Random Cravings

I just love Ree Drummond.  On her website, ThePioneerWoman.com, her absolutely stunning photography introduces you to her home on the frontier, and her no-nonsense, down-to-earth style makes it easy for you to stay there with her for a spell.  But it is her scrumptious, homestyle food that will make you think seriously, even for just a minute, about moving to a ranch in the midwest and staying there forever. 

Ree’s first cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, introduced us to her life on the ranch, and the hearty dishes she serves up to her family, ranch staff and friends.  In her newly-released second cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier, Ree gives us a broader taste of her frontier cooking, and makes sure we know she isn’t only cooking up heavy, hearty, cowboy food – she also creates beautiful dishes like Brie-Stuffed Mushrooms, Lemon-Blueberry Pancakes and Honey-Plum-Soy Chicken, all with step-by-step, stunningly beautiful photographic instructions.

And let me tell you about that Honey-Plum-Soy Chicken!  When I first read the recipe title, I assumed this Asian-inspired dish would predictably include plum sauce as an ingredient.  Then I made the happy discovery that I was wrong – Ree uses chopped fresh plums and plum preserves as a fabulous tart-sweet addition to the honey, soy sauce and red wine that also infuse this chicken with the most amazing flavor.  The addition of fresh fruit is the unexpected twist to this slow-cooked dish that will make everyone at your dinner table say, “so that’s why this tastes so good!”

When I read The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier for the first time (doesn’t everyone read a cookbook through like a novel before they cook from it?), Ree’s Honey-Soy-Plum Chicken was the recipe that leapt out of the pages and screamed “cook me! cook me!”  So I did.  But little did I know the Strawberry Shortcake Cake was sitting there, quietly tempting me with its layers of sweet, fresh strawberries and luscious cream cheese frosting, just waiting until I came to my senses and decided to welcome it into my kitchen as well.

Instead of the traditional biscuits used in a typical strawberry shortcake, Ree created a delicious cake that somehow mimics the lightness and flavor of the traditional biscuits, but with the look and feel of a moist yellow cake.  She instructs you to macerate the strawberries with granulated sugar to bring out their natural sweetness (or to amp up their sweetness if they are not in season), and takes you step-by-step through assembling this two-layered beauty with the cake, strawberries and the lightest cream cheese frosting (is that even possible?) I have ever tasted.  I’m telling you – I absolutely adore this cake!  I have already added it to my Easter dinner menu, with one small adaptation.  I will leave off the top layer of frosting, add a little extra to the sides, and leave a mound of glistening, ruby strawberries on top. 

Strawberry Shortcake Cake (From The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from my Frontier by Ree Drummond. Copyright © 2012 Ree Drummond. Published by William Morrow an Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers. Available wherever books are sold. All Rights Reserved.)

CAKE

• ½ cup (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 1½ cups plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

STRAWBERRIES

• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

• One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1½ pounds powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan that’s at least 2 inches deep (or you can split the batter between 2 pans if they’re not deep enough).

2. To make the cake batter, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Add the sour cream and vanilla, then mix until just combined.

4. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda and add it to the bowl.

5. Mix it together until just combined.

6. Spread it in the pan or pans and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the cake is no longer jiggly like my bottom.

7. Carefully remove the cake from the pan and allow it to cool completely.

8. Next, mash the strawberries with a potato masher or a fork (reserve a few for garnish if you like).

9. Sprinkle the strawberries with the sugar. Toss them around and allow them to sit for a little while.

10. They’ll give off this beautiful liquid after several minutes. Try not to drink it with a straw.

11. To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt in a mixing bowl.

12. Mix until very light and fluffy. Warning: You’ll feel like eating this bowl of icing before you even get it on the cake.

13. To assemble the cake, use a sharp knife to cut it in half through the middle. It’s easier if you go all around the perimeter of the cake, slicing only halfway through the circle the whole way.

14. Lay the two halves cut side up.

15. And cover both halves with an equal amount of strawberries. Then—this is an important step!—place the cake halves in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. This’ll firm up the surface of the strawberries just a bit so that it’s easier to spread on the icing.

16. Remove the cakes from the freezer and place one layer on a cake stand or platter. Cover with a little less than a third of the icing.

17. Place the second layer on top, then spread the top with icing.

18. Carefully ice the outside of the cake with the remaining icing.

19. Lovely! You can certainly decorate the top of the cake with strawberry slices, too.

Store leftovers in the fridge. The cake can be made up to 24 hours in advance.