Strawberry Shortcake with Almond Orange Cardamom Cakes and Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream

As I surf the blogging world, I am reminded that it’s clearly still strawberry season. It’s great to see the variety of beautiful tarts, galettes, pies, and even salads, adorned with my favorite juicy red berries. On my trip to the LA Farmers Market this past weekend, I managed to bring home yet another 3 pints of berries. I’ve been buying strawberries like crazy, but most of the time, they disappear into cereal, yogurts, and smoothies before I’m even ready to bake with them. I did make a sweet and tart jam a couple of weeks ago which was great to have on hand for awhile. So, I thought my first strawberry project of berry batch number 3 had to be some kind of strawberry dessert classic.

The biscuit is the traditional base for southern shortcake, but you can be as imaginative and creative as you like – pound cake, sponge cake, they all work. (Of course, some would say it is no longer a shortcake if the base is not a biscuit). Well, the idea is the same. I made my shortcakes like cupcakes using almond and white rice flours and flavored them with orange zest and cardamom. Both very fragrant, aromatic, and delicious flavors, I think. I also added a little buttermilk so the cake would have a soft moist texture.

I cut the cakes in half and topped one layer with sliced strawberries tossed with a little vanilla sugar and served each with a heaping spoonful of fresh vanilla bean whipped cream.

**Congrats to Heather at Squirrel Bread! She won last weeks giveaway —  my extra copy of Digital Food Photography, by Lou Manna. Thanks to everyone!

Almond Orange Cardamom Cakes

6 tbsp butter, room temp
2 eggs, room temp
1/4 cup buttermilk, room temp
1/2 cup almond flour or meal
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot or cornstarch
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp sugar ( I used vanilla sugar)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp orange zest
pinch of salt

Directions

This recipe makes 6-8 small cupcake size cakes. I used something like these.

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time making sure each is incorporated into the batter before adding the next. Add buttermilk, vanilla, and zest. Once wet ingredients have combined well set aside.

Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom in a medium bowl. Fold wet ingredients into dry. Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Strawberries

Toss about a pint or so of fresh strawberries cut into fourths, a squeeze of citrus, and a tbsp of vanilla sugar into a bowl. Stir to combine and set aside until ready to use.

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream

Combine about a cup of heavy whipping cream, 2-3 tbsp of powder sugar ( or more!), and the seeds of half a vanilla bean. Whip with a hand mixer until desired consistency.

Tagged as: buttermilk, Dessert, farmers market, gluten free strawberry shortcake, Gluten-Free, orange almond cardamom cakes, spring dessert, strawberries, strawberry shortcake, sweets, vanilla bean whipped cream, vanilla sugar