Shortcake generally refers to a dessert with a crumbly texture, similar to a scone or American biscuit. The "short" in the name refers to high proportion of fat to flour in the recipe, which is typically provided by butter.
The most common serving style of shortcake is with fruit and cream, as in strawberry shortcake (made with whipped cream), but also as blackberry and clotted cream shortcake, and lemon berry shortcake, which is usually served with lemon curd.