For the birthday boy this year, he requested something with strawberries! Given that this scrumptious little red berry is his main love language (he has a few) it wasn’t a big surprise. Drew considers a big ol’ bowl of strawberries and a little dollop of whipped cream the perfect dessert and when presented with just that, is most happy! So for his birthday I wanted to up the excitement just a bit and provide a vessel to mound those strawberries on top of, and that is how this pound cake recipe was born!
Rather than just a slice of pound cake, I wanted to add an element of crunch, kind of like you’d find on crème brûlée. So, once sliced you simply slather on some ghee and sprinkle a bit of maple sugar up on top, use a kitchen torch or slide it under the broiler until it’s browned and crunchy. This provides not only a marvelous texture to the dessert, but another layer of flavor in every bite!
brûléed strawberry shortcake
layers of flavor, all done up paleo style, brûléed strawberry shortcake
Credit: backporchpaleo.com
Ingredients
- Paleo Pound Cake
- 1¼ cups Otto’s Cassava Flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp Redmond Real Salt
- ½ cup maple sugar
- ½ cup softened grass fed butter, room temperature (or fat of choice)
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup raw milk, room temperature (or coconut milk)
- ghee (or fat of choice) & maple sugar for brûléeing
- approximately ¼ cup of prepared fruit per serving of shortcake
- whipped cream (or whipped coconut cream) for garnish
- melted chocolate ganache for drizzle underneath slice (opt garnish)
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 375°
- Prepare a 8″ x 4″ loaf pan, coat with coconut oil and a strip of parchment paper lengthwise, long enough that it extends over the side of the pan over the handles.
- In a small bowl, combine cassava flour, baking powder and salt whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine maple sugar and butter, beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Take your time here, beating for up to 4-5 minutes is optimal…all the beating creates air for the pound cake to have some sponge and lift!
- In a separate bowl, whisk up eggs and vanilla with a fork until combined, then with mixer on the lowest setting, pour into sugar/butter mixture and mix until well combined.
- From here, you’ll be alternating mixing in the dry ingredients and the raw milk, mixing well after each addition. Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the butter/egg mixture, mix well then add ½ the raw milk, mix well and then the next ⅓ of the dry…continue in this manner ending with dry ingredients and making sure everything is mixed together well.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Begin checking at 30 minutes with a toothpick in the center for done-ness. Once baked to golden deliciousness, remove from oven and let cool completely.
- To brûlée, slice pound cake into approximately ¾” slices and spread ghee over one side, sprinkle with enough maple sugar to lightly coat slice, you don’t need a lot here. Use a kitchen torch to brûlée or slide under the broiler in the oven.
- To assemble shortcake, drizzle chocolate ganache on serving plate (if using) place brûléed slice of pound cake over chocolate. Spoon fruit over the top of slice and garnish according to your dietary needs.
