Edie's Strawberry Shortcake

Cheap strawberries at the shops today, was intending to make some jam, however, last minute guests and the need for a dessert meant that the jam did not get made. I used them to make this strawberry shortcake instead. The recipe was given to me by an elderly lady, Edie, many years ago. At the time I was living on a farm that had an enormous strawberry bed and an acre of fruit trees. During the strawberry season many of the desserts we consumed seemed to feature strawberries. Edie was most not a woman to let any fruit go to waste and it was from her that I think I developed my love of preserving.

The cake is sort of like a buttery sweet scone dough and is easer to make as a single layer or individual cakes. It is much nicer with the macerated strawberries. It needs to be eaten fresh, even slightly warm.

Edie's Strawberry Shortcake

Shortcake 2 cups SR flour 125 grams butter ¼ cup caster sugar 2 eggs 200 ml cream

Filling 300 ml cream, whipped 1 punnet strawberries, washed and sliced or 1 punnet of strawberries that have been mixed with 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla and allowed to stand for an hour or so. Icing sugar to serve

Method

Rub butter into flour or blitz in a food processor. Add sugar  and mix well.

Mix eggs and cream together and then stir into flour mixture. The dough should be soft but not sticky.

Press into a greased and lined tin 22 cm tin*. Bake 180 deg C until golden brown and cooked (approximately 25 minutes)

Allow to cool in the tin. Cake does not have to be cold.

Split the cake in half. Put the bottom layer on the serving plate, spread with whipped cream, top with sliced strawberries and place the remaining layer of cake on top. Dust with icing sugar.

*The shortcake can be difficult to handle, sometimes I make it as a single layer (use a larger tin so it is not as thick) and put the filling on top, much like a pavlova or I use two smaller tins and make the layers separately. Individual shortcakes are also much easier to layer.