Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

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Found this recipe on allrecipes.com when I picked up my bountiful basket and found 2 flats of strawberries.  My kids will eat an entire flat in about 10 min. when I bring them home and if we don't eat them the day we bring them home they always spoil.  This time I wanted to find a strawberry sweet treat.  This recipe is for SHORTCAKE, not sponge cake, pound cake or angelfood cake.  It is more like a cookie than a soft cake. When you handle shortcake, treat it like a pie crust.  Keep it cold, mix as little as possible, only what's necessary to blend.  At high-altitude I did not make any adjustments and it turned out perfect.

INGREDIENTS:

1 quart strawberries, sliced

1 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 dash ground nutmeg

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs, separated

2 cups sweetened whipped cream (I used cool whip)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl, gently stir strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar; chill.
2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; cut in butter until crumbly.  (I put this bowl in the fridge for a little bit before working with it.)
3. Combine milk and egg yolks; mix well. Add to crumb mixture, stirring just until moistened.
4. Divide and pat into two greased 9-in. round cake pans.  (Touch as little as possible, using a greased cold spoon to pat down as your hands will melt the butter.)
5. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; spread over dough.
6. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
7. Bake at 300 degrees. F for 40-45 minutes or until golden. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. (Layer will be thin.) Cool completely.
8. Place one cake layer on a large serving plate; spread with half of the whipped cream. Spoon half of the strawberries over cream. Repeat layers.