Pro Tips: Strawberry Shortcake
For May’s Recipe of the Month, we’re serving up Fresh Strawberry Shortcake! This is a dessert that you can come back to all summer long. For a show-stopping presentation, make it in the Fluted Cake Pan. For shareable (and adorable) individual cakes, reach for the Mini Cake Pan. Check out Chef Kris Stubblefield’s pro tips and bake your way through summertime!
Pro Tip 1
Butter it up
There’s nothing worse than a perfectly baked cake sticking to your pan. When you’re using a pan with an intricate design—like the Fluted Cake Pan—it’s important to carefully and evenly grease the entire surface. You’ll thank yourself for paying close attention to this step, it will make for an easy removal process. We love to use Baker’s Joy. If you don’t have it on hand, you can spread cold butter inside your pan and dust it with a little flour.
Pro Tip 2
Macerate berries (sounds fancy, but it’s easy)
For our Strawberry Shortcake recipe, we macerate our fruit in sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. The sugar pulls out the juices from the strawberries, making a sweet syrup. This process starts right away, but you should typically allow about 30 minutes for the fruit to soften. If you don’t have lemon juice, you can use other citrus juices like orange or lime juice, or you can use a splash of booze like gin or amaretto. And if you’re going for a savory topping for a salad or bruschetta, you can macerate the berries in a little bit of your favorite vinegar.
Pro Tip 3
Get your drizzle on!
Add an extra tablespoon of sugar to your macerated berries and blend them until they’re very smooth. Resist the urge to drink this (trust us it smells and tastes delicious), you’ll use it as a drizzle when you plate your shortcake.
Pro Tip 4
Chill out before you whip up
Chill your cooking tools and ingredients before you make whipped cream. Just stick your mixing bowl, whisk beaters, and cream in the freezer for about 10 minutes prior to beating. Using very cold ingredients will help your whipped cream come together. Keeping the fat in the cream cold helps trap air bubbles, which makes your whipped cream light and fluffy. If the cream gets too warm and the fat begins to melt, the air escapes and your whipped cream won’t be as full.
Pro Tip 5
Take the cake—without breaking it
Turning out your cake can be the most intimidating part of the baking process. Take a deep breath. We’ve got you. Set the wire rack on top of your pan. Using heat protection, hold both the pan and the rack together, and flip them over to turn out the cake (or cakes if you’re using the Mini Cake Pan!).
