Recipe #3 of the day…
So, I scanned a bunch of strawberry shortcake recipes the other day since we were having company and I had a truckload (slight exaggeration) of strawberries in the fridge and they were really delicious. A few intrigued me, but this one looked fairly simple so I thought I’d give it a try. I thought it was really, really good, and it looks nice, too, if you’re serving it to company! The original is linked above; here is how I will make it next time.
1 quart strawberries, sliced
3/4 cup sugar (more if strawberries are tart)
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, separated
2 cups sweetened whipped cream (thanks to Michon, my SIL, for making this!)
In a bowl, gently stir strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar; chill.
Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Combine milk and egg yolks; mix well. Add to crumb mixture, stirring just until moistened.
Divide and pat into two greased 9-in. round cake pans. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; spread as flat as possible over dough. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar. Bake at 300 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until golden. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. (Layer will be thin.) Cool completely. (NOTE: it’s going to look kinda weird with the baked egg on top. No worries; it’s fine.)
Place one cake layer on a large serving plate; spread with half of the whipped cream. Spoon half of the strawberries over cream. Repeat layers.
*I had read some reviews that said that the cake was a bit dry (duh, it’s shortcake), so I took the suggestions given and drained the syrup from the strawberries onto the bottom cake (you could do this to the top cake, too, but it would be messier). Delicious.
**The original calls for a full cup of sugar total; as long as your strawberries are ripe and sweet, there’s no need for a 1/2 a cup in there.
Three More Bites... 