Strawberry "Shortcakes"

It’s Friday! Wahoo!

It’s also finally strawberry season. And I am already going HARD on the strawbs this year.

It must be from moving somewhere that actually has a real winter. It has been so dreary and sad without berries. Spring hit and I was like, oh yes. Fruit other than apples and bananas please!!!

I’ve made Strawberry Kombucha earlier this week (SO GOOD), these little adorable cakes, AND I’m working up another strawb post for later this weekend. Can’t help it. Sorry not sorry.

These little cutie patooties are not your average strawb shortcake. You will find no biscuit shortcakes here. Don’t get me wrong… I totally do love the biscuity version!

But these babes have a super fluffy lemon sponge cake instead because I want everything to be fluffy always. Yes yes yes. Lemon sponge cake, fresh vanilla bean whipped cream, and strawberries. I’m obsessed.

From Mostly Sourdough at https://mostlysourdough.com/2019/05/strawberry-shortcakes/

https://mostlysourdough.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/IMG_8599.jpg

Yield: 4-8 mini cakes

Fluffy lemon cake filled with fresh vanilla bean whipped cream and strawberries. These cakes are short, but they're not your traditional strawberry shortcake.

You'll Need...

Cake:
4 eggs, room temp & separated
1 cup sugar, divided
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup cake flour (see * note below)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped)
1/2 cup diced strawberries (and one or two sliced for the top)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard half sheet pan (12x17) with parchment and butter the parchment and sides.
Cake: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 2/3 cup of the granulated sugar, veggie oil, milk, extract & zest. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt & b. powder. Add the dry to the wet, and fold until just incorporated (do not over mix). In your stand mixer (or with a hand beater) whisk the egg whites on medium-high until foamy. Slowly add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar a bit at a time as it mixes. Beat until it looks glossy and you have stiff peaks. Carefully incorporate the whipped whites into the cake batter, a bit at a time. You want it to be a poofy smooth batter, but try not to knock out too much air! Pour the batter into your pan and smooth it over. Bake for 12-15 minutes (rotating halfway) until it's light brown and springy to the touch. Let cool before removing from the pan.
Filling: In the bowl of your mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream and vanilla on medium high. Slowly incorporate the sugar and whip until you have stiff peaks. Keep an eye on it so you don't accidentally make butter 😛
Assembly: Using a 3 or 4 inch biscuit cutter, or even a drinking glass, cut out little circles from the cake. To assemble you can pipe the whipped cream onto the cakes using a piping bag, or just dollop it on with a spoon. Fill with strawberries, and repeat with two more layers of cake. Decorate the top as desired. Store in the fridge until serving.

Additional Notes

*If you don't have cake flour, you can do 3/4 cup all purpose flour & 2 tablespoons cornstarch.
-You can halve the recipe, and use a quarter sheet pan.
-Do two layers of cake instead of three to get more out of the recipe.
-You'll have a lot of cake scraps leftover, so feel free to piece bits together to make more cakes too, or you can even make a trifle. 🙂

Aren’t they so cute? And they really aren’t difficult to put together.

You can totally make the cake ahead of time (day before and just leave at room temp wrapped well, or you can even freeze it for another time).

AND they’d be perfect for a Mother’s Day treat!

I am so ready for summer and more of the best fruit. Come at me!

Strawberry “Shortcakes”