strawberry shortcake…

Strawberry shortcake – one of summer’s joys. We made vanilla pound cake, adding just enough lemon to give it some zing, It isn’t quite as nice with strawberries as hot milk sponge cake, but it definitely works in a pinch. Even my husband, who grew up with Bisquick biscuits for strawberry shortcake, enjoyed the pound cake.

There seem to be two conflicting methods behind how to properly prepare the strawberries for strawberry shortcake. One method uses copious amounts of sugar to draw the juices out of the strawberries, leaving the berries in shape. This is the method my husband grew up with. The other method, the one I grew up with, uses a potato masher to squish the juices out without using any sugar. I’ve compormised a bit. I add a little bit of sugar before gently taking my potato masher to the strawberries. My husband claims there is nothing gentle about something with the word masher in its name.

Lastly, I top it with homemade whipped cream. I like to add just enough sugar and vanilla to bring out the flavor of the cream without overtaking it.