ginormous strawberry shortcake

Hee hee, the recipe is not really called Ginormous Strawberry Shortcake, but it might as well be after you see how high this cake can get.

First, make the chiffon shortcake according to this recipe (yes, another Smitten Kitchen recipe.  She makes the world go round.  Or at least she makes my belly go round...). Note to those of you who are like me and don't know what cream of tartar is - it's in the spice aisle and it's not liquid nor cream.



While the cake is baking, slice your strawberries!!!



All three pounds of strawberries! FYI - a quart is two pounds, so yeah I only bought three pounds of strawberries and was a little worried that I didn't have enough strawberries. Either I sliced them really thin or my math was off during assembly, there were plenty of strawberries left over.  Here's a handy dandy conversion chart for future baking!



I really like the chiffon cake. It's not too sweet, and very light and fluffy. I didn't have round pans so I used those disposable square pans with lids to make it easier for transportation.



I had to assemble the strawberry shortcake at L's house on Easter. I followed the directions...well mostly. I was supposed to cut each cake in half and then level it -- I cut each cake in half but did not level it because there were people breathing down my back for cake! Hence, the sloping downwards of the tower. =)

Then I basically just piled on whip cream and strawberries before adding another layer of cake. I tried to make a pretty design of strawberries on top, but considering that this was a square cake, it was kinda hard to fill every space with strawberries.



Setting aside looks, the most important thing is that it was yummy in the tummy!!