Slab Strawberry Shortcake

Tips from the Betty Crocker Kitchens

• tip 1
  Part of what makes strawberry shortcake so delicious is the treatment of the strawberries. A classic strawberry shortcake is made with macerated strawberries. Macerating is a way of infusing flavor into a food, often a fruit, usually by soaking in a liquid (often alcohol). In this case, strawberries are washed, hulled and sliced before being tossed with sugar, which draws out juice from the berries, so they literally stew in their own juices, which elevates their flavor and gives the juice a syrupy consistency. This means that even if your strawberries aren’t the juiciest, ripest berries of the season, they’ll taste even better and more like themselves after having been macerated. The one trick to macerating is keeping an eye on the clock. If you let them macerate for too long, they’ll turn to mush—delicious mush, but mush all the same—so take this step no more than an hour before serving your strawberry shortcake. If you like, try adding balsamic vinegar or Grand Marnier to your strawberries for extra depth of flavor.
• tip 2
  If serving later in the day, prepare strawberries 1 hour before assembling shortcake.
• tip 3
  Besides macerated strawberries, the other thing that makes strawberry shortcake is the fresh whipped cream. To make yours perfectly, chill a bowl and beaters in the freezer or refrigerator for 10 to 20 minutes. In a chilled medium bowl, beat the whipping cream, sugar and vanilla on low speed of electric mixer until mixture begins to thicken. Gradually increase speed to high and beat just until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat or mixture will curdle.
• tip 4
  Try your favorite berry combination to top the shortcake.
• tip 5
  Top shortcake with sugared berries right before serving so juiciness is controlled.