I love strawberries. There, I said it. I love them almost as much as chocolate. Lucky me, I grew up near strawberry fields in Southern California. Orange County was THE place to get strawberries fresh from the field. At one point we lived across the street from a strawberry field and the owner would let us kids fill a beach pail after he was done. It was a “one in the pail, two in the mouth” kind of beach pail filling.
The town of Garden Grove has a Strawberry Festival every Memorial Day weekend. It was here that I fell in love with strawberry shortcake. Nothing fancy, just a pile of slightly mashed strawberries on top of a small circle of shortcake, all topped with as much whipped cream as my dad would allow. I can still hear the sound of the plastic spoon scraping on the Styrofoam bowl as I tried to get every last drop of deliciousness.
Fast forward to adulthood and a move to Arizona. It took me a long time to adjust to grocery store strawberries. Mark called me a strawberry snob, which was true. My love of them won over and I broke down and bought grocery store strawberries, but not year-round and only after a careful inspection. May is a glorious time in our kitchen. I have sliced strawberries in my yogurt, on cereal, in salads, sliced on top of vanilla ice cream and straight out of the fridge as a snack.
I also make a lot of strawberry shortcake.
My recipe is pretty simple, a lot like what I devoured as a kid at the strawberry festival. It’s adjustable and flexible.
Start with the strawberries and a large bowl. Rinse them well and look them over for rotten spots. Use a paring knife to lop the tops off. Next, cut the berries into quarters or halves depending on their size.
Now it’s time to get out some aggression. Use your wavy potato masher and gently mash the berries. Not too much, you still want big pieces of berries. This gentle mash releases the juice.
Now, add some sugar and give it a good stir, being careful not to mash the berries anymore. The amount of sugar you use depends on when in the season the berries are and how sweet you want it. Too early or too late in season strawberries might need more sugar than peak season strawberries. I don’t measure but, I’d guess it’s probably two tablespoons per two pounds of berries.
Let that sit for a bit, about 30 minutes so the sugar and berries can play together and make a tasty sauce. I often make this right before the party starts and leave it covered in the refrigerator until I need it. Mostly because I want a clean kitchen and I don’t want to miss any of the party.
Time for the cake! I like angel food cake and I fully admit to liking the boxed mix. It’s so easy, just add water. Like I just mentioned, I like to start a party with a clean kitchen so I make the cake in the morning or night before. After it’s completely cool, I put it on a cake plate and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. I’ve also used a cake from the grocery store bakery in a pinch. I used a bakery angel food cake loaf once and it was okay, not fabulous. You can even use the little round sponge like cakes that are often sold next to the strawberries in the produce department.
Serving is easy-peasy and perfect when camping!
Put a slice of angel food cake on a plate or in a flat bowl. Top with as much strawberries as you want. Drop a big dollop of fresh whipped cream or cool whip or a big squirt of canned whip cream and eat!
Easy Strawberry Shortcake
- 2 pounds fresh strawberries
- 2 Tablespoons sugar, more or less to taste
- 1 Box Angel Food cake mix plus ingredients on box
- Topping of choice, canned whip cream, cool whip or homemade whipped cream
- Bake the angel food cake according to directions on box and let cool. You can use store bought.
- Rinse and remove tops of the strawberries and slice in halves or quarters depending on size. Place in large bowl.
- Use a potato masher to gently and partially mash the berries. Add sugar, stir and refrigerate about 30 minutes.
- Slice the angel food cake and place on a plate or flat bowl and top with strawberries and topping.
- Refrigerate leftover strawberries and store any leftover cake tightly covered.