Strawberry Shortcake: A Delicious Treat

Posted byPaola Nadeau on Sep 2020 in Shopping and sales | 0 comments

How many of us find ourselves terribly excited when we see containers of strawberries start to show up on the produce section of our favorite markets? Strawberries are a favorite for so many of us, and they are one of the most versatile fruits in existence. Chocolate dipped strawberries, strawberry ice cream, and even strawberry cobbler are all delicious treats that feature those delicious berries. However, perhaps the most popular desert created with strawberries is, of course, strawberry shortcake.

Strawberry shortcake itself can be made in a number of different ways. The roots of the desert come from the original shortcakes. Shortcake is, traditionally, a sweet, crumbly type of cake. Strawberry shortcake started out by cutting a shortcake in half, filling the middle with macerated strawberries and whipped cream, and then putting the cake back together. More berries and cream were then sometimes layered over the top. The strawberries in the filling were typically macerated by having sugar poured over them until they released their juices, making a sort of fruity syrup which still contained large pieces of berry.

Strawberry shortcake has been around for a very long time, and, like many other desserts, it has seen its share of changes and improvements. Today, for example, many desserts called strawberry shortcakes are not made with shortcake at all. Instead they are formed with cakes that are the common, sponge-type cakes that most of us are familiar with. These cakes can be flavored in a number of ways. Often, they are typical “yellow” or “white” cakes flavored simply with vanilla. However, sometimes the cakes themselves are in fact strawberry sponge cakes. These strawberry cakes greatly increase the strawberry flavor when strawberry shortcakes are formed with them instead of the drier, crumblier shortcake.

Furthermore, there are also now alternatives to the traditional sugar-macerated strawberries. Strawberries macerated in sugar create a very sweet, very thin juice. Though this juice tastes good, it also soaks into cakes rather quickly. This is fine if the dessert is going to be eaten immediately after preparation, but if it is to be made beforehand, the juice will ultimately result in an unpleasantly soggy cake. Now, though, macerated strawberries can be replaced with strawberry glaze. The advantage of such a glaze is that it rests upon the cake rather than swiftly soaking into it. This way, the cake maintains the right consistency while the glaze provides the right strawberry flavoring. Often this glaze is mixed up with fresh strawberries to increase the berry flavor and add the unique taste and texture of the fresh fruit.

In addition, there is now a welcome alternative to the whipped cream used in traditional strawberry shortcake. Again, whipped cream is appropriate for desserts that are to be served as soon as they are prepared; however, it does not work for cakes that will not be served immediately. Instead, cakes are now often served with a whipped frosting that maintains its consistency and flavor for a longer period of time.

Please visit Tiffany’s Bakery for more information on strawberry shortcake, gourmet cupcakes, and other sweet treats including cakes for birthdays, graduations, major holidays, and many other events.