Summertime Strawberry Shortcake

This Strawberry Shortcake is the perfect dessert for showcasing summer's beautiful berries topped with a dollop of freshly whipped cream!

Summer is the perfect season for fresh fruit desserts. Some of our other favorites are Fresh Peach Cobbler à la Mode,  Fresh Fruit Pizza, Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding, and Grilled Peaches with Ice Cream.

Strawberry Shortcake

Growing up, my mom had a vintage Better Homes & Gardens cookbook that had a recipe in it called "Best Two Egg Cake". We made that simple, white cake over and over and over and it has become my go-to base for strawberry shortcake.

I know, most people think that strawberry shortcake has to be made either with a biscuit (one strawberry shortcake camp) or angel food cake (the other main strawberry shortcake camp).

But I have to be true to my roots and say that this two egg cake is where it's at. It's the perfect, slightly-but-not-overly sweet cake for showcasing summer's beautiful strawberries topped with freshly whipped cream. The cake is slightly denser than a typical white layer cake, but still light with a tender crumb that is perfect for soaking up strawberry juice.

Speaking of strawberries, they are so wonderful during the summertime and I just can't get enough of them! I love making homemade strawberry ice cream, baking up some strawberry rhubarb crumb bars, or using them to top these amazing liege waffles. What are your favorite things to do with strawberries during the summertime?

The process for making this cake is simple. You cream shortening (yes, shortening, I know some people have this thing against shortening, but whatevs) and sugar in a bowl, then add eggs (two of them) and vanilla, and then alternate between milk and dry ingredients.

Then the batter gets poured into a large rectangular pan and baked until it is golden and begging to be drenched in mashed strawberries and freshly whipped cream. Or if strawberries aren't your thing, you can do lemon shortcake instead of strawberry.

It's wonderful and all you have to do is make a warm lemon pudding (just the cook & serve Jell-O lemon pudding) or homemade lemon curd and use it in place of the strawberries, along with the whipped cream on top of the lemon pudding.

It's ridiculously good stuff, sort of like lemon-meringue-pie-meets-cake-and-then-gets-doused-with-whipped-cream kind of good.

Either way you serve this - as strawberry shortcake or lemon shortcake - everyone will love it. That vintage Better Homes & Gardens cookbook got so tattered and destroyed that it had to be thrown away years ago and was replaced by a clean, updated version with the red gingham cover, but not before I made sure to copy down the recipe for this cake, which is absolutely a family favorite.

Strawberry shortcake, along with apple pie and chocolate cake with seven minute frosting, is one of my dad's favorite desserts, so whenever I make it I find myself thinking of him. I hope you try this and love it as much as we do!

How to make a strawberry shortcake cake

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the shortening and the sugar until it’s very light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and then add in the vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and the salt. Add in the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk. Mixing in about ½ of the dry ingredients, then add in half of the milk, mixing well to incorporate. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk.
4. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Check the doneness with a toothpick. Be careful not to overbake the cake.

How to make the strawberries and cream topping

1. In a large bowl, combine some mashed strawberries with sugar, to taste. If your berries are really sweet, then you don’t need to add more than a tablespoon or two of sugar. Set it aside to allow the sugar to draw out the juices of the berries.
2. In a separate bowl, whip your cream on medium speed until soft peaks begin to form, about 2-4 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to whip on medium speed another 2 minutes, until soft peaks return. Be sure not to overwhip the cream - it should just be soft and holding shape, without being firm or thick.
3. Top each slice of cake with a generous spoonful or two of berries and a nice dollop of whipped cream.

Can you make a strawberry shortcake ahead of time?

You can make the whipped cream, strawberry mixture and the cake ahead of time and wait until serving time to assemble them all together. Assembling too soon can result in a soggy cake.

Do you refrigerate strawberry shortcake?

The unassembled cake portion can be left at room temperature if covered, but the whipped cream and strawberry mix should be kept in covered containers in the fridge until ready to use. 

More Strawberry Recipes You'll Love

• Strawberry Pretzel Icebox Pie
• Homemade Strawberry Milk
• Fresh Strawberry Pie
• Strawberry Rhubarb Coffee Cake
• Homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
• Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
• Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars

Print Pin Rate

Strawberry Shortcake

4.93 from 13 votes

Amy Nash

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 40 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 servings

This strawberry shortcake is the perfect dessert for showcasing summer's beautiful berries topped with a dollop of freshly whipped cream!

Ingredients

  

123

Best Two Egg Cake

• ▢ ⅔ cup shortening
• ▢ 1 ¾ cup sugar
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• ▢ 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups milk

Strawberries & Cream

• ▢ 2 pints strawberries washed, hulled, and mashed
• ▢ sugar to taste
• ▢ 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
• ▢ 4 Tablespoons powdered sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

 

Cake Preparation

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the shortening and sugar till very light, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, and then add vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients alternately with milk, mixing in about ½ the dry ingredients, then adding half the milk and mixing well to incorporate, then repeating with the remaining flour mixture and milk.
• Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, making sure to check the cake with a toothpick for doneness. Be careful not to overbake the cake.

Strawberries & Cream Topping

• In a large bowl, combine mashed strawberries with sugar, to taste. If your berries are really sweet, then not much more than a tablespoon or two of sugar may be necessary. Set aside to allow the sugar to draw out the juices of the berries.
• In a separate bowl, whip the cream on medium speed until soft peaks begin to form, about 2-4 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and whip on medium speed another 2 minutes, until soft peaks return. Be sure not to overwhip the cream - it should just be soft and holding it's shape without being firm or thick.
• Top each slice of cake with a generous spoonful or two of berries and a nice dollop of whipped cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 475kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 217mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 528IU | Vitamin C: 47mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 2mg

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