This is the ideal dessert for time-crunched parents. In less than 10 minutes, without rushing, I had this good-looking dessert ready-to-serve yesterday. Even if you have to make a trip to the store, you will be able to put it on the table in less 30 minutes. It is that simple!
The ingredients are an Angel food cake, whipping cream, fruit sugar, pure vanilla extract, and lots of fresh strawberries. I save time by buying the cake. For purists who prefer to make the cake from scratch, I suggest to have a look at the Angel Food cake recipe by David Lebovitz. Although you can taste the difference, I prefer to spend more time with my family than in my kitchen. This is why I go store-bought for the cake.
The kitchen tools that you will need are a tall bowl to whip the cream, a hand blender with a whisk attachment, a soft spatula and a cake plate or cake stand.
How to Make my Strawberry Shortcake
- Remove the tail green from your fresh strawberries. You will need at least 1,5 L of fresh strawberries. Buy more if you have a little boy who eats a bowl of strawberries while you are cleaning them.
- Put them in a large strainer and clean them
- Carefully drain the strawberries on a tea towel
- Make your whipping cream – see my recipe below.
- Cut at the middle the Angel food cake to make two layers.
- Put the wider section on your cake plate or cake stand.
- Spread a thick layer of whipping cream on the side and the top of your first layer. If you want more whipping cream, you could spread a layer of whipping cream on the inside hole. I usually don’t.
- Pick a strawberry, cut it in two and put the pieces on top of the whipping cream. Press just a little to make it stick. I cut my strawberries as I go because it keeps them fresher.
- Before you add the second layer of cake, spread a layer of whipping cream over the strawberries that lays flat. That will glue the layers together.
- Put the second cake section on top. Spread the cream and insert the strawberries. Voilà!
I usually like to serve each piece of cake with one or two fresh extra strawberries on the plate.
Whipping Cream Recipe
My recipe cuts corners compared to the manual options. It is fast and I doubt that your family will notice the difference. What I like about using a hand blender with a whisk attachement is that it takes about a minute from start to finish.
- 500 ml carton of cold whipping cream, take it from the fridge just before you use it
- 3 tablespoons and a half of fruit sugar
- 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
- Pour the whipping cream in a tall bowl
- Add the sugar
- Whip it with your hand blender at mid-high level. I set it at 7 on my 9-speed KitchenAid Hand hand blender (KWH300). On a 5-speed model, 3 should be the right setting. Consult the manufacturer use guide to find the recommended speed for yours.
- When I reached the right whipping texture, I pour the vanilla extract and mix it with a spoon.
When we hit the strawberry season, I prefer desserts that let them shine which is why the simple strawberry shortcake is my go-to dessert.
What about you? How do you let your fresh strawberries shine for dessert?
