If you have been following my blog for a while, then you know I was born and raised in North Carolina. During the summer, my mom would always can or freeze food for the winter. I was always shucking corn or shelling butter beans or field peas so she could prepare them for freezer bags and those were mostly the vegetables we ate all winter. The other thing we would do in the summer was pick strawberries. There was a strawberry farm not to far from our house and I use to love going out to the strawberry fields and pick strawberries with my mom. First of all it was fun, but I also knew that when we got home my mom was going to make a strawberry shortcake. The combination of whip cream, fresh sweet strawberries and vanilla cake has to be at the top of my list of all things AMAZING! This recipe is pretty quick and easy and perfect for your summer BBQ’s, family reunions or pool parties. I decided to use a trifle bowl for two reasons...it’s so pretty once it is layered in the bowl and because I was making so many other dishes for my Memorial Day cookout this dessert taste best if made the night before. You could even make it the morning of your event and it will still be amazing. It just needs at least 5 hours to set in the refrigerator: Here’s how make my strawberry shortcake trife. I hope you enjoy as much as my family and friends did!
Serves 10
To make the vanilla cake
1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature ½ cup canola oil 1 1/2 cup sugar 4 eggs room temperature preferred 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cup buttermilk room temperature preferred
1. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare two 9 inch cake pans with Crisco and flour. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer) cream together the butter, canola oil and sugar until creamy and well-combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Stir in vanilla extract.
4. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Once your butter is creamed well, start adding flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just combined after each addition. The batter should be smooth and completely combined, but be careful not to over mix.
5. Evenly divide batter into your prepared cake pans, and bake on 350F for 25-30 minutes. When the cake is done, the surface should spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean with few moist crumbs (no wet batter).
6. Allow cakes to cool in their cake pans for 10-15 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack.
To make the Strawberry Sauce
2 quarts strawberries divided, cored, sliced 1 cup sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon of lime juice
1. Combine one-quart of sliced strawberries, sugar, cornstarch and lime juice in a large saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, bringing to a gentle boil.
3. Continue the gentle boil for about 3 minutes, then reduce heat to low and cook 5 more minutes. Strawberries should be soft and the sauce should be thick but not pasty.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
5. When cool, add the second quart of sliced fresh strawberries and stir to combine well. Set aside.
To make the Cream cheese layer
1 (8 ounce) tub of whipped cream cheese 1 cup of powdered sugar 1 cup of Cool Whip
1. Mix together the cream cheese and powdered sugar until well blended.
2. Add 1 cup of the Cool Whip and mix together. Set aside.
How to assembly the trifle
*You will need another pint of strawberries*
1. Take one of your cooled cakes and trim the brown edges from the sides.
2. Cut the cake into small even cubes.
3. Place a few of pieces of the cubed cake in the bottom of the trifle bowl.
4. Add half of the strawberry sauce on top of the cubed cake.
5. Add sliced strawberries to the perimeter of the bowl.
6. Top the strawberry sauce layer with the cream cheese filling.
7. Add another layer of cubed cake and strawberry sauce.
8. The final layer is plain cool whip topping. Add as much as you wish to make the trifle look AMAZING!! Add a few sliced strawberries around the perimeter of the bowl for presentation.
9. Place in refrigerator for at least 5-6 hours before serving.