Strawberry Shortcake is the quintessential Easter treat with my family. Fresh and sweet, it has the flavors of Springtime mixed in.
The Perfect Springtime Treat!
This cake for this Strawberry Shortcake recipe is an old-fashioned hot-milk sponge cake from one of my grandmother’s reliable cookbooks. Traditional shortcake recipes produce a cake that is more like a Southern biscuit, which can be a little bready. I like sponge cake for Strawberry Shortcake as it is tender and soaks up all of the lovely flavors very quickly.
I also love this hot-milk sponge cake recipe because the ingredients are items that I usually have in the pantry or fridge. Fancy ingredients and a special trip to the supermarket are not required. You can whip up this cake in less than 30 minutes and impress your guests with what a kitchen whiz you are!
As this is a sponge cake, you shouldn’t grease the baking pan. Sponge cakes get their light texture from the air whipped into the eggs. As the sponge cake bakes, the batter “crawls” up the side of the baking pan as the air in the eggs expands. The “stickiness” of the metal or ceramic baking pan helps the batter rise. If the pan is greased, then the batter would have no traction for pulling itself up. Avoid lining your pan with parchment paper as well for the same reason. And don’t spray your baking pan with food release either.
Double Strawberries!
This Strawberry Shortcake recipe has a double layer of strawberries. Half of the fresh strawberries are macerated with sugar which produces a lovely strawberry syrup to pour over your sponge cake. Then, you top with whipped cream and more fresh strawberries. The strawberry syrup-soaked cake is absolutely delectable!
I opted to top this cake with unsweetened whipped cream because Eastertime can be full of chocolate candy treats. But if you like, you can sweeten the whipped cream with 2 tbsp. of sugar (25g) while you are whipping it. But really, I never miss the sugar in whipped cream. I hope you enjoy this Strawberry Shortcake as much as I do!
Love this, Melissa. I actually have an old quiche recipe you gave me when we were in high school and I make it a lot. So good.
Lol i bet it is the same recipe Shelley! I’ve been using hte same one. since I bought the booklet and quiche dish at Broadway Hardware back in the day! I love that you saved it! Hugs to you dear Shelley! xo