A dense vanilla bean cake layered with fresh sugared strawberries and homemade whipped cream. This classic favorite makes for the perfect spring or summer treat!
Now let’s talk food! The other day my Mom and my Grandma went shopping and they brought home a ton of fresh, delicious, and juicy strawberries, so I thought, I MUST come up with a recipe using fresh strawberries! So I came up with one of my favorites: strawberry shortcake! A good old classic! I mean what’s not to love? Fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream doesn’t get much better than that!
I wanted to come up with a very dense, but fluffy cake. What’s the trick? I made it almost like you would muffins to give it that nice density and fluffiness! I also used vanilla bean paste for flavor and the beautiful little speaks it creates!
To sweeten up the strawberries a bit I tossed them in some sugar and put them in the fridge to get nice and sweet and soften them up a little. It worked great!
Making the cake is pretty simple also! You just sift together all of the dry ingredient then whisk together all of the wet and slowly add the wet to the dry. Put them in cake pans and it’s in the oven! Like most classic recipes, plain and simple!
As far as whipped cream goes, you just whip the cream with a handheld mixer with the whisk attachment until it’s nice and stiff, then you add some sifted powdered sugar. That’s it! You never have to get that canned stuff again!
This is just the perfect spring and summer dessert! You could even make it to eat at your Easter dinner! ❤️💚❤️💚❤️💚
Classic Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
For the strawberries
- 3 cups sliced and halved fresh strawberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
For the cake
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1¾ cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the whipped cream
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ cup powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
To prepare the strawberries
- In a medium bowl toss the strawberries and sugar together until every strawberry is coated. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge as you prepare the rest of the cake.
To make the cake
- Preheat oven to 400F, line 2-9”cake pans with nonstick spray or butter and dust with flour, then line the bottoms with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the sugar, melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract).
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the sifted dry ingredients. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake at 400 for 5 minutes then turn the temp down to 350 and bake for another 15-22 minutes. Allow to cool completely before layering.
To make the whipped cream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat the cream until fluffy and stiff peaks form. Add the sifted powdered sugar; set aside.
To assemble the cake
- Place a dollop of whipped cream in the middle of a serving plate or cake stand. Invert the first cooled cake layer onto the prepared serving plate or cake stand. Spread about 1/3 of the whipped cream on the layer, top with the prepared strawberries. Repeat with next layer. Top with more whipped cream and strawberries.
