Strawberry Shortcake Bars

This is one of the easiest dessert recipes I've ever made, and my husband raved over it. I'm not sure I understand some of the negative reviews. First, this is a SHORTCAKE recipe, not a SPONGECAKE recipe. If you are looking for the light, fluffy spongy cake that grocery stores seem to call strawberry shortcake, this is not your recipe.

You want a spongecake recipe, which is much more involved. This recipe is more like a biscuit in texture and should be treated as such - DON'T OVERMIX IT or it will indeed be tough instead of tender. Second - heavy cream = milk with the butterfat still present. This recipe doesn't need added butter or shortening, there is plenty of butterfat in the heavy cream. Third - the shortcake is not supposed to be be heavily sweet - that would overpower the fresh, ripe strawberries. Instead the cake is intended to be a simple base that soaks up the strawberry juices without becoming mushy, and it does that wonderfully.

The only changes I made were to add a teaspoon of vanilla to the shortcake, and I replaced half of heavy cream in the whipped cream with 8 oz mascarpone just because. It was fabulous. It didn't need any extra sweetness or eggs or more butter, it was perfect and I plan to make it often to take advantage of strawberry season!

Get the recipe here >> Strawberry Shortcake Bars @ lilluna.com

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