Hello Friends!
Today is all about the Baker’s Dilemma. Do you ever spend time researching recipes that look so delectable and satisfy your every craving, only to realize that time and energy (and maybe even ingredients) aren’t on your side? I’ve been craving strawberry shortcake for a while now but wasn’t able to get ahold of all the ingredients to make a formal version until my 2-year old daughter’s birthday weekend. She had been requesting “Strawberry Pie” so I knew I’d make it soon (stay tuned to the end of this blog post where I share how I made that!), but my pregnancy cravings rushed me to make something I could get ahold of sooner.
Enter this Paleo-friendly healthy vanilla mug cake that can be topped with fresh strawberries and totally makes a good quick snack AND satisfies a sweet tooth at the same time. It’s made with almond flour and is completely gluten free. If you want it to be Paleo, just sub the butter with some ghee and you’re all set! Here’s the recipe:
Easy 6-Ingredient Paleo-Friendly GF Vanilla Mug Cake
Ingredients:
- 1/4 Cup Almond Flour (I get mine from Costco!)
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup (scant if you like less sweet)
- 1 teaspoon melted butter (or ghee for Paleo)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- *Optional whipped cream/powdered sugar/diced fresh strawberries for topping
Method:
- In a small bowl mix wet ingredients first, then add dry ingredients.
- Whisk until no lumps show, then spray a ramekin or mug with cooking oil (I like using avocado oil) and transfer batter to ramekin.
- Microwave on high for 1 minute. Cake will rise and is done when top is firm to the touch.
- Let sit to cool and finish firming up inside (cake will be very hot) – about 5 minutes.
- Top with desired toppings and serve/eat right away.
- Enjoy!
EASIEST Strawberry Shortcake:
And now, I’m going to share the recipe for this Strawberry Shortcake that I just made for my little one’s 2-year old Birthday. It’s so easy and quick, and I used Sally’s Baking Addiction’s Shortbread Crust from her amazing Lemon Bars as the base. This is a very informal recipe and I didn’t measure ingredients for the fluffy fresh whipped cream and the strawberry mixture I made, but it’s very forgiving and you can tweak amounts based on taste and desired sweetness. The best part is there’s no weird ingredients or stabilizers other than corn starch, so chances are you have everything you need to make it already in your pantry!
Strawberry Shortcake
(Filling makes 1 so double up on ingredients if you need 2 like us!):
Ingredients for Filling:
- 2 lbs Fresh Strawberries, washed and sliced
- sugar to taste
- corn starch
- 1 quart whipping cream
- vanilla extract
Ingredients for Shortbread Crust, from Sally’s Baking Addiction’s lemon bar recipe:
- 1 Cup Melted Butter (I use salted)
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (I use pink Himalayan sea salt)
- 2 Cups + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour (also works wonderfully with all-purpose gluten free flour!)
Method:
- To make the Strawberry Filling, mix sugar to taste (starting with about 1/4 cup sugar) and 1 Tablespoon at a time of corn starch with your sliced strawberries in a large bowl (I used at least 2 Tablespoons corn starch and at least 1/4 Cup sugar, but feel free to play around with this consistency as you stir the strawberries and the mixture comes together.)
- Set Strawberry mixture in the fridge to chill.
- Make shortbread crust according to Sally’s directions. Depending on how thin you make it (I baked it in a cookie sheet), you might have extra so feel free to halve it or just use half once it’s out. Just remember you’ll want some extra for crumbling on top.
- Once shortbread is done, cool completely before using.
- While shortbread is cooling, make your whipped cream in a stand mixer by pouring in your heavy whipping cream (I made a lot because fresh whipped cream is popular here – you can use the whole quart or even more!) and mixing on high, slowly adding some sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract to taste. You don’t need it to be too sweet!
- Assemble your Strawberry Shortcake: I used a round pan and fit pieces of crust into it (I could have definitely baked the crust in the pans too but #mombrain took over and I didn’t think of it :D) but you could make it as a square OR even little individual ones by cutting the cooled crust with cookie cutters (we’ve done that too!). I layered it as follows: crust, thin layer of whipped cream, strawberry mix, more whipped cream, and garnished with crumbled crust, some extra sliced strawberries, and a dollop of whipped cream on the very top.
Enjoy! And let me know if you try either of these! <3
Love,
