A Duo of All American Strawberry Desserts

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

One of the highlights of the late spring season is the perfectly ripe strawberry. If you are lucky enough to find these beautiful gems at the local farmers market or berry patch, don’t pass them up!

They are so different from the ones you will find in the supermarket. While the supermarket berries are large and sometimes flavorless, locally grown ones are usually smaller and full of red-ripe flavor and sweetness. They are complemented really well with just a bit of fresh cream, but can also be showcased in two iconic desserts: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and Strawberry Shortcake.

The pairing of strawberries and rhubarb is a classic, old fashioned combination that will make you feel like you are sitting in a sunny spot in grandma’s kitchen. Yet the sweet berries combined with tart rhubarb make a nice contrast that still feels fresh and new, especially if you haven’t had this dessert in a number of years.

Rhubarb comes into season early in the spring and it usually overlaps with the beginning of strawberry season, which is why the pairing is so common. Rhubarb stalks can vary from a light green with a pinkish tinge to the more common bright red. Unless they are very tough, the stalks don’t need to be peeled, just trimmed and sliced into small pieces.

If you have ever sampled a piece of uncooked rhubarb then you know it is mouth puckering and tart. But once cooked, the tartness mellows and it takes on a nice lemony flavor. The addition of tapioca to the pie filling thickens it nicely; otherwise the crust would be a little soggy. A lattice crust makes a pretty topping for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie but if this seems like too much work, you can also roll a plain flat crust and just cut large decorative slits into it.

Now the other quintessential strawberry dessert is shortcake. Growing up we often had strawberry shortcake in the summer, but our family version meant preformed individual sponge cake disks you can find in the grocery store that were topped with sugared strawberries and either packaged whipped topping or canned whipped cream. And it must have been the thing in lots of households since my husband remembers exactly the same dessert. I’m not knocking this version at all, although true shortcake is similar to a British scone in its crumbly texture, almost like a sweetened biscuit.

The reason that shortcake is called such is because butter or shortening is added to a tender pastry dough. This type of cake has been historically noted since the Middle Ages, and became especially popular in the mid 1800s in the United States when combined with strawberries. It continues to this day to be one of the most popular summertime desserts.

You can achieve Memorial Day perfection with a red, white, and blue shortcake, that is a strawberry and blueberry shortcake with freshly whipped cream. Or you can combine the goodness of ripe berries with the tartness of rhubarb in a delicious pie. It’s just right for toting along to backyard parties and barbecues.

So celebrate the beginning of the summer and enjoy perfectly ripe berries in two classic American desserts!

Serves/Makes: 16

• 4 cups water, boiling
• 2 packages red jello, any flavor
• 2 packages blue jello, any flavor
• 2 cups water, cold
• 8 ounces Cool Whip, thawed
• 4 cups pound cake, cubed
• 2 cups strawberries, sliced

Serves/Makes: 8

• 1 (2-crust size) prepared pie pastry (8 or 9-inch size)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half
• 2 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb