It’s prime strawberry season in Birmingham, and we’re celebrating with a very special recipe from Geri-Martha O’Hara of Big Spoon Creamery — the cake recipe that inspired their Roasted Strawberry Shortcake ice cream flavor!
The flavor features a mascarpone ice cream base with chunks of spongy lemon cake and roasted strawberry jam blended in. But as for the cake that started it all?
“Michael Laiskonis, the executive pastry chef at Le Bernardin, taught me this sponge recipe,” says Geri-Martha. “I love it so much because the citrus juice and zest add depth of flavor and round out the cake nicely. It is soft, spongy, and perfectly balanced. It pairs so well with the roasted strawberries and mascarpone ice cream.”
The recipe also includes instructions for turning fresh strawberries into a syrupy-sweet topping. “We decided to roast the strawberries with lemon zest and vanilla to intensify the flavors and make them concentrated like a jam,” Geri-Martha explains. But this jammy concoction is great for more than just a cake topping.
“We love to serve the roasted strawberries on a warm buttermilk biscuit, pancakes, waffles, or French toast,” says Geri-Martha. “You can also use them in a salad dressing — such as a strawberry balsamic — and blend it all together with olive oil. Or [put it] on a cheese plate.”
Enjoy!
Lemon Shortcake with Roasted Strawberries
Ingredients
Roasted Strawberries
- 2 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled
- 8 oz sugar
- 8 oz glucose syrup or light corn syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- Zest of 1 lemon
Lemon Cake
- 2 cups cake flour, sifted
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 4½ oz egg yolks (from 4 to 6 eggs, depending on size)
- ⅓ cup water
- ⅓ cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
- ⅓ cup avocado oil
- Zest of 3 lemons
- 1 cup sugar
- 10½ oz egg whites (from 10-12 eggs, depending on size)
- ⅓ cup sugar
Instructions
Roasted Strawberries
- Mix hulled fresh strawberries, sugar, vanilla bean paste, and lemon zest together.
- Place on a sheet pan with a Silpat baking mat or roasting pan in an even layer.
- Roast at 300°F for about an hour or until the color has deepened and the strawberry juices are syrup-like and bubbling. The key is to roast the mixture low and slow.
- Once roasted, let cool and then blend or leave whole.
Lemon Cake
- Begin by sifting cake flour, salt, and baking powder together. Set this mixture aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the liquid ingredients, including the egg yolks, oil, water, lemon zest, and orange juice. Next, add the sugar and quickly whisk the mixture.
- Fold in the dry mixture of flour, salt, and baking powder to the egg yolk and sugar mixture.
- Whisk egg whites and the second measurement of sugar to create medium peaks.
- Fold this mixture into the egg yolk and flour mixture.
- Bake in a parchment-lined sheet pan at 300°F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool, and serve with roasted strawberries and a scoop of ice cream!
Nutrition
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For more ways to make the most of strawberry season in BHAM, check out these nearby farm experiences and our Birmingham farmers’ market guide!
