Almond Strawberry Shortcake

Almonds and strawberries are delicious by themselves, but you combine the two and you get something downright delightful.  So, the other day after I bought 2 pounds of strawberries, I decided they would be perfect for strawberry shortcake.  Traditional strawberry shortcake is made with a sweet biscuit, but I have come to prefer pound cake or angel food cake.  I haven’t made angel food cake in a long time, but my almond pound cake recipe won out this time around.  Velvety, moist, and dense, this cake is a star on it’s own. When you add strawberries macerated in Grand Marnier, it explodes with 3 dimensional flavor. Top it off with my Whipped Dream (my whipped cream replacement) and you have a masterpiece.

Almond Pound Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking powder

3 sticks Fleischmann’s unsalted margarine sticks

2 ½ cups sugar

5 eggs

2-3 tsp almond extract*

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup rice milk

·      Preheat oven to 300 °F

·      Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

·      Combine and whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl.

·      Cream margarine with sugar until light and fluffy.

·      Add 1 egg at a time. Beat well after each addition.

·      Add almond and vanilla extracts.*

·      Mix the flour into the margarine mixture alternating with the milk (starting and ending with the milk.
Pour into the prepared pan.

·      Bake for 1-1.5 hrs.

·      Cool 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

* If you don't want a strong almond flavor, then add only 2 tsp of the almond extract.

Strawberries

2 pounds of strawberries hulled and cut into large pieces

¼ cup sugar (adjust to according to the sweetness of the strawberries and taste)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tbsp Grand Marnier (according to taste and is optional.)

½ tsp lemon juice

·      Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl.

·      Stir to mix.

·      Set aside for 1-2 hours. (To speed up the maceration, place in the microwave for 30-60sec).

Dream Whip

1 cup sugar

⅓  cup water

¼ tsp cream of tartar

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

·      Wipe down your mixing bowl and beaters with lemon juice.

·      Place the egg whites and vanilla into a mixing bowl.

·      Combine sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a sauce pan.

·      Bring to a boil and cook until the sugar is dissolved.

·      Very, very slowly add the sugar mixture to the egg whites, beating constantly on high speed for about 5-7 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

·      Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

**Don’t make more than ½ a day before serving as it doesn’t last much longer than 2 days.

Prepare

·      Spoon some of the strawberries onto a slice of pound cake and a dollop of Dream Whip on top of it all.

·      Enjoy!