As I mentioned previously, we are cake people now. This one is pretty special. It tastes like a mash up of my all time favorite (strawberry shortcake) and a shirley temple. The cherry syrup soaks into the almond scented cake and WOAH. I used this white cake recipe, but you could easily use a boxed mix with a tiny splash of almond extract added or even store bought pound cake or angel food cake!!
Cherry Berry Shortcake with Chamomile Cream
(makes one 2-layer, 8” cake)
White Cake (Or sub white cake mix + 1/2 tsp almond extract. Or store bought pound cake or angel food!)
Cherry Berry Syrup
1 c cherries, pitted and cut in half
3 cups assorted berries (I used strawberries and blackberries)
1/4 c sugar (or honey!)
Splash of OJ (Fresh squeezed or not)
Simmer all of these ingredients (stirring occasionally) for about 20 minutes, until the berries start to break down and a syrupy sauce is forming at the bottom of the pan.
Place in a covered container in the fridge and allow to cool completely, at least four hours.
Chamomile Whipped Cream
2 c heavy cream
2 chamomile tea bags
1 TBSP sugar (or honey!)
1.5 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
In a saucepan, heat the cream until small bubbles just start to form around the edges (DO NOT ALLOW IT TO BOIL OR EVEN SIMMER!) Steep the tea bags in the cream for 7 minutes or so, then remove and chill the cream in the fridge while the cherry berry topping cools.
WHEN EVERYTHING IS COOL: Whisk or beat the cream until it starts to thicken up, then add the sugar and vanilla. Continue to whisk/beat until soft peaks form (don’t overbeat or you’ll have butter!!) This process goes much faster the colder your whisk/beaters/bowl are. I like to place all of them in the freezer for about 15 minutes before I start to make the whipped cream.
Place one of the cooled cakes on a plate and level if needed. Top with 1/2 of the whipped cream, building up the cream around the edges to create sort of a bowl to hold the cherry berry syrup. Top the cream with 1/3 of the syrup and then place the other cake on top and repeat the process. SOME SYRUP MIGHT OOZE OUT AND THAT’S OKAY! This is a messy, summertime, sitting in a wet bathing suit to eat this kind’ve cake!! I like to save the remaining 1/3 of the cherry berry syrup in the fridge and pour it into each individual slice to serve or have it with ice cream!!
