Strawberry Shortcake

My parents had a huge {read: huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge} garden when I was little. If I'd known to do so, I might have accused my dad of tilling half the yard so he didn't have to mow it. Every year, he ran the red tiller down the plot of dirt, and I'd run along behind in my bare feet, feeling the loose dirt between my toes.

They planted all kinds of vegetables...but they did have a whole section just for strawberries. I'd watch as the tiny green berries popped out and then they blushed into pink and then right on into red. I didn't love picking them, but I did love it when Mom cleaned them, cut them, buried them in sugar, and served them over the little sponge cakes from the grocery store. Strawberry shortcake nights were second only to strawberry pie nights in my book.

As an adult, I continued the tradition of sponge cakes under my berries...but I learned I could get those berries from the store! And then...I learned about the Ivanhoe's strawberry shortcake. If you're not from our area and haven't experienced this delicacy...then I'm just sorry. There's truly nothing I can do to make up for that loss.

But a few years ago, I visited my friend Ronda at her house for dinner, and she offered me strawberry shortcake for dessert. In my bowl, buried beneath the giant strawberries, was a cake that tasted as close to Ivanhoe's as I'd ever tasted. Hesitantly, I asked her if she shared her recipe, and to my delight, she said yes.

I made some this week, and we've been snacking on it little by little every day...and how I love summer. 

Thought I'd share it with you today. The weekend is coming, and it might be the perfect time for some warm cake out of the oven, doused in juicy strawberries and topped {of course} with whipped cream!

Strawberry Shortcake

* 2/3 cup butter, softened
* 1 3/4 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 3/4 cups flour
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/4 cup milk

Heat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan or two 9-inch round pans. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl. Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to butter mixture. Bake a 9x13 for 40-50 minutes and smaller layers at 30-35 minutes. Serve warm with strawberries and whipped cream.

A Few Tips

* Since I don't have a garden, I normally buy two 1-pound packages of strawberries at the store, and that gives me about enough strawberries for a 9x13. If you really love a ton of strawberries in your strawberry-to-cake ratio, you're welcome to do many more.


* Rinse the berries, cut the tops off, and cut them into halves or quarters to make them smaller for serving. I like mine a little sweet and juicy, so I sprinkle about 1/4 cup of baking Stevia over the chopped berries and refrigerate them for a while so the sugar breaks them down a bit. If you like the berries very very sweet, you can use regular sugar and add more to create a lot of juice.

* I use whole wheat flour in my baking, so my cake is a little darker than yours will be if you use white flour. I think it still tastes delicious.

* I use fat free or 1% milk and it works just fine.