YOUR 4TH OF JULY DESSERT
Hello W4D Peeps! Summer is in FULL SWING, and I hope you are cooking outdoors, if you can. Nothing beats an al fresco meal… except maybe an al fresco dessert. Luckily, our own Elizabeth Karmel has a simple sweet something up her sleeve… Strawberry Shortcakes in a Jar! They’re easy to assemble (you don’t even have to bake if you don’t want to), they’re portable, and they are a crowd pleaser dot com!
***AND remember there are 150+ recipes in our archives that are a perfect pairing for your Fourth (or any summer soiree, really)!***
TWO FOR ONE: NC STATE FAIR POUND CAKE AND STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES IN A JAR
EK: I wanted to write about the North Carolina State Fair Pound Cake for years. My good friend Matt introduced me to the swoon-worthy blue-ribbon State Fair Pound Cake. If you like pound cake, I guarantee that you will fall in love with it, just like I did!
AU: LOOK at that beautiful crust!! It’s stunning on its own.
EK: Thank you, or should we say thank you to Matt!
Matt grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and this was a cake that his aunt made on rotation (along with the little-known 18-layer cake from Lumberton, NC). This pound cake or the multi-layer cake were at every family function. They are both great cakes, but I know from experience that the pound cake is much easier to make and much more versatile.
Matt loves this cake not only because he grew up with it, but because it is outstanding! This may sound corny, but when you make it with love, the crumb of the interior of the cake is both dense and delicate and the top of the cake—which becomes the bottom—is sweet and crunchy almost like a cookie. I say made with love because you cannot rush the process.
EK: The creator of this pound cake was Mrs. Elma Sanders of Raleigh, North Carolina. She won the blue-ribbon for her pound cake at the North Carolina State Fair in 1976. It is a pound cake that is the very definition of “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” When you first look at the recipe, you think there’s no way that it is going to work. It is so simple that it looks like there is something missing. I imagine that this recipe is as close to the first-ever pound cake recipe (as I have ever seen) as it only has four ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs and flour.
AU: We love a streamlined recipe! I guess someone could add vanilla extract or some other flavoring, if they wanted to…
EK: You absolutely could, and occasionally Matt’s aunt would sub some of the flour for cocoa powder to make it chocolate but he says it was never as good as the original! And, honestly, the cake doesn’t need a thing!
The first time that I made this cake with Matt, I was sure that it was not going to work out. I kept telling him that the “rising agents” were missing from the recipe and that it wouldn’t be successful. He assured me that not only did the cake recipe work, but it was absolutely delicious.
After we made it together, I have to say that he was right all along, and I never should’ve been skeptical. I should also add that the fifth ingredient is air, as in, air whipped into the ingredients. That “air” is what makes this cake rise.
AU: So is it like a sponge cake? Where you beat the eggwhites on their own before gently combining them with the batter?
EK: No, the key to this recipe is taking your time, a.k.a. feeling the love, and making sure that the butter and the sugar are very very well creamed, and the eggs are added, one at a time. When the recipe was written by Mrs. Sanders, she simply said “beat well.”
If you don’t know the definition of “beat well,” this is where you could make a mistake and wind up with a failed poundcake.
In the recipe, I translated the term beat well into the precise number of minutes that you need to beat the batter in each step, so definitely check out the recipe PDF below.
For the ultimate rise and texture, it’s important to use a timer and follow my instructions. In fact, it rises so much, that every time I make it I think that it’s going to spill over the Bundt pan, but it never does.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES IN A JAR
EK: In case you wondered why we are offering 2 desserts in the same newsletter?! They are actually related. The State Fair Pound Cake makes a delicious strawberry shortcake in a jar and I couldn’t make it for the strawberry shortcakes without writing about it!
EK: Of course, you don’t have to make your own homemade pound cake to make these cute jars of goodness, but if you have weekend company and want to have a homemade cake for dessert on night one, or to offer with coffee, the State Fair Pound Cake is a great choice, and does double duty with some strawberries and whipped cream.
AU: Those look picture perfect! I made a store-bought version of this the other night. I bought one of those little mini-sheet cakes from TJ’s. Scraped the icing off and cut it into cubes. Then added fresh strawberries, and topped them with spoonfuls of homemade lemon curd (from my meyer lemon tree!) and just BARELY whipped cream. ‘Twas the perfect summer bite!
EK: That looks so good! There’s something about getting an individual dessert that is so exciting. And this takes all the hassle out of serving dessert, especially if you have a crowd.
These Strawberry Shortcakes In A Jar can be made earlier in the day and refrigerated, or can be assembled and served immediately. They take less than 30 minutes from start to finish once you have the cake on hand. Washing, slicing and macerating the strawberries take more than half that time.
EK: The first step is to macerate the strawberries. This is a common step used to soften and enhance the flavor of strawberries and other fruit. You add a little sugar—and liqueur if you are like me—to the berries, toss them well and let them sit for about 15 minutes. As they sit, they release their own juices improving their taste and texture. I add just a little sugar—about three teaspoons—and a splash of Grand Marnier for flavor. If you don’t want to add any alcohol, add a splash of fresh squeezed lemon or orange juice.
Once the berries are in process, you cut the slices of pound cake in chunks, whip the cream—I don’t add any sugar, but you should make it how you like it!
And if you want to add the secret touch, bring out the Häagen-Dazs! Actually, I brought it out and placed it on the counter about 30 minutes before I got started. I wanted the ice cream to be soft and almost liquidy. It’s a crème anglaise hack that I learned from Ina Garten— that’s where a pint of Häagen-Dazs ice cream becomes the cheaters crème anglaise! As a big fan of real crème anglaise, I have to say that it’s not really the same thing, but it’s still really good…
AU: We did this trick on The Chew once! Such a great hack for making this or a trifle or an île flotant…
EK: That makes sense because these strawberry shortcakes in a jar are assembled more like a trifle in layers, with the crème anglaise hack, fresh whipped cream, the macerated strawberries and chunks of cake.
In fact, it is so easy to assemble that you don’t need a recipe to make it. Here is how I assembled mine in jars:
Place chunks of cake in the bottom. Pour a generous 1-2 tablespoons of the cheater’s crème anglaise over the cake. Don’t saturate the cake, just moisten it.
Cover the cake with 1-2 tablespoons of whipped cream and smooth to seal the sides.
Cover with a generous layer of the macerated strawberries and a little of their juice.
If you are lucky enough to have lemon curd, this is where I would add a few generous spoonfuls.
Cover with whipped cream and repeat the layers ending with the second layer of the strawberries.
EK: If making in advance, screw the lid on the jar and refrigerate until ready to serve. You can set out a bowl of the whipped cream—or lemon curd— for your guests to add another dollop of cream if you want, but I personally love the juicy berries on top.
AU: I love the idea of the crème anglaise softening the cake—almost giving Tres Leches vibes! And if you wanted to go FULL RED, WHITE, AND BLUE… you could, of course, add blueberries to the mix to make lil American Flag jars.
🇺🇸 HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY, Y’ALL! 🇺🇸
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