Strawberry Shortcake

In the summer of 2017 I worked as an intern for strawberry research. Much strawberry baking ensued. Traditional strawberry shortcake is actually made with a biscuit, whipped cream, and strawberries. Instead of making a full-blown cake, I made a cake that's more dry, almost biscuit-like. It was light and delicious.

Recipe is here and more pictures of the process are below:

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 2/3 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup shortening

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 cup milk

Whipped cream:

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

• 1-1/2 quarts fresh or frozen (fresh is best) strawberries, sliced about 4-6 mm thick

Directions:

• In a bowl, cream sugar and shortening. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with milk to the creamed mixture. Spread in a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

• Whip up heavy cream and powdered sugar until it gets fluffy whipped texture.

• Cut cake in half. Put half the whipped cream on the bottom layer and place top half of cake on top. Add rest of whipped cream and decorate with more strawberries.

• 8 servings.

My first time cutting a cake in half went well! Granted, this was a dryer cake...

Whipped cream

Luscious strawberries. So much better than store-bought, leagues ahead of storebought.

The original recipe is here: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/strawberry-shortcake