If you haven’t noticed, I love birthdays. I enjoy celebrating the lives of the people I love and an excuse to stay out late, finding a little trouble. When my friend Jo Anna told me she had no birthday plans, I insisted I make her a cake. Without skipping a beat, she insisted I make her a strawberry shortcake.
Readers, I was a little at a loss. Strawberries, as you know, are out of season and I wasn’t quite sure what constituted a “shortcake.” Sure, I’d seen those weird circular cakes sitting in the package, but I was going to make this from scratch- FROM SCRATCH, I SAY! So, after brief research I learned two things about shortcake.
1. Traditional southern shortcake is made with biscuits.
2. Most recipes require you to use Pillsbury biscuits.
Since I’m not one to use Pillsbury biscuits and Jo Anna wanted the more modern sponge cake version, I scorned the web until I realized I had the perfect recipe right on the cover of my own copy of Sky High Cakes. The problem was I didn’t have any 6″ pans. I improvised the assembly of the shortcakes to phenomenal results.
This strawberry shortcake is sweet, but not sugary. Though it takes some time to let the strawberries marinate in its own juices mixed with sugar and the recipe is easy and quick enough to make as the dessert for a late lunch. After sitting for a couple hours, the juice, sugars, and whipped cream meld into a sweet and fruity, light dessert.
The downside to this treat is it does not store well. It must be stored in its three separate components, hence the alternate ways to make the cake. That way you can make exactly how much you want for the time being.
Sky-High Strawberry Shortcake
(from Sky High Cakes | serves 8-10)
Can create one 6-inch triple layer cake or six mini double layer cakes and a couple dessert cups.
Ingredients for Cake & Strawberry Filling
For cake:
5 TB unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 c plus 2 T of sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 c cake flour
2 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
2/3 c buttermilk
1 1/2 c heavy cream
Whole strawberries for garnish
For Strawberry Filling
2 pints strawberries
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c sugar
Cake Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottoms and sides of three 6-inch round cake pans. (You can line the bottom of each with a round of parchment or waxed paper) If you chose the second option, grease a 9×13 pan.
2. In a large mixer bowl, cream the butter, 3/4 c of sugar, and the vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk. (Start with the dry ingredients and end with the dry ingredients). Divide the batter amoung the three prepared pans/put in the pan.
4. Bake the cake layers for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for ten minutes before inverting onto wire racks. Let the cake cool completely.
5. In a large chilled bowl, whip the cream with the remaining 2 T of sugar until stiff (about 3 cups)
Strawberry Filling
Clean, hull, and slice the berries about the thickness of a nickel. Placei n a bowl and add the vanilla and sugar. Stir to coat them, cover the bowl and let the berries macerate at room temperature until they exude their juices (about one hour.)
Assembly
To assemble the shortcake, place one cake layer, falt side up, on a cake stand/serving plate. Top with 3/4 of the fresh strawberry filling, spooning it over the entire layer and making sure any uices go onto the cake layer and not the plate, if possible. Top this with 1c of the whipped cream, spreading it evenly over the berries. Repeat with the second and third layer.
The alternate assemblies: using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out circles from the pans. Don’t worry about the extra cake, that will be used later. Cut each cake circle in half. Top the first half with 2T of strawberry filling, then 2T of whipped cream. Repeat for the second layer. With extra cake, cut into large square pieces and place in drinking glasses. Fill with left over strawberry filling and whipped cream.


































