A Strawberry Shortcake

You know me… I LOVE cooking desserts! Some days I want some chocolate, and some days I want something “lighter”, with fruits. Today, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite cakes ever, a strawberry shortcake.

Again, don’t be afraid, the recipe seems to be complicated, but it isn’t! There are only four main stages: the cake, the whipped cream, the strawberry salad and the assembly. It sometimes doesn’t take a lot to make a very nice effect!

1. The cake.

You will need:

- 2 cups of flour

- 2 tsp. of baking powder

- ½ tsp. of salt

- ¾ cups of butter

- 2 eggs

- ¾ cups of milk (I chose to use soy milk but you can choose any kinf of milk)

- 1 cup of sugar

- 2 tsp. of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of white chocolate chips

Steps:

- Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 °F. Butter a springform pan of 8 inches (20 cm) and line the bottom with a parchment paper.

- In a bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, the baking powder and the salt.

- In another bowl, combine the butter, the sugar and the vanilla extract with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, and once the mixture is homogeneous, add the milk.

- Add the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips.

- Spread half of the mixture (approximately) into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

- Wait until the cake is warm before you unmold it, and cook the second half.

Tip: I really do not recommend to make just one cake and cut it in half. This is what I did and the result is not the most aesthetic… The cake is still as good but I prefer to make two and have a better result.

2. The whipped cream.

You will need:

- 1 1/2 cup of 35 % cream

- 3 tbsp. of sugar

- 1 tbsp. of vanilla extract

Steps:

In a bowl, whip the cream with the sugar and the vanilla extract until you can return the bowl without everything falls down!

Tip: Put your bowl and your mixer tips in the freezer an hour before.

3. The strawberry salad.

For the strawberry salad, I just go with my feelings, a touch of sugar, a bit of vanilla extract, and of course, a lot of maple syrup. Then, I like to wait an hour, just to let the flavors mingle.

4. The assembly.

- Spread about 1/3 of the whipped cream on one face of one cake.

- Add approximately half of the strawberry salad.

- Spread another 1/3 of the whipped cream on one face of the other cake and put it on top of the strawberries.

- Spread the last 1/3 of the whipped cream on top, then the rest of the strawberries.