"Especially appealing is your idea of adding family history to your acquired food background."
                     -- Ruth Mayor

Joan Offers This Recipe For:

Strawberry Shortcake

A very easy, yet eloquent dessert, this strawberry shortcake will truly impress your guests. Save some whole strawberries, cut them into slivers and decorate the top of the cake. This cake looks like it came from a professional pastry shop, yet tastes homemade. Incredibly delicious!

2 quarts fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar, for the strawberries
12 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar, for the cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pint whipping cream
3 packages lady fingers

Rinse, drain, and cut up the strawberries mixing them with 1 cup of sugar; refrigerate overnight.

Soften the cream cheese at room temperature for about an hour. Beat the cream cheese with the 3/4 cup of sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy, about 3 - 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks. Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and using a wire whisk, stir these mixtures together.

Line the sides and bottom of a 10-inch spring form pan with some ladyfingers with round side facing pan. Put one-third of the cream on the bottom, half the cut strawberries, and a layer of ladyfingers. Add another third of the cream, the remaining strawberries, and finish with the remaining cream.

Serves 12.

For a lighter version, use reduced fat cream cheese and Splenda®