Simple ingredients come together for this summery take on strawberry shortcake.
Recipes by Sarah Godwin | Photographed by Joe Worthem
As the grilling season heats up, experiment with grilled fruit as a side dish or an interesting dessert. Grilling the fruit causes its natural sugars to caramelize, enhancing the sweetness. This twist on strawberry shortcake puts both fresh strawberries and pound cake on the grill, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar adds an extra explosion of flavor. A note: this is a great way to repurpose leftover pound cake, or even use up homemade pound cake that turned out drier than desired.
Grilled Strawberry Shortcake
Store-bought or homemade pound cake, sliced
¼ cup softened butter
½ cup sugar, divided
1 pound strawberries, halved and stemmed
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving
Preheat grill to 400°F. In a small bowl, mix butter and ¼ cup of the sugar, and spread evenly on both sides of pound cake slices.
Slide strawberry halves onto wooden skewers. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, and let sit 5 minutes. Coat strawberries evenly with remaining ¼ cup sugar.
Place strawberry skewers on grill grate, and grill 2-3 minutes. Add cake slices to grill, and grill 2-3 minutes. Flip cake slices and berry skewers, and grill 2-3 more minutes. Remove skewers and cake from grill, and remove berries from skewers. Place cake and berries on plates, and serve immediately with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.