Strawberry Short Cake II

A plain baking-powder shortcake dough, richer in fat than a biscuit and meant to be baked as one round cake, split, and filled with crushed berries. The recipe assumes you have already read Strawberry Short Cake I, which supplies both the mixing method and the fruit.

• The mixing method it points back toThe usual sequence for a dough of this kind is to sift the dry ingredients together, work or cut the butter in until the mixture looks like coarse meal, then add the milk and stir only until it holds together. Overworking at this stage is what makes shortcake tough rather than short. Check Recipe I for the exact wording, which this recipe assumes you have.
• The fruit is not in the ingredient listThis is a variant of the preceding recipe and gives only the cake. Allow about 1 quart of strawberries, hulled, sliced and sugared to taste, left to stand 30 minutes so they give up juice; crush about a third of them for the filling.
• Oven heatThe recipe gives none. A hot oven, around 450F, and 12 to 15 minutes for a single round, until well risen and pale gold, suits a dough of this richness; too slow an oven dries the cake before it lifts.
• The tinA round buttered tin most likely means a straight-sided 8- or 9-inch cake or pie pan, not a springform. The dough is rolled on the board first, then shaped in the pan with the back of the hand rather than rolled thin in place; press it just to the edges, no thinner.
• Baking powderFour teaspoons to two cups of flour is the standard proportion in books of this period, two teaspoons to the cup. By modern taste 2 to 3 teaspoons of double-acting powder is enough, and the full amount can leave a faint metallic aftertaste.
• Butter and milkA third of a cup is 5 tablespoons plus a teaspoon; use it cold and cut it in. Whole milk gives the intended richness, and if the dough seems stiff add a spoonful more rather than working it longer.
• SplittingSplit the hot cake horizontally with a fork rather than a knife, which tears less, and butter both cut faces while the steam is still rising. Butter is what keeps the lower half from going sodden under the juice.
• YieldOne round serves six modestly, four generously. It is at its best within an hour of baking and does not keep to the next day.