Before I left Wisconsin for the coasts, I got the chance to enjoy one last really nice evening (okay, 60* was really awesome at that point) with some friends. We chopped and prepped and drank and grilled up all sorts of wonderful things. Although I'm pretty sure it was the first time in a couple of months that I had red meat, it turns out I still have a taste for beef marinated in italian dressing. Classy, no? But the important part (it's always the most important part) was dessert. Storebought angel food cake (sorry, I had no oven, and none of the others are bakers!) topped with strawberries that had macerated in a little bit of sugar. LOVE.
The problem? Right when one person started cutting the angel food cake, another leapt up to grab the tub of Cool Whip from the fridge. Um, ew? I mean, not to be picky or anything, but if I'm going to have creamy goodness on top of my shortcakes, I want whipped cream. Real whipped cream. Even if I have to whip it by hand with a whisk (calorie-burning!), real whipped cream is fantastic stuff. I wasn't the only one to turn my nose up at the Cool Whip, but three of the girls happily dolloped horrendous amounts of the stuff on top of their strawberries. Seriously, I lost sight of the strawberries on their plates. Needless to say, this led to a conversation about Cool Whip vs. whipped cream and whether butter really was better. It is, just FYI. Butter is always better.
One thing really stuck out through the conversation though. I mentioned my aversion to Cool Whip was because it tasted too smooth and chemical-y (because, well, it's basically whipped oil and chemicals...). One response? Oh, that she had grown up with Cool Whip and real whipped cream tasted like chemicals to her. Uh, WTF?!? Have people gotten that far away from real food that they think it tastes chemical-y compared to, um, the chemical-laden processed alternative?!? It sort of makes me die inside. Her opinion on butter was exactly the same - it just didn't taste right, because her mom had always had the "healthy" or "low-cal" alternatives in the house growing up. *shudder*
Which is why I'm glad I had these shortcakes just a few days prior to that whole distressing episode. They help restore my faith in humanity and real food. Full of heavy cream so they're wonderful soft and tender, slightly sweet, and just a bit cakey. I made a sixth of the recipe and got two enormous shortcakes from it. Which wasn't a problem, since one was topped with macerated strawberries and eaten right away and the other was, well, breakfast the next day. These were so good that the second even devoured plain, with nothing to distract from the awesome texture and flavor. Out of the park, people. Out of the park.
Last Week: White Chocolate Rhubarb Brownies
Next Week: Raisin Swirl Bread (fear not the yeast, this bread is amazing)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
TWD: Tender Shortcakes
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32 comments:
Your shortcakes look amazing. So glad that they tasted awesome too.
1/6 of the recipe. lol.
you must have good math and measuring skills!
I did 1/2 batch sweer, 1/2 batch not so sweet and made sandwiches!
Post will be up in about 30 mins. buttercreambarbie
I couldn't agree with you more on every point. However, I will admit to keeping a tub of the CW stuff in the freezer for pictures. Holds up a lot longer than the real stuff--and I need all the help I can get.
Agreed - these were out of the park, and oh so good even with nothing but honey on.
I grew up eating some of the processed stuff, and switched to the real thing as soon as I could. Never looked back. =) These really were fabulous.
i am so glad my mother didn't raise me on coolwhip and margarine...real stuff all the way! i agree that these shortckaes with fresh berries and cream were divine!
I prefer real whipped cream, that's for sure. Especially because it's so easy to toss together. I will confess that I have had the fat free cool whip around the house during my weight loss efforts. It's okay in a pinch, but I know it's so bad for me. I'd much rather have the real stuff!! Those berries look amazing, by the way!
I feel so ashamed and am hanging my head after this post. We used CW. I like it but even though real whipped cream has more fat, I know it's better for you than the chemical stuff. We just had some to use up and we're moving and....enough excuses. My goal is to not even buy it anymore.
I grew up with margarine but I TOTALLY agree with you on the butter and NEVER but margarine anymore.
Long live REAL food! ;)
I had strawberries on mine too! They look great and Im glad you liked them!
I'm with you on the whipped cream - what's the point of cool whip??
I trust cows more than chemists! I love butter and heavy whipping cream! One delicious dessert.
I vote for real whipped cream. You did a fantastic job.
