Week 37: Strawberry Shortcake

My goodness, is this a gorgeous cake! I’m proud of this one. I’m not a huge fan of strawberry shortcake, but as I’ve mentioned in weeks past, when a friend with a birthday makes a special request, I’m forced to bake outside of my chocolatey, nutty, caramelized box. And I have to acknowledge that not EVERYONE loves a good sugar coma.

It was my dear friend Vanna’s birthday. And it was a special one. So naturally she was owed some cake of her choosing. I wasn’t surprised when she requested strawberry shortcake. It’s so “her”. She doesn’t love all the chocolatey sweet stuff I’m usually into. A few years ago I baked her V-shaped plain sugar cookies for her birthday. (I hate sugar cookies.)

I know some think of strawberry shortcake as layers of pound cake or angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries. Traditional strawberry shortcake, however, is really just a giant biscuit with layers of whipped cream, and strawberries. And it’s pretty simple to make. The only ingredients I didn’t already have in my kitchen were strawberries and Cool Whip, which I was using in place of actual whipped cream for fear that actual whipped cream might melt before it was served at the party.

Here’s the mise en place.

First I had to slice 2 lb of strawberries. That was the most time consuming step to making this cake. Once sliced, I tossed the strawberries with 1/2 cup white sugar.

In a medium bowl I sifted 2 1/4 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Then I sliced the 1/2 cup (1 stick) of room temperature butter and placed it in the dry ingredients.

I mixed it with the whisk until the butter was incorporated. Then I made a well and poured in 1 lightly beaten egg, 2/3 cup of whole milk, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.

I mixed it all together until it resembled dough. Meanwhile, I really wanted to make sure this cake/biscuit slid right out of the 8″ pan, so I rubbed the pan with butter and floured it. I was so proud of how well I had prepped the pan, I needed to snap a photo.

Using a rubber spatula, I distributed the dough in the pan as evenly as I could. I also used a bake even strip around the perimeter of the pan.

The cake baked in a 425 degree oven in 20 minutes. I rotated the pan halfway through. After the cake cooled in the pan on my wire rack for a few minutes, I removed the cake from the pan to cool completely. Doesn’t it look like a giant biscuit?

Once the cake was cooled, I sliced it in half using a serrated bread knife.

It was time to assemble the cake. Since I was bringing it to a party, I assembled the cake on a foil covered cake round so I could transport it in a cake box. I put about half the strawberries on the bottom cake layer, draining off some of the juice.

On top of the strawberry layer, I spread half the Cool Whip.

I placed the other cake layer and spread the remaining Cool Whip on top and topped it with the rest of the drained strawberries. I really love the rustic look of this cake.

I was so relieved the cake survived the walk to the party inside the cake box. Here’s the Birthday Girl looking gorgeous, illuminated by birthday cake candles.

The Birthday Girl took the leftovers home and ate it for breakfast the next day, a sure sign of a successful cake. I think this particular cake is like lasagna, it tastes better the next day once all the flavors have had a chance to marinate and meld together.