I've mentioned before that I like a lot of variety in what I eat. Strawberry
shortcake is no exception. Sure, I like strawberry shortcake made with a
sweetened biscuit as the base. But lately I've been intrigued by the idea of
something with a crisp exterior as the base instead.

Pavlova or meringues would work, but (1) I just made a pavlova in February
and (2) the interior of those two items wouldn't be very good at soaking up
the juices from the strawberries.

Popovers come into consideration, but they don't so much soak up the juice
as contain it inside their hollow interiors. That's not BAD, but it's not
shortcake either.

Rounds of toasted pound cake would possibly work. I considered toasted
angel-food cake, but I don't think angel-food cake has much flavor of its
own, and I'd rather have the shortcake base contribute some flavor to the
dessert.

Toasted brioche or challah would work, and it would naturally be less sweet
than the pound cake. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I've got a recipe
for Polish bread which is fairly sweet and has a texture somewhere between
"normal" bread and cake, but I'm hesitant to make it because if it doesn't
turn out well then I'm stuck with a bread whose only use is as a snack.

Moving further afield, toasted sweet crumpets or Sri Lankan hoppers would
both be good with strawberries, but that's getting a bit too far from the
"shortcake" concept.

How about if I make the normal sweet-biscuit shortcake dough, but cook it in
a hot buttered pan before it goes into the oven? Has anybody tried that?

Bob