Strawberry shortcake

For our Easter dessert (after a deliciously not-so-classic Easter dinner of mac & cheese), I tried my hand at one of my favourite desserts: strawberry shortcake. I snagged the recipe from my mother and was pleasantly surprised at how straightforward things were. I'm always delighted to see 3 pounds of strawberries on sale, but even more delighted when that translates into shortcake fixings. There really isn't any element to dislike in this recipe...whipping cream, warm cake, sugar-coated strawberries. Happy Easter indeed!

Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour1/4 cup granulated sugar3 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp salt1/2 cup butter3/4 cup milkToppingstrawberries, slicedsugarwhipping creamicing sugarPreheat oven to 450 F. Lightly grease 8" square baking pan. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Cut butter into chunks and cut into flour mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Make a well in the center of mixture. Pour milk in all at once. Mix quickly with a fork just to moisten the flour. Don't over mix; there will be lumps in the dough. Turn into prepared pan. With lightly floured fingers, lightly press the dough so that it fits into the corners and is even in the pan. Bake 15 minutes or until golden.When cool, quarter and cut the cake in half. For the filling, dust sugar with strawberries and mix well. Put between the cake with whipping cream. Top with whipping cream and sugar.

Musings

This dessert always had a special place in my stomach. Thankfully, the cake was relatively straightforward that I didn't screw it up! The combination of frothy coolness of the whipping cream and strawberries pairs so well with the weight and slight crunchiness of the shortcake. Our portions were vastly too big (giant double-deckers layered with whipped cream), so we perhaps could've cut our cakes in half. But despite being unable to actually finish my serving, it was just as delicious as I remembered it. D paid me the highest compliment by saying that it was every bit as good as my mother's.