweetest, tender biscuits, and billowy whipped cream, best consumed the moment after it’s assembled. But the strawberry shortcake window is brief; at the farmers market strawberries have already given way to blueberries (those make a good shortcake too).

But when strawberry season is gone, there’s a consolation prize: these Strawberry Shortcake Cookies from recipe developer Sarah Carey. These sandwich cookies capture almost everything I love about traditional strawberry shortcake. Freeze-dried strawberries addsupercharged, sweet-tart berry flavor to a luscious filling, while heavy cream gives the cookies a tender crumb reminiscent of a biscuit.

I may not be able to bottle up summer, but these cookies capture the season even when it’s long gone. Make them now for your picnics and beach days, then again in winter when the dog days of July seem a long way off.

• Zaynab Issa’s Iced Strawberry Matcha recipe is the best I’ve tried. (And also calls for freeze-dried strawberries!)

• Cold noodles will always be the answer in 90+ degree weather.

• Still thinking about this adorable mini layer cake.

• More ways to bake with freeze-dried fruit.

• We knew it: There’s sugar in space.