Strawberry Shortcake....like I remember it

Mmmm....summer days remind me of strawberry shortcake. My mom never made the "traditional" biscuit variety....we always had the feathery-light cake cups filled to overflowing with ripe, red berries and whipped cream. It was often a treat after a meal al fresco on a summer evening....or after church on Sunday nights.

I grew up, got married, and got to work on trying to be as "non-traditional" as I could become cooking-wise. It didn't take long for me to realize that, though new-fangled culinary ideas are great sometimes, you just can't beat the tried-and-true, family-shared recipes that whisk you back ten years or more with just one bite.

And so, in honor of this memory, I baked a simple génoise cake in a springform pan, cut it in half horizontally, and filled it with those red jewels and frothy whipped cream. We enjoyed it as a light dessert after a meal of all vegetables and cornbread. Heavenly, I must say. And just like I remember.

Here is the recipe for the génoise cake base, for those of you who'd like to recreate this little piece of my childhood in your own kitchens:

Classic Génoise

From Cooking Light

Cooking spray
1 tablespoon cake flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup unsifted cake flour (about 3-3/4 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375°.

Coat a 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan or a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray; line with wax paper. Coat paper with cooking spray; dust with 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside.

Cook butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until lightly browned (about 4 minutes). Pour into a small bowl; cool and set aside.

Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 1 cup flour and salt in a sifter. Sift the flour and salt once; set aside.

Beat sugar, vanilla, and eggs at high speed of a mixer until ribbons fall from beaters (about 10 to 15 minutes or until the egg mixture holds its shape). Lightly spoon one-third of flour mixture onto egg mixture; quickly fold. Repeat procedure twice with remaining flour mixture.

Stir about 1 cup batter into cooled browned butter. Gently fold butter mixture into remaining batter. Spoon batter into prepared pan; spread evenly. Bake in jelly-roll pan at 375° for 12 minutes or in springform pan for 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean or the cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Loosen from sides of pan; turn out onto a wire rack. Carefully peel off wax paper. Cool completely.