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Have you noticed all of the awesome strawberry sales lately? For me as soon as I see strawberries in season my mind goes to whip cream, and cake… yes, I may have a dessert problem. Strawberry Shortcake is one of those desserts that just makes you happy. Seriously, just try it after a rough day.
First, true Strawberry Shortcake needs to have a moist soft cake. It’s just wrong to use a dry biscuit type cake, please don’t go there. The best option is an Angel Food Cake.
If you’ve always bought your angel food cake, then you are really missing out.
Angel Food cake is fun to make, and tastes better than any store bought version. It is more complex than just opening a box mix for cake, but in the end you’ll feel like a master chef and your family will think you are amazing. It’s not hard to make though, just complex. Your kids will also love to help and will be pretty sure that you are making a cake out of frosting…
Frugally, the hardest part of an Angel Food Cake is the 12 egg yolks. It’s incredibly hard to not use the 12 yolks. Head to this great list of recipes to use up unused egg yolks.
A small taste of heaven is Angel Food Cake turned into a traditional Strawberry Shortcake.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1 ½ cups egg whites (12)
- 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 pints of Fresh Strawberries
- 1 package of Whipped Topping
Directions
- Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 375ºF.
- Sift powdered sugar and flour twice; set aside. (If you use cake flour you can sift once).
- Beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until foamy.
- Beat in granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, on high speed,
- Add vanilla, almond extract and salt after the last addition of sugar.
- Continue beating until stiff and glossy meringue forms. Do not underbeat.
- Add sifted sugar and flour, 1/4 cup at a time, over meringue, folding in with a spatula. Mix just until added mixture disappears, do not over mix.
- Push batter into ungreased angel food cake pan (tube pan). Move spatula up and down throughout mixture in the pan to remove any air bubbles. Smooth top of the cake with spatula.
- Wipe off any extra off the top of the pan. This stuff can get messy as you put it in the pan...
- Bake 45 to 50 minutes at 375°or until cracks feel dry and top springs back when touched lightly.
- Immediately turn pan upside down and let cake cool on rack.
- While cake is baking, wash and slice strawberries.
- Add sugar lightly over the berries (maybe ?-¼ cup per 16 oz of strawberries)
- Let sit for 30 minutes, until sugar is dissolved and strawberries have released some juice.
- Layer cake with strawberries and whipped topping.
Notes
To make this look fancy layer it in a trifle dish or in single serve glasses. You can't go wrong in any clear container. Also get creative and more colorful by adding a layer of fresh blueberries (think July 4th).
