Strawberry shortcake cake… again

April 25, 2013 By in Berries, cake, dessert Tags: , , , 53 Comments

O’s birthday follows shortly after mine. We enjoy the same age for two weeks every year. The strawberry shortcake I decided to revisit from last year may become O’s yearly cake. Sure it’s nice to change it up now and again, but when you find something so light, all pleasing and downright yummy, why not stick to it for that special occasion. It would make a perfect summer cake when the berries are really in season.

We try to go outside the normal dinner setting. Although eating like this every night would be nice too.

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We celebrated with a family dinner and O got about a 24oz T-Bone on the grill from his father-in-law, Mr Willie T (he’s rocking the jazz world online these days). And this cake.

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I followed the same recipe and again only used two pans for the lack of three the same size. Each layer, cut in two.  What I did add was a little sauce- frozen strawberries slightly thickened with a slurry of sugar and a little cornstarch.

{Print Recipe}

For the cake:

8 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest from one organic lemon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large egg whites

Filling:

2 cups chilled heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 pound strawberries

I had some photo fun and the fam was totally patient. I usually try not to mix to much photo taking when they are all waiting for the cake to come out and be cut. But this one was just so pretty. I can be critical about my cooking but when I’m pleased with something, I’m also not afraid to shout it out!

Strawberry cake-4The cakes were a little lighter this year. Last year they were almost a little meringue like. A reminder that there are many little reactions at work in baking.

Strawberry cake Strawberry cake-2Each layer filled with a whipped cream and sour cream combo. I wanted to try mascarpone but bought the coffee flavored “tiramisu” one by mistake. oh well.
Strawberry cake-5I use the outside strawberry slices for the middle parts.

Strawberry cake-6And four layers later…

Strawberry cake-7And cause it was just fun to keep taking pics…Strawberry cake-8And my patient hubs waited to eat the first piece, even taking it outside for me… to the light, so I could take a photo after he blew out his long stemmed, single, red candle.

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Insert Otis gets his bone from the ginormous steak. He’s going to love O’s bday too:)

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A little piece for the birthday boy.Strawberry cake-12And a little piece for you…Strawberry cake-13

Happy Birthday one more time O.

Tschüß xx

Garden update: Tomatoes want out of their little pots. Plant ME! If this was maryjane (now legal) I could really call this a farm!

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These johnny jump up seeds were so tiny! The thrill of a flower is immense. They too say PLANT ME!
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And the shop fills with goodies. Did I mention loads of honey, salt and nougatine? Now we are in chaos before order mode.

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53 responses

  5. So happy that you and Mr O is on the same place now … Shop looking amazing, still a lot to unpack. Pity I’m so fare away – otherwise I would give you a hand. That cake is look so eatable.
    That piece must be for me. Nice to hear from you.

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    • Would love to have you in the shop with me putting price stickers on everything. This part has been demanding but fun. I also look forward to getting back into some blogging routine… Miss you! xx

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      • I miss you too! But I can see that you’re busy … labeling is a great job for me .. and all I want in exchange is those ricotta pancakes – at least every second day. *smile
        So looking forward to have you around again.

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  7. Be-au-ti-ful cake! Beautiful hubbie. Beautiful you. Fun to see your dining room too! Hope O got my funny card; package on the way. Love you. Mom

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  8. Congratulations on your birthdays, dear Wendy! All the best for the new year and may all your dreams come true!

    …mine would, if I could have a piece of that super yummy looking strawberry cake 😀

    Can’t wait to brouse your shop – looks so good!
    🙂 Have a very HAPPY weekend 🙂

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    • Thank you:) my son is having his bday next week and coming for a short visit. I honestly just may have to make this same cake again. His fave is also strawberries. It is that good.
      Hopefully I’ll get lots of store photos up at least till we get the website going. Cheers x Wendy

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    • Thanks Conor. You should have a go at this one. And it is dairy free- just do strawberry sauce and whip cream on the side for Lucy. It’s a great cake after a meal on the grill. Cheers…wendy

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  10. Beautiful cake yet again, (in fact, I do remember the one from last time round too!) I’m in awe of how quickly your lovely strawberries have grown into bloom and lastly, how incredible does your shop look now! Stunning progress on so many levels!

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    • Oh how I wish I could say those were our berries! My strawberry plants are leafed out and also waiting to be planted but we are a few months away from fruit. Can’t wait!
      And thank you. It’s actually fun to look at the photos myself… Shows how far we’ve come. Sometimes it’s wonderful to see life documented through the blog.

