Strawberry Shortcake

Think fast! You've just been invited to a Memorial Day barbecue that promises to be fun and fabulous. The hostess asked you to bring a dessert. What do you make? Instead of picking up an expensive store-bought confection, head to the local market and get the ingredients to make this easy and uncomplicated strawberry shortcake trifle. The winning combination of fluffy vanilla cake, sweet, juicy strawberries, and pillowy whipped cream is a Spring favorite that is sure to please any crowd. The hardest part of this delectable finish is the whipped cream; everything else is assembled. See how simple the recipe is now.

One of the best things about the Spring and Summer is the delicious plethora of in-season fruit, particularly berries. A perfectly ripe berry is like a jewel — rich, beautiful, and addictive. This year we're celebrating the bite-sized world of berries by featuring a different berry each month. May is devoted to, yep you guessed it, strawberries!

Let us begin by rethinking a quintessential strawberry dessert. Everyone loves the combination of berries, biscuits, and whipped cream in strawberry shortcake and for a recent dinner party, I translated this concept into parfaits.

I layered sponge cake with whipped cream, simple syrup, and fresh berries. With each bite a little different, the resulting dish is absolutely divine: the cream is pillowy and light, the berries juicy and sweet, and the cake airy and moist. To look at the crowd-pleasing recipe, read more

If you asked me to choose between blackberries, blueberries, tayberries, raspberries, or any other type of berry, it'd be virtually impossible for me to pick just one, for I simply love them all. But, perhaps because I grew up eating them as a child, when it comes to dessert cravings, I tend to gravitate toward sweets that feature strawberries.

One evening, I had an intense craving for strawberry shortcake. I'm not referring to the sponge cake variety with layers — although I love that, too — but rather the classic version with macerated berries and whipped cream sandwiched between flaky, buttery shortcake. Since this type is surprisingly unavailable in restaurants (I've only been able to locate it at the Cheesecake Factory and Whole Foods), I made my own. The end result? Well, it was far more satisfying than anything I could've bought. Find out for yourself