Strawberry cornmeal shortcake recipe

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter, for greasing
• 1 recipe Sweet Corn and Raspberry Muffins batter, without raspberries

• 2 pounds (906 g) fresh ripe strawberries, hulled and quartered
• ½ cup (100 g) sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
• Generous squeeze fresh lemon juice
• Generous pinch kosher salt
• 2 cups (454 g) full-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 2 cups (472 ml) heavy cream
• 1 pint fraises des bois or other petite strawberry variety, for garnish (optional)

Make the Cake
1. Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 13 x 9-inch baking dish and line the bottom and long sides with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang.
2. Making sure to omit the raspberries, pour the prepared muffin batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the cake and continue to bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it, about 15 additional minutes.
3. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
Assemble the Dessert
4. In a large bowl, combine the strawberry quarters with the sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt. Cover the bowl and allow them to macerate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
5. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the Greek yogurt and heavy cream. Beat on medium speed until you have smooth, soft peaks. Remove the bowl from the machine and manually whisk the cream two or three more times to create pronounced peaks.
6. Remove the cake from the pan and tear it into rustic, uneven chunks. Distribute half the cake pieces evenly across the bottom of a wide serving dish. Scatter the macerated berries over the cake pieces. Drizzle a few tablespoons of berry juice over everything. Dollop the cream on and in between the cake pieces. Repeat and layer with the remaining cake, berries, and cream. Garnish the surface with fraises des bois, if desired. There’s no wrong way to arrange this dessert! Serve immediately.