Your shortcakes look delicious! I agree with you about the butter and whipped cream. My mother has never once in her life made her own whipped cream and now she says that I have spoiled her and she can't enjoy her cool whip anymore!
we had cool whip for the most part growing up...but the real stuff when it came to shortcakes and special occassions. Margarine?! Never.
I love a good food debate...and have gotten into many over things like peanut butter brands (I will go down swinging over JIF!) or real maple syrup vs fake...powdered sugar or sauce on fried dough..the list goes on!
Your cakes look graet!!
LOL, I hear you on the real vs. fake dilema... you wouldn't believe how many scratch white cakes I tried out on my hubs' family. It wasn't until I finally made a white cake from a mix that they all ooh'd and aah'd. Grrr. Anyway, lucky us that know the difference and are able to make the real thing. Yours look delish! Glad you got a chance to make them before your travels.
I think the ultrapasteurization process that most heavy cream goes through makes it taste like chemicals, actually. I can't find untreated cream. So maybe that's what your friend is tasting.
Imagine all that baking in Bakersfield! ;)
I totally agree on the real food vs fake food issue. Butter has Vitamin C; margarine has transfats. Now, let's see, which is worse, especially when calorie count is the same. Try reading Real Food sometime.
Ugh - your Cool Whip story has completely depressed me. But your awesome looking shortcakes lifted me right back up! What an emotional rollercoaster. :-) Eating REAL FOOD in moderation is part of what makes life great. I'm glad that you enjoyed the shortcakes - thanks for baking along with me this week!
Your shortcake looks fantastic! I made 1/4 of the recipe and got 5, but ate a couple right out of the oven.
How awful that some prefer artificially flavoured chemical stuff. I've read that some also prefer artificial vanilla, as that's the taste they grew up with.
Did you eat any Cool Whip? I ran into some at a gathering recently, but couldn't do it!
Ug, that is very sad. I was so sad to go to cake club yesterday and they got the 'pastry pride' out again. For me its real whipped cream and real butter, I dont care if it doesnt look good. It always scares the bejeesus out of me when people say they prefer buttercream made of crisco and powdered sugar :(
Real strawberry shortcake, from scratch. Pure comfort food!
Growing up we had both margarine and cool whip in our house. I never liked cool whip, though at the time it didn't have anything to do with my knowledge that it was full of chemicals. I didn't eat it then and I don't eat it now. The real stuff? That's another story! Whenever I make whipped cream I always find myself with a spoon standing over the bowl - dangerous stuff I tell you.
Glad you liked the shortcakes! I ate a couple of mine plain for breakfast too :)
okay, i once had an intense argument with a dude about cool whip and its evils. irreconcilable difference there.
this was an early conversation between G and i, in which i declared my aversion to cool whip. and jello. bless his heart, he whipped cream when he took the pecan tart i made to his family's thanksgiving. that is love.
i really like your plate in the first photo--classy, whimsical, and stylish:)
Absolutely out of the park! I too was amazed at the size/number of shortcakes this recipe yielded. I am with you on Cool Whip - why? Why? Although I have been known to buy whipped cream in a can in desperation...
Great job on the shortcakes! I loved these and ate a few plain myself. Looking forward to the raisin bread, too.
Beautiful shortcakes. I'm with you, I want real whipped cream!!!
I am totally with you on the cool whip debate!! ewww. give me whipped CREAM :)
I really think that this is just light and right for me who is in a diet!
dining room table
Yum...all looks great, needs nothing on top from the looks of it, but if so, real whipped cream is the thing...of course a Dairy Farmer's kid from NE Iowa would say that, right? When Mark graduated from college, he said, "I will never eat margarine again...." sort of like Scarlet in Gone with the Wind about going hungry, LOL. Butter rules with him always, not even allowed margarine in the house....which is fine, again that dairy farmer thing. Your shortcakes look great!
the best as always thanks ........................................
My grandpa was a dairy farmer and we are all about the real butter and whipped cream! I have this argument with my in laws all the time, though. Oh well- I stand by my real, delicious dairy products! Your shortcakes look so yummy with all those strawberries!
What a funny story. I grew up on Cool Whip, margarine, etc....all the same things as your friend. When I started learning more about food and nutrition, I began whipping my own cream and using butter instead of margarine. The real stuff is so much better. I do have a spot in my heart for Cool Whip, but the fact is it's just one of those "better living through chemistry" inventions. I think it's funny your friend said the real stuff tasted like chemicals. It sounds like something I'd say after too many glasses of wine.
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