Inspiration {+ a entertaining tip}

For a good part of the country (sorry Minnesota) the season of outdoor entertaining is upon us. To me that means lots of easy to prepare food served up in a fun and simple way. Mason jars are super popular at the moment and are being used for all types of things. I happen to think they make pretty great dessert cups, especially for strawberry shortcake in the spring.

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Entertaining Tip: When hosting a party outdoors it’s always a chore to keep the bugs and flies away from the food. This is a double whammy idea–one to serve your dessert in a cut little jar and then to use a decorative cupcake liner and some twine to keep the jar sealed and away from bug.

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Simple Strawberry Shortcake Recipe…

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds strawberries, stemmed and quartered

5 tablespoons sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Whipped Cream, recipe follows

Mix strawberries with 3 tablespoons sugar and refrigerate while juices develop, at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add heavy cream and mix until just combined. Place mixture in an ungreased 8-inch square pan and bake until golden, 18 to 20 minutes.

Remove shortcake from pan and place on a rack to cool slightly. Cut into 6 pieces and split each piece in half horizontally.

Spoon some of the strawberries with their juice onto each shortcake bottom. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and then the shortcake top. Spoon more strawberries over the top and serve.

Make your Whipped Cream:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Using a mixer, beat the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest until soft peaks form, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.