Edible Kitchen: Audra Dykes' Strawberry Shortcake

May 19, 2016

The Edible Kitchen kicked off Saturday, May 7 at the Nashville Farmers’ Market. In honor of the Strawberry Jubilee taking place that weekend, the kitchen invited Chef Audra Dykes of Slow Hand Coffee to demonstrate her Strawberry Shortcake. Audra’s recipe featured macerated strawberries, spooned over cream cheese pound cake, and topped with chantilly cream.

Ingredients

2 pints strawberries

1/2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs, room temperature

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans

2 teaspoons salt

1 vanilla bean, split and seeded

2/3 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons confectioners sugar

Preparation

Strawberry Sauce

Crush 1/4 of the berries with the sugar to creat a kind of thick syrup. Add lemon juice and remaining sliced berries and toss to combine. Let sit for an hour before assembly.

Cream Cheese Poundcake

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add scraped vanilla seeds. Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined.
Butter 2 loaf pansand dust with flour. Distribute batter evenly between two pans, and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out almost clean, about 60-80 minutes. Cook cakes in pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack and cool completely.

Chantilly Cream

Whip cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla and whip until soft peaks return. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Audra’s Pro Tips:

Make sure ingredients (butter, eggs) for the pound cake are room temperature for optimum rising.
Slit the vanilla bean with a sharp knife to scrape beans out for the pound cake, then drop remaining bean into a jar of vodka, let stand in dark place for 2 months, for homemade vanilla extract.
Roll the lemon on a table to loosen membranes to get the most juice out of a it.