SMS: Strawberry Shortcakes

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe of Strawberry Shortcakes was chosen by Wendy of the amazing blog Pink Stripes. You should check out her stunning FOUR variations and the recipe here (nicely done Wendy!).

I had been hearing great things about this recipe from the P&Q section all week from members that made it and loved it, so I was really looking forward to making these. This was another first for me, I have never made strawberry shortcakes before and can't remember the last time I had one. So I made these lactose free (almost) and substituted the cream with soy creamer and butter with lactose free margarine. I don't know if that really affected the texture, but my dough was super sticky and really hard to shape and work with, so I think they didn't rise as much as they should have because of all my handling.

They tasted FABULOUS however. The hint of lemon in the cakes paired so well with the strawberries (which got an extra tablespoon of brandy to soak in). The cake above was scarfed by yours truely within minutes after the photo was taken. Since I tried to make these completely lactose free, I went with cool whip instead of fresh whipped cream (my hubby didn't notice!) but that's why it looks a little watery above. Unfortunately this is some casinate in the cool whip and when I eat this in large quantities, it causes a significant tummy ache. What we do for our blogs - I wanted a pretty picture, so I slathered on the whipped topping. I should have then removed most of it before eating (you really only need a hint because the biscuit/cake and strawberries are soooo good), but no, little miss piggy over here went for it all. Oh well. I survived =)

Thanks Wendy, great recipe selection and AMAZING post. Check out the other SMS bakers here.