Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

Feb 22, 2026

Ingredients:

For the Yellow Cake:

  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup corn starch
  • 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk

For the Strawberry Syrup:

  • 1 pound strawberries, thinly sliced
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar

For the Whipped Cream:

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

For Assembly:

  • fresh strawberries
  • fresh mint

Directions:

For the Cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour 3 round 6 inch cake pans. Set aside. 
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, corn starch and salt. Set aside. 
  3. In a separate medium mixing bowl, cream together the crisco and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the oil and vanilla. 
  4. Beat in the eggs, one at at time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape the bowl as needed. 
  5. Add the flour and buttermilk in alternating batches, mixing well after each addition, starting with the flour and ending with the flour. 
  6. Divide the batter evenly among your prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
  7. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 10-15 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Allow the layers to cool completely before frosting. Dome the cakes if necessary.

For the Strawberry Syrup:

  1. Add all of the sliced strawberries into a wide and shallow dish (I like to use a pie dish). Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the sugar over the strawberries and lightly stir them to distribute the sugar. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the top and shake the dish to distribute a little of that sugar.
  2. Place the dish in the fridge and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight. This will create a syrup as the sugar pulls the water from the strawberries. The longer you let it set, the more syrup you will have.

For the Whipped Cream:

  1. Add all of the ingredients into a medium mixing bowl, start mixing on low with an electric mixer. As the mixture thickens, you can gradually increase the speed to high. Mix just until stiff peaks form. Make sure not to over-mix, or your cool whip will become too thick and taste like a whipped butter instead.

To Assemble the Cake:

  1. Remove the strawberries from the fridge and separate the liquid from them. Set both aside.
  2. Add a dollop of whipped topping into the center of whatever platter, cake stand or serving board that you are using to serve the cake. Place a cake layer bottom side down onto the whipped cream. This will help keep the cake in place as you assemble it.
  3. Drizzle about 1/4 cup of the syrup evenly over the top of the cake layer (since you had to dome it, the cake will absorb the syrup). Spread an even layer of the cool whip on top. Then arrange an even layer of strawberries on the whipped cream.
  4. Place the second cake layer bottom facing down on top of the strawberries. Repeat step 3.
  5. Place the third layer of cake bottom facing down onto the strawberries. Repeat step 3, but don't add a layer of strawberries. Instead, arrange some fresh strawberries over the top until you get a desired look. Garnish with the mint springs as desired. You can place some additional fresh strawberries around the bottom of the cake, if you want.
  6. Serve with vanilla bean ice cream and the leftover sugared strawberries and syrup, if desired.

*Store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Thaw to room temperature before serving.

*You can get creative with how you decorate this cake and use things like Baby's Breath and fresh flowers as garnish on top.

*For the cake pictured, I used three 8 inch cake pans. I made one and a half servings of the cake batter and distributed it evenly among my 3 pans. This was the perfect amount of batter. I had to add about 10 minutes to the bake time. I kept the measurements for the whipped cream and the strawberries the same.

*If you like this recipe, you'll probably like my strawberry shortcake with biscuits.

Serves: 6-8