Strawberry Shortcake
When my parents visited this past weekend, they came bearing a box full of the last Louisiana strawberries of the season. (My parents never visit anyone without bringing a sample of whatever fruit is in season. This makes them very welcome in my house.) I'm a little prejudiced about strawberries, but I think that late season Louisiana berries are the best in the world. My home town was actually known as the "Strawberry Capital of the World" until a neighboring town got the idea to host a yearly strawberry festival in the early 1970's and appropriated the title for itself. But anyone who knows strawberries knows that Hammond, La., is really the strawberry capital, not that other town which I will not deign to mention.
See? Just a little prejudiced! But our local strawberries truly are deep, dark, juicy, and sweet, and the berries my parents brought with them were no exception.
My parents, being the dessert fanatics that they are, figured that my mother could slice the strawberries up, I could make a vegan cake, and we could all enjoy some delicious strawberry shortcake. I don't believe in biscuit-like shortcake; I grew up eating regular vanilla cake with strawberries, so that's what I made--or at least I tried. My cake came out much tougher and chewier than I'd like, and it really wouldn't have been a success at all except that the juice of the strawberries tenderized it. I probably just tried to healthify this dessert a little too much. (I used half white whole wheat flour and made it fat-free on top of being vegan.) I'm not going to post the cake recipe until I've done some heavy revising to make it meet my standards, but you can make this using your favorite vanilla cake recipe. In fact, feel free to leave links and recipes in the comments.
Strawberry Shortcake
2-3 pints strawberries
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla cake
1-2 pints vanilla soy or rice "ice cream"
At least an hour before serving, hull and slice the strawberries and mix them with sugar (use more or less sugar depending on the sweetness of the strawberries). Let them sit at room temperature for about an hour or in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, until strawberries are softened and juicy (macerated).
Once the strawberries are ready and the cake is made, place a slice of cake on a serving plate, spoon some strawberries and juice over it, and top with a scoop of ice cream. Or, for big appetites, build a "tower o'shortcake" using two slices of cake and extra strawberries and ice cream. Be careful not to let it topple over on you!
See? Just a little prejudiced! But our local strawberries truly are deep, dark, juicy, and sweet, and the berries my parents brought with them were no exception.
My parents, being the dessert fanatics that they are, figured that my mother could slice the strawberries up, I could make a vegan cake, and we could all enjoy some delicious strawberry shortcake. I don't believe in biscuit-like shortcake; I grew up eating regular vanilla cake with strawberries, so that's what I made--or at least I tried. My cake came out much tougher and chewier than I'd like, and it really wouldn't have been a success at all except that the juice of the strawberries tenderized it. I probably just tried to healthify this dessert a little too much. (I used half white whole wheat flour and made it fat-free on top of being vegan.) I'm not going to post the cake recipe until I've done some heavy revising to make it meet my standards, but you can make this using your favorite vanilla cake recipe. In fact, feel free to leave links and recipes in the comments.
Strawberry Shortcake
2-3 pints strawberries
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla cake
1-2 pints vanilla soy or rice "ice cream"
At least an hour before serving, hull and slice the strawberries and mix them with sugar (use more or less sugar depending on the sweetness of the strawberries). Let them sit at room temperature for about an hour or in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, until strawberries are softened and juicy (macerated).
Once the strawberries are ready and the cake is made, place a slice of cake on a serving plate, spoon some strawberries and juice over it, and top with a scoop of ice cream. Or, for big appetites, build a "tower o'shortcake" using two slices of cake and extra strawberries and ice cream. Be careful not to let it topple over on you!
posted by SusanV at 10:12 AM
20 Comments:
Your cake may not have tasted exactly how you wanted, but it still looks absolutely beautiful!
Hey Susan, looks good. I would recommend trying Spelt flour which is still a whole grain but lighter than whole wheat.
Strawberries are my absolute favorite fruit (and eggplant is my favorite vegetable. :D). You are my hero!
This is perfect. I have family coming over tonight for dinner and this sounds like the perfect dessert. Thank you for the wonderful idea!
Looks yummy, I can't wait to try it. I absolutely love strawberries although they never really look good here in the Northeast.
Yum--I am jealous! I wish my mother lived somewhere where lovely fruit grew! The photo looks great!
Courtney
My grandmother makes strawberry shortcake sometimes when I visit her for dinner. Other times, she makes apple pie. Both are great!
You might like VeganClub.org.
Well, it looks like I'll have to visit Hammond, LA to try those strawberries. There aren't too many places I wouldn't travel to in order to savor a sweet, juicy strawberry. :)
looks perfect!
Ooh man I'm jealous. I love strawberries, and would love if my parents always brought me fresh fruit everytime they visited. Even tho the cake didn't turn out exactly as you hoped, it sure does look tasty.
-Teresa
Wow, just wow, I could just eat your shortcake off the screen. Fantasic photography!
Wow, Susan, that is beautiful!
Everything tastes better with perfectly ripe strawberries!
Hooray for spring strawberries!
oh, you are so lucky! It's so difficult to find decent berries in shops...
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sorry, anonymous, I took your link down. While we can help by writing letters to the editor of the NY Times, I won't further the popularity of that ignorant editorial by publishing the link on my blog. Anyone who doubts that a vegan diet is safe and much healthier for kids than the standard American diet needs to look no further than my daughter, whose vegan-nourished brain is obviously much better developed than Ms. Planck's is!
I totally understand why you took it down, but I think it's important that we, as healthy vegans, be proactive and write those letters to the NY Times. That article is appalling, and has been making the rounds since it was published this morning. And it is so destructive. So I just want to urge people to respond in droves, to write letters to the editor. I know a lot of us read your blog, which is why I thought it'd be important to address this here.
Thanks!
Anon, here's a link to Eric Marcus' call for vegans to write the NY Times about that horrible op-ed piece:
CLICK HERE
Everyone, take the time to listen to the podcast and tell the NYT just how wrong that editorial is.
So, I live in Hammond, and just made a egg-and-milk-free-but-not-vegan (cream cheese frosting!) strawberry shortcake, and found myself googling for garnishing ideas when I found your blog. An FYI - I've found a vegan, soy-based aerosol whipped topping called Soyatoo that is at least as good as any traditional whipped cream product I've used.
Anyhow, I had some other things to avoid in the recipe, so made pancakes, replacing the egg with a half banana and some vanilla. I layered the pancakes with reduced strawberry puree, put a weight on top, then put the assembly in the fridge to mingle and merge for about three hours. At this point, the pancakes were well merged, so I cut them to a more regular shape, and added my frosting.
Right before serving, I'll put the quartered strawberries and some whipped topping on the whole affair. It's looking pretty tasty. I'll keep an eye out for your other recipes!
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home