Strawberry Shortcake!

I hope you had an amazing Saint Valentine's Day! 

One thing I love about the day is the love that is passed around, from person to person and most importantly, SELF! I wanted to do something special and also wanted to incorporate something that makes me happy so of course I baked! Baking is seriously my therapy and anything that allows me to use my mixer is a WIN!

Strawberry Shortcake was the perfect dessert and of course I had to make the cake into a heart shape. What I loved most about it was that it didn't take very long at all and the cake isn't heavy, it's very light, airy and just sweet enough! Another thing I love is that you can add whatever toppings you like and could probably remove the sugar from the breading for a perfect dinner biscuit. I'll try it and let you know how it goes! :) 

Just a little note, one thing I did have issues with while shopping for the ingredients was the difference between "whippng cream" and "heavy whipping cream" - what I came to find was that the whipping cream you use should at least be 30% milk fat, in order to whip up and become fluffy the way you will need. You can find them in the refrigerated section near the milk and coffee creamer. Stay away from half and half.

Check out the strawberry shortcake recipe below and try it ASAP! I would love to see pictures of how it came out with the hashtag #ArtsEats. 

xoxo, Happy Baking!

Valentine's Strawberry Shortcake

For the cake:

1 lb. strawberries, stemmed and sliced horizontally

5 tablespoons sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt 

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

For the whipped cream:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

*(for an additional taste, add 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest to your whipped cream mix, not required)

Cake directions:

Mix together the strawberries with 3 tablespoons of the sugar and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add heavy whipping cream and mix together until just combined. Scoop mixture in an ungreased 8-9 inch square pan and bake 18-20 minutes, until just golden. 

Remove shortcake from pan and place on rack to cool. Cut around using sharp knife to create heart shape. Remove excess cake from perimeter and set aside. Split cake horizontally. 

Spoon layer of whipped cream, then layer of strawberries. Add another layer of cream to top and place top cake layer on top of cake. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and then spoon some strawberries with their juices to top and serve.

Whipped Cream directions:

Using a mixer on medium to high speedbeat the heavy whipping cream, sugar, vanilla and *lemon zest (optional) until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes.