Best. Shortcake. Ever.

I love strawberry shortcake. It's the perfect complement to fresh, ripe berries. But I have never found a shortcake that I loved. The biscuit style of shortcake is too dry for my tastes. Those little sponge cakes they sell in the store next to the berries are, quite frankly, hideous in my opinion. Pound cake is too dense and heavy. And angel food cake doesn't soak in the berry juice as much as I would like. So when I saw a recipe in this month's Bon Appetit magazine that sounded a little different I figured I'd give it a try since I had nothing to lose. It caught my eye because it had cream cheese in the cake batter and I've been on a bit of a cream cheese bender lately (I've tried a lot of recipes lately that used cream cheese as an ingredient, from savory recipes to now sweet ones). The cake has butter, eggs and whole milk in it as well so you would expect a very dense cake but it actually had a very fine crumb and it baked up much higher and lighter than I expected (I think due to the high baking powder to flour ratio). The cake was moist and flavorful (through the addition of a bit too much vanilla on my part but I liked it so I'm keeping it that way.) It also had a crunchy topping because you sprinkle sugar on the tope before you bake it. That crunchy topping was so good that I am changing the recipe to a larger pan so that there is more surface for that crunchy top.

If, like me, you love shortcake but haven't found your perfect recipe yet, try this one. It's delicious and so very simple. The recipe also called for making a strawberry syrup in addition to the macerated berries. I did it and while it was a bit more work I'd do it again because it just added another layer of fresh strawberry flavor. But just cake, berries and whipped cream would be fine too.

Shortcake

1 1/2 c. flour (the original recipe called for cake four but I used all purpose and it was fine)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, plus additional for dusting
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. whole milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract (the original called for just 1/4 tsp. I liked the vanilla taste but you can cut back if you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle bottom and sides of pan with sugar and tap out any excess. Cream together butter, cream cheese and one cup sugar. Beat in milk, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread batter into prepared pan and sprinkle remaining two tablespoons sugar evenly over the top. Bake until golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack.

Yes, its that simple. And it really is delicious. For the complete instructions, including the strawberry sauce, see the R.S.V.P. section of the May 2008 Bon Appetit. Th recipe is supposed to be just like the one at Millie's Diner in Richmond, Virginia. If I ever get to Richmond, I'm gonna go thank Millie.