Taste Memories: Strawberry Shortcake

Gluten Free Dairy Free Strawberry “Shortcake”

You know those wonderful desserts that you feel like you could make a meal off of? However, you are always disappointed because they come at the end of a meal when you are already full! My mom figured out how to fix that! Usually a couple of times a year she would serve a dessert for dinner with a side of hot dogs or some other protein. One of my favorite early summer desserts was strawberry shortcake! I always wished I could have a strawberry shortcake for my birthday cake, but alas, my birthday came at the end of the summer.

My mom would bake two shortcakes, carefully slice them in half and butter them. Then she would layer sugared strawberries, whipped cream, and cake until we had a towering dessert that was the best thing you ever ate! Unfortunately, I can no longer eat shortcake like she made it and I can’t have whipped cream like that either. However, in my quest to make food that I can eat that tastes great I concocted a substitute.

Shortcake isn’t hard, but its something I don’t find time to make. For a quicker way to feed my cravings I make a gluten free biscuit that has a bit of suger in it to make it sweeter. I use the “Biscuits Sumpreme” recipe from the “Better Homes and Gardens” cookbook (the 1950’s edition), substituting gluten free flour blend for the flour called for in the recipe and earth balance sticks for the butter. Then I usually skip the sugar on the strawberries because they’re usually sweet enough. Then for the whipped cream I use coconut whipped cream! Did you know that if you put a can of whole fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight in the morning you can scoop out the solid part (save the liquid for something else) and whip it with some sweetner and it tastes, looks, and acts like whipped cream? It’s amazing.

To assemble your individual strawberry shortcakes you slice the biscuit in half and butter (use earth balance for dairy free treat!). Then layer…really however you like. I usually do something like this: Biscuit, whipped cream, strawberries, whipped cream, biscuit, whipped cream, strawberries, whipped cream. Can you tell I like whipped cream? Sometimes I just eat it and sometimes I pour a little almond milk on top to help if the biscuit turned out a little dry. And there you have it…Gluten Free Dairy Free Strawberry Shortcake! A wonderful treat, and an even better breakfast!