Cooking for One

Rustic Strawberry Shortcake for One

by:
April 27, 2021
4.7
3 Ratings
Rustic Strawberry Shortcake for One
Photo by Tara Donne
  • Prep time 45 minutes
  • Cook time 25 minutes
  • Serves 1
Author Notes

This twist on a classic starts with a large cupcake for one and builds—up or out, as you prefer. The whipped cream adds a fluffy lightness and helps keep the layers stacked. It’s almost too pretty to eat.

Excerpted from COOKING SOLO: The Fun of Cooking for Yourself © 2016 by Klancy Miller. Photography © 2016 by Tara Donne. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. —Food52

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Mini cake
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus 1 teaspoon for the ramekin
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 large egg white
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons whole milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • Whipped cream & strawberries
  • 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar, plus more as needed
  • 6 to 8 fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
Directions
  1. For the mini cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use 1 teaspoon of the butter to grease the inside of a 4-inch ramekin. Add 1 teaspoon of the flour, rotating the ramekin to coat it evenly, and shake out the excess.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white with the brown sugar until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the remaining 1⁄4 cup flour and 2 tablespoons butter, the milk, vanilla, and baking powder, and beat until smooth.
  3. Pour the batter into the prepared ramekin, set it on a baking sheet, and place it in the oven. Bake for 24 to 26 minutes, until the cake is golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set it aside on a rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
  4. For the whipped cream: In a medium bowl, whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Add the confectioners’ sugar and whisk gently to combine. Taste and add more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
  5. Remove the cake from the ramekin and cut it horizontally into two disks of cake of equal size. Place one disk on a dessert plate and top with half of the whipped cream and half of the strawberry slices. Stack the second disk on top and layer it with the remaining whipped cream and strawberries. Serve immediately.
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3 Reviews

Renee G.
Renee G. April 26, 2021
I needed 2 servings for an afternoon tea with a friend. I doubled the ingredients using sf flour, a whole egg and buttermilk in the batter. After reading the review about the cake density, I added 1/4 tsp of soda. No flour in the ramekins, sprayed with Pam. Keep it simple. Baked at 350 for 18 minutes, inverted and cooled. It made 3 6ounce cakes. Macerated the strawberries with a little sugar, and used some leftover cream cheese fruit dip as the topping. Yum! And I had 1 extra serving for myself for the next day! Win Win!!
 
Jacob K.
Jacob K. August 7, 2020
This was a great recipe as well as an excellent way for me to use some extra egg whites I had from another recipe. The flavor was good, cake was a little dense, but worked well as a vehicle to combine with some berries and whipped cream.
 
Jacob K.
Jacob K. August 7, 2020
This was a great recipe as well as an excellent way for me to use some extra egg whites I had from another recipe. The flavor was good, cake was a little dense, but worked well as a vehicle to combine with some berries and whipped cream.