Strawberry Shortcake

I meant to post this recipe before summer ended so my apologies for tempting you with a lovely summer recipe.  Not that you shouldn't make it.  If you can find some good strawberries I highly encourage you to make this cake - it's such an incredibly upbeat cake that will brighten any mood.  This recipe is adapted from chef Dennis Marron, the chef at Jackson 20.  I took one bite of this dessert at his restaurant several weeks ago and was desperate for the recipe so I could make it at home.  To my delight he was quite willingly to share it with me.  He instantly became a favorite of mine. I decided to whip this up for my cooking club gathering because though I am 7 months pregnant I could not eat an entire cake myself.  In fact, one of the reasons I love this cake so much is it isn't overly sweet as I have been very sensitive to overly sugary desserts during this pregnancy (in fact I cut back a bit on the sugar called for).  The cake reminds me of a shortbread and the frosting is a perfect buttery cream cheese frosting full with plump strawberries that tint it pink.  I will be making this recipe for many summers to come.          

Strawberry Cake

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 egg whites

2 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup corn starch

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients into mixing bowl and reserve. Place butter, sugar, vanilla to a stand mixer and beat with a paddle until smooth. Add egg whites and beat to incorporate, continue mixing on medium high for 1 minute. Turn down to medium and add remainder of ingredients slowly alternating dry and wet. Finish with the wet.  Poor into 2 greased 10 inch cake pans. Bake on 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. Check doneness with a skewer. Skewer should come out clean. Allow cake to cool completely on a rack before frosting.

Strawberry Frosting

12 oz. Cream Cheese

4 oz. butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean scraped
1 cup diced strawberries


Mix butter, cream cheese, sugar and scraped vanilla bean in a stand mixer until smooth. Add strawberries and mix to incorporate.  Frost cake, and eat!