Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberries elicit so many spring and summer memories.  My mom often took us strawberry picking with her in late May when the berries were perfectly ripe.  They probably should have weighed us as well as the berry baskets because those sweet, juicy fruits were completely irresistible in the hot sun!  We would take those red jewels home and make strawberry pie, strawberry ice cream topping and my favorite – strawberry shortcake.  My mom, sisters and I didn’t mind quite as much when Dad couldn’t make it home for dinner during the strawberry season because it meant strawberry shortcake for dinner!  Dad doesn’t like many fruits and definitely not berries, so it was not an option when he was dining with us.  But on the days he called and said he wouldn’t make it for dinner, the first response from Mom was, “Strawberry shortcake for dinner!” and I would look forward to the summery treat all day.

I had been craving strawberries this year, but thought I missed the season.  I lucked out though because our cool, rainy spring delayed the strawberries, so I was able to get some great berries at the farmer’s market over the weekend.  When I asked Tim what he wanted me to do with them, he requested strawberry shortcake.  I was only too happy to oblige and called Mom for the recipe we had received from a neighbor years ago.  It was exactly as I remembered it…with some whipped cream added to the top for good measure. J

Ingredients

Shortcake
2 ½ Cups flour

2 Teaspoons baking powder

½ Teaspoon salt

2 Eggs

1 Cup sugar

1 Cup milk

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 Teaspoon vanilla

Strawberries

Sugar

½ Pint whipping cream

Confectioner’s sugar

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (350 if using a glass baking dish).  You can make it in two 8-inch round pans or a square baking dish, which is what I did because I like a taller cake.  Grease the pan or pans.  Place all the shortcake ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir them to just combine them.  Pour the ingredients into the baking dish.  If using the round pans, bake them for 25 – 30 minutes and if using the one square dish, bake it for 30 – 35 minutes.  Bake the cake until a tester comes out clean.  But while the cake is baking…

Step 2

Clean the strawberries, remove the tops and slice the berries into a bowl.  Then sprinkle on a teaspoon of sugar (more if you want it sweeter) and let the mixture macerate in the fridge.  The sugar will help the berries release their juices and you will have a beautiful strawberry syrup.

Step 3

When the cake is out of the oven and has cooled to your desired temperature (which meant an agonizing five minutes until I decided I would just eat it hot!), whip your cold cream.  When it’s almost whipped, add enough confectioner’s sugar to get your desired taste.  Then finish whipping until it is stiff, but has not turned to butter.

You're ready to assemble your strawberry shortcake!  Enjoy!