It has been many years since I started in the hospitality industry and let me tell you, I forgot why I like cooking, or at least I thought I did until a recent Saturday.

I don’t get off very often on the weekends for obvious reasons, but this happened to be one that I was. My wife and I took my daughter to a farm to pick strawberries. We did most of the picking and my daughter did most of the observing. When she did pick, it was the best because she made a statement that only true connoisseurs of strawberries will understand. She said "Daddy only pick the really red ones" and with that my wife and I picked only the really red ones.

Now when the day at the strawberry patch was over the real fun began. With a lot of encouragement from my daughter we bought all the ingredients to make a monstrous strawberry short cake. A strawberry short cake has only a few ingredients but they are delicious when put together right.

If you are on a diet I suggest turning away right now because what I am about to share with you is totally against Weight Watchers. There are three basic components to the Strawberry short cake, the pound cake, strawberries and the whipped cream.

With the exception of any cutting and operation of the mixer your child can do everything with your help. The fun starts because my daughter is at the age where she is excited to do anything that involves making a mess. If I could suggest one thing it would be allow your child to do as much as possible when it comes to mixing the ingredients.

Whipped Cream

Hints for success: Make sure the bowl and the cream are very cold before you use them. They can be placed in the freezer for a short while before you use them.

2 cups Heavy Cream

¼ cup of Confectioners Sugar

2 Tablespoons of Grand Marnier
(You can substitute Vanilla extract or another liquor of your choice).

1. Place the sugar and the heavy cream in a bowl and refrigerate for one hour to allow the sugar to dissolve into the cream. This will make the cream lighter when you whip it.
2. Whip the cream at a medium speed with an electric mixer. (Allow the bowl to be big enough so when the cream expands it won’t go all over the place.) Slow the speed down when the cream forms soft peaks to avoid over beating. Continue to beat until the cream becomes light thick and has stiff peaks. If you over beat the cream will curdle.
3. Add the Grand Marnier by gently folding it into the cream with a rubber spatula.

Strawberries

Hints for success: Only pick the really red ones. Actually, a little white on the strawberries is fine because they will continue to ripen over the next day or so.

2 Pints of Strawberries

¼ cup of Sugar

1. Lightly wash the strawberries and cut the stems off.
2. Place the strawberries in a bowl and mix well with the sugar. Keep refrigerated until they are needed.

Pound Cake

Hints for success: Make sure you know if your oven runs hot or cold from the temperature on the knob. It could ruin your cake. Cook the cake first before you make the whipped cream and strawberries so it has time to cool down. If you don’t have the loaf pan I would suggest using two small cake pans. You won’t have to make more batter just evenly distribute it between the two.

¼ lb of Melted Butter

½ lb of Softened Butter

1 cup of Superfine Sugar

4 Large eggs, at room temperature

1 2/3 cups of flour

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract

5-cup loaf pan

1. Brush the inside of the loaf pan with the melted butter.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
3. Cream the butter and the sugar in a mixer with the standard leaf beater.
4. Change the beater to a wire whip.
5. On a medium speed add the eggs to the butter and the sugar. Let whip for 2 minutes. It will look like it did not mix together. That is normal because there is not enough solid to absorb the liquid.
6. While it is whipping add the vanilla extract.
7. Sift the flour over the butter and fold it in.
8. Put the mix into the pan. Smooth the top and place on a baking sheet. The mix should fill the pan ¾ of the pan.
9. Bake until the top of the cake is light brown and firm to the touch. It will take about 50 to 60 minutes. Check the cake after a ½ hour and 45 minutes to make sure it is not over cooking. The cake should have a slight split down the middle of the top when it is done. If you still are not sure that the cake is done place a tooth pick into the cake, if it comes out clean the center is done.

When the cake comes out of the oven flip it out onto a cookie rack so it can cool down properly. After the cake cools, slice it horizontally down the middle.

Place ¼ of the whipped cream on the bottom half of the cake and top with ½ the strawberries. Slice the rounded top off and place the top half of the cake on the strawberries. Cover the cake with the rest of the whipped cream and top with strawberries.

Refrigerate for one hour and serve. Immediately place the cake back in the refrigerator when not serving. The fresh whipped cream will not last long in room temperature.

You can have your cake and eat it too, because with your child, niece, nephew or any special little person by your side, and a few basic household ingredients you can have an afternoon of fun. From the picking, to the shopping for ingredients, to the mixing and baking, it will be an experience you and the child will remember forever and a great way to spend some quality time together. Sometimes in this world, you need a reminder of what is fun, and that is something that can especially come from a child.

If you are cooking to impress, this cake makes a beautiful presentation, but depending on how much you want to let the kids take charge, it might be a bit messy but will still taste delicious! They will probably enjoy it most if you just let them go nuts and be creative.

Enjoy the cake and let me know if you have any questions by clicking on Chef Mike at the bottom of the page.

Chef Mike

Thank you for your question I hope this answer helped you out.
Chef Mike