strawberry shortcake

I excitedly told my youngest daughter that our friend Gillian was going to bring over strawberry shortcake for us to eat.  She wondered if she heard me correctly and asked, "We are going to eat Strawberry Shortcake?"  I had to explain that it is actually a dessert, not a real person.  This shortcake was soooo good.  Everyone loved it, especially my oldest who licked her own plate and everyone else's.  We will be making this again for sure!!

strawberry shortcake (my friend Gillian got the recipe from food network) 
1 1/2 pounds strawberries, stemmed and quartered
5 tablespoons sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Mix strawberries with 3 tablespoons sugar and refrigerate while juices develop, at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add heavy cream and mix until just combined.  Place mixture in an ungreased 8-inch square pan and bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.  Remove shortcake from pan and place on a rack to cool slightly.  Cut into 6 pieces and split horizontally or serve the way Gillian did- pile on the strawberries and finish with whipped cream!

whipped cream
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chillled
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Using a mixer, beat the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until soft peaks form, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. 

What Gillian did- she increased the sugar to 1/2 cup for the cake, added 1 teaspoon vanilla to the cake and used half whole wheat flour and half white flour in the cake (that's something I would do!).  She used half and half instead of heavy cream for the cake.