Rustic Strawberry Shortcake

Growing up, every May we had strawberry shortcake for my grandmother’s birthday.   You would think the same cake year after year would get boring, but you could literally see the happiness on her face with the expectancy of her favorite dessert.  I too have inherited that same love for strawberry shortcake.  This is my version of this simply delicious cake.  In this recipe I use lard because I recently learned how to render it, but that is a whole other blog post on its own.  If you have access to good lard from pastured pigs then you are in for a treat.  But don’t fret if not.  You will still love this recipe with butter or coconut oil as a substitute.

For the Shortcake:

2 cups freshly ground organic hard wheat flour

2 cups all purpose organic flour

2 1/2 TBSP baking powder

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

3 TBSP organic cane sugar

2/3 cup lard (can substitute coconut oil or butter)

1 1/3 cups raw milk

2 large eggs

For the Strawberry Topping:

4 lbs strawberries washed and sliced

1/2 cup organic cane sugar (+/- to taste)

For the Maple Whipped Cream:

2 cups raw cream (or heavy whipping cream)

1/3 cup maple syrup (+/- to taste)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 11×13 or 9×13 glass pan and set aside.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together for the shortcake.  Cut in the lard with a pastry blender or your hands until you have pea sized pieces.  Stir in milk and eggs until just combined.  Spread mixture evenly into greased pan and bake for 25-35 minutes.  When the top turns a nice golden brown remove from oven.
3. While the shortcake is baking prepare strawberries and mix with sugar in a bowl. Set aside.
4. In a stand mixer on medium high speed begin to beat the cream with the whisk attachment.  After about 45 seconds you  should notice the cream begin to thicken.  At this point very slowly add the maple syrup.  Beat for another 2 minutes or so until you reach desired consistency.  Be careful to not over whip as it will get clumpy (not that I’ve ever done such a thing….*cough*).
5. Once the cake is cooled (if you have the patience for such things) you can pour strawberries on top followed by maple whipped cream.  Or you can cut the cake into squares and individually top with strawberries and cream.  Your choice.

Much love and happy eating friends!