On 4/30/2010 5:21 PM, Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> 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.

I have never made a strawberry shortcake with a biscuit type base.
Perhaps I should try it one day. When I would make this decades ago, I'd
use a milk spongecake. Boy, did I make a tasty spongecake! Nowdays, if I
were to make it, I'd probably poke a few holes on the top and dump on a
syrup of condensed milk and milk and then create a strawberry shortcake
with this faux tres-leches base. That would be tasty! Of course, all
that milk would probably kill me - what a way to go!


>
> 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