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  11. hi wendy, happy birthday to you both and i love your strawberry shortcake, the recipe looks easy to follow.. and you have a fun-filled shop brimming with lots of goodies.. are those honey? the ones in tall slim bottles?

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  14. Such a very inviting cake, so perfect for a birthday celebration. I’ll have to keep this in mind when we next celebrate a birthday especially as I now see a lot of fresh strawberries in the supermarket. 😉

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  20. Hi, where can I find directions for this recipe. I got the ingredients before realizing there’s no how to… and this is my first time baking from “scratch” ahhhhhh 😉

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    • Oh yes! There is a link to the original post in May 2012 but here is the PDF page-https://wendyellenthomas.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ultimate-spring-strawberry-shortcakee280a6-grande.pdf
      Hope you like it. This can be a bit of a finicky recipe but also has high potential for covering errors with lots of berries and cream. Enjoy. It’s my husband’s fav! wendy

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  22. This cake is delicious!!! I made it as a surprise for my friend’s birthday – everyone loved it!! I made 1.5 times the whipped frosting since I was slicing 2 cakes in half for 4 layers (didn’t want to run out!!). I also sifted some powder sugar in betwee each later (looked nice on the plate, too!). Since I had 2 lbs of strawberries I put the leftover slices in a ziploc bag with some powdered sugar to make a srawberry sauce… was awesome! My cake sides didn’t look as artful as yours… so I ended up using the extra frosting on the sides. Will definitely make this cake again!!

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  23. This looks delish! My birthday is today, and i have decided to make this for my birthday cake. I now live on west coast (Oregon), but my family is all on east coast….if i want a cake i need to make my own or buy one.  My mom used to make me strawberry shortcake cakes for my birthday since its the season. I will just have to share my pics of it with her. Thanx for a nice recipe that looks easy, yet elegant.

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  24. Pingback: got GOATS! « Chez Chloé

  25. Hi…I just went strawberry pickin with a friend today and I got like 15 lbs of strawberries! I really don’t know what I am going to do with them all! I am freezing several. I plan to make some strawberry sauce and maybe some jam. I really want to make this cake. However, I am afraid that we won’t be able to eat it all before it goes bad. There is just three of us and none of us eat very much to begin with. So, how long do you think this cake will last in the fridge? Do you think I should just keep the cake seperate from the sauce and the whip cream, and just make individual strawberry shortcakes to eat? I just think that if I make the whole cake, it will take a few days for us to eat it and I can’t see it lasting that long. It looks like a cake that is more for a party where it will get finished in one sitting. What do you think?

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    • Wow that’s awesome. Can you ever have too many strawberries? Freezing is great, for sure some jam- and sauce is good but if you don’t get around to that right away than freeze more and do it when you have time. When we eat this cake it usually is just 3-4 of us and we eat off it for probably 3 days. I think though you are on the right track with keeping things separate. You could try doing half the recipe – but I can’t guarantee the outcome- probably still totally works though. I don’t really know how this cake would freeze (cake alone). But maybe that’s worth a shot. Cook up the whole thing and freeze half to pull out at a later date. You could get an actual shortcake tin as well for individual cakes. So bottom line – it would last longer keeping things separate. Hope that helps:) cheers… wendy

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  26. Pingback: Strawberry shortcake cake recipe | Top Yummy Cakes

  27. Gosh, those last two pictures make me drool! Just wondering…Were you happy with the way the sour cream worked out? Or would you recommend the mascarpone?

    Thanks,
    Paula

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  28. Wendy, I just noticed that you have been visiting me – lovely to see you … and lovely to see that you’re still blogging and baking. Otis … looks like he is doing well too. I wish I would have a cake like that on my birthday. Have been thinking of you on and off .. and wondering who life is treating you on the island and in your garden of Eden. Hope that everything is okay with Mr O and the kids.
    Lots of Wivi

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    • HI!!! I am floating back through the blogosphere… have closed up the shop, did a little real estate sales (not my thing!) and have circled back to home, garden, writing, livestock and cheesemaking. And Mr O is still the best, and my kids are good and living their lives:) My daughter still on the island. Cheers my dear xox

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      • Great to hear from you and that life is treating your all great. Yes, you have your Garden of Eden … and I’m glad that Mr O still have a big part in it. Fantastic new, Wendy …. please don’t let us be strangers. Have a fantastic life and a wonderful spring.

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