diff --git a/IPython/html/static/base/js/utils.js b/IPython/html/static/base/js/utils.js
index 95084c8..a2287d3 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/base/js/utils.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/base/js/utils.js
@@ -365,6 +365,16 @@ IPython.utils = (function (IPython) {
     var press_up = function() { press(keycodes.UP); };
     var press_down = function() { press(keycodes.DOWN); };
 
+    var press_ctrl_enter = function() {
+        $(document).trigger($.Event('keydown', {which: keycodes.ENTER, ctrlKey: true}));
+    };
+
+    var press_shift_enter = function() {
+        $(document).trigger($.Event('keydown', {which: keycodes.ENTER, shiftKey: true}));
+    };
+    // trigger the ctrl-m shortcut followed by one of our keys
+    var press_ghetto = function(key) { presspress(key); };
+
 
     var points_to_pixels = function (points) {
         // A reasonably good way of converting between points and pixels.
@@ -423,6 +433,8 @@ IPython.utils = (function (IPython) {
         press : press,
         press_up : press_up,
         press_down : press_down,
+        press_ctrl_enter : press_ctrl_enter,
+        press_shift_enter : press_shift_enter,
         fixCarriageReturn : fixCarriageReturn,
         autoLinkUrls : autoLinkUrls,
         points_to_pixels : points_to_pixels,
diff --git a/IPython/html/tests/casperjs/test_cases/execute_code_cell.js b/IPython/html/tests/casperjs/test_cases/execute_code_cell.js
index f3ce449..4ba8356 100644
--- a/IPython/html/tests/casperjs/test_cases/execute_code_cell.js
+++ b/IPython/html/tests/casperjs/test_cases/execute_code_cell.js
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ casper.notebook_test(function () {
         var cell = IPython.notebook.get_cell(0);
         cell.set_text('a=11; print(a)');
         cell.clear_output()
-        $(document).trigger($.Event('keydown', {which: 13, ctrlKey: true}))
+        IPython.utils.press_ctrl_enter();
     });
 
     this.waitFor(function () {
@@ -48,4 +48,28 @@ casper.notebook_test(function () {
         })
         this.test.assertEquals(result, '11\n', 'cell execute (using ctrl-enter)')
     });
+    
+    // do it again with the keyboard shortcut
+    this.thenEvaluate(function () {
+        var cell = IPython.notebook.get_cell(0);
+        cell.set_text('a=12; print(a)');
+        cell.clear_output()
+        IPython.utils.press_shift_enter();
+    });
+
+    this.waitFor(function () {
+        return this.evaluate(function get_output() {
+            var cell = IPython.notebook.get_cell(0);
+            return cell.output_area.outputs.length != 0;
+        })
+    });
+
+    this.then(function () {
+        var result = this.evaluate(function () {
+            var cell = IPython.notebook.get_cell(0);
+            var output = cell.output_area.outputs[0].text;
+            return output;
+        })
+        this.test.assertEquals(result, '12\n', 'cell execute (using shift-enter)')
+    });
 });