Strawberry Shortcake Dessert

Over the years, many of us have become accustomed to those spongy little cups from the grocery store, or the dessert made with angel food cake as a base, but neither of them are the original strawberry shortcake. To start with, shortcake is a rich biscuit. While the history of this dessert is shrouded with ambiguity, most people seem to believe that the idea of combining strawberries and shortcake originated somewhere in the southern U.S. The first recorded recipe for what most people believe to be strawberry shortcake, may have been the one printed under the name "Strawberry Cake" in Miss Leslie's Ladies Receipt Book, published in 1847.

How to Make Strawberry Shortcake (The Original Way)

Ingredients

For the Shortcake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 1 ½ tbsp baking powder
• 12 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• ¾ tsp salt

The Rest

• 3 baskets of fresh strawberries
• Whipping cream
• ½ cup sugar
• Vanilla

Directions
To prepare the biscuits, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, and sift twice. Add the butter to the flour mixture, and stir till you have a lumpy mixture. In a jug, mix together the cream and vanilla, and very gradually add it to the flour mixture. Pour in a little and stir, and follow this method till the jug is emptied. Don't expect to get a smooth batter. What you will get is a slightly dry, shaggy mixture that you will have to knead by hand to create a loose ball of dough. Transfer the ball of dough to a lightly floured flat surface, and pat/roll it into an eight inch square, ¾ to 1 inch thick. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the dough on it. Cover the sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 425ºF. Take the dough out of the refrigerator, and slice it onto 9 biscuits. Now push them apart, so there is a little space between each square. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown.

De-stem the strawberries, and chop them into ¼ inch to 1/8 inch slices. In a large bowl, combine the strawberries and ¼ or ½ cup sugar, depending on the tartness of the strawberries. Set aside at room temperature. After about 20 minutes, gently mash the strawberries, so that some more juice is released. In a separate bowl, whip the cream along with one or two drops of vanilla and a teaspoon of sugar. To assemble, place one biscuit in each serving bowl, and break it into big pieces. Spoon some strawberries along with their juices on the biscuit, and top it off with a dollop of whipped cream.

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

Ingredients

For the Shortcake

• 1 large angel food cake
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

For the Glaze

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups fresh strawberries, cut in ½ or ¼
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp strawberry gelatin
• Whole fresh strawberries and mint leaves, for garnish

Directions
Use a serrated knife to slice the cake into 3 equal horizontal layers. To make the custard, combine the condensed milk, cream cheese and whipped topping in a bowl. Moving on to the glaze, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, and gelatin in a saucepan. Add water and stir. Place it over medium heat and stir till the syrup turns thick. Remove it from heat, and once it cools completely, add in the strawberries. To assemble the dessert, take a large glass dish and line the bottom with one layer of the cake. Pour over it a layer of strawberries and glaze, followed by a layer of custard mixture. Repeat this cake, glaze and custard layer with the remaining cake slices. Place 3 whole fresh strawberries and fresh mint leaves over the topmost layer of custard.

If the idea of preparing a strawberry shortcake dessert in the original way scares you, we have a suggestion. Bake the biscuits a day or two earlier, and freeze them. Defrost them a few hour before serving.