In these times when produce is trekked to stores from far all over the world, and just about every fruit or veggie is available to American shoppers year round, I fear we have lost all sense of the magic once contained in the sweet anticipation and passionate fulfillment of such cyclic agricultural events as Strawberry Season…
Even before I was old enough to know the names of the months or how to line them up in order, I always knew when June came to town. The first full month of summer heat, summer sun, summer vacation always arrived in a noisy circus of bright red strawberries, as big as my kid-fist, spilling juicily over the edges of green cardboard pint and quart boxes in the produce section of TriCity Grocery, my hometown's only full-service grocer. And every year, right there next to the clown red berries, in an all-too plain and clearly temporary cardboard bin, stood stacks and stacks of golden cakey goodness, four to a pack, perfectly round, identical, sweet and sealed for freshness – shortcakes!
You had to act fast, on both the berries and the shortcakes. Both would sell out within a few days of arrival and, once their circus had disappeared from town, the fun was over until next June…
My mom's strawberry shortcake recipe had three ingredients – strawberries, packaged shortcake, and Cool Whip. Growing up, it never got any fancier than that… But, oh, Man! Did we love it! The taste of fruit not served from a can was decadent glory enough… But then the cake, so sweet and spongy and golden (essentially a Twinkie without the filling)… Who needs a calendar when you can mark the seasons with your taste buds…?
A decade later, in the '80s, the mother of the same girlfriend whose weird Aunt Agatha put meat in Jell-O made from scratch the most extraordinary strawberry shortcake I've ever tasted, before or since. Hers was baked as one full sized 9" cake she served in slices. Between the golden shortcake and the ripe red strawberries, she hid a secret layer of sweet, creamy, pudding-like custard filling so delectable, both in flavor and in texture, that it is as impossible to fully describe in words as it would be to forget.
But I think I nailed it here. The recipe, as presented below, makes one extraordinary 9" strawberry shortcake to be served in triangle slices, like you'd serve a pie. If you prefer the smaller, round, pre-packaged type shortcakes, you can just buy some of those and add the custard… Or if you're determined to make your own from scratch, pour the shortcake batter from this recipe into the cups of a jumbo muffin tin instead of a cake pan. Grease the cups first, or you'll never get the cakes out. Shorten the baking time accordingly – probably no longer than 15 to 20 minutes. Please note that I haven't tried making the mini-versions, it just seems like they ought to work…
Celebrate! June is in the air! It's vegan strawberry season!
Ingredients:
For the shortcake:
2 1/2 cup white flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups vanilla soy milk
3/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
For the custard filling:
1 16 oz container firm silken tofu
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon canola oil
Soy milk to aid blending, if needed (as little as possible to get the job done)
1/4 cup crumbled cake (you're going to scoop this out of the shortcake to make a reservoir for the custard.)
1 or 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
For the strawberries:
1 quart of fresh, ripe strawberries, sliced.
Directions:
For the shortcake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, thoroughly combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, and baking powder.
3. In a separate, larger mixing bowl, combine canola oil, soy milk, water, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Mix vigorously with a fork.
4. Add the dry contents of the first mixing bowl to the wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly until all clumps disappear. Pour batter into a well-greased and floured round 9" cake pan.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.
6. Remove finished cake from oven and allow it to cool completely, to room temperature.
7. Once the cake has cooled, it is time to create the custard reservoir. With a sharp knife, draw a circle on top of the shortcake that is about 1" smaller than the cake itself in every direction. If you own an 8" round cake pan you can just center it on the 9" cake and trace around it. With a ruler, measure the knife you will be using, and make a mark with a Sharpie exactly 1" back from the tip. At any point along you 8" circle, insert the knife straight down to the mark. Cut out the circle, never letting the mark sink below the surface. DO NOT cut all the way to the bottom of the cake! With a spoon or fork, scoop out an 8" diameter reservoir to a 1" depth. Make sure the "unscooped" bottom of the cake is at least 1/2 " thick. Reserve the cake you scoop out of the reservoir. You are going to use it in the filling. Move the cake to the refrigerator, and let it thoroughly chill. This will firm it up considerably and prepare it to receive the custard and strawberries.
For the custard filling:
8. Combine the tofu, 1/4 cup sugar, canola oil, vanilla extract, and about 1/2 cup of the scooped out cake in a blender and puree until smooth. Very conservatively add soy milk if needed to facilitate blending. You want it thick, though. If the custard gets too soupy, add 1 or 2 Tablespoons of corn starch to thicken. If the corn starch is not needed, leave it out.
9. Pour the custard into the shortcake reservoir. Spread it evenly using a spatula or the back of a spoon.
10. Evenly distribute two or more layers of sliced strawberries. The first layer will disappear into the custard, but that's OK. Add more layers on top of the first until the custard is completely hidden beneath strawberries.
11. Move to the fridge. Chill for at least one hour before serving.