CITRUS SHORTCAKES
About the Recipe
Little shortcakes can scream BIG OCCASION. individually portioned for each guest, lavishly layered with thick cream, ice cream, fruit or all of the above? We all know the standard strawberry iteration: a biscuit split in half and filled with whipped cream and strawberries macerated in sugar until the fruit surrenders its juice and becomes wonderfully saucy. But why stop there? Strawberry season won’t arrive in most of the country for several months.
For something sunny to offset bleak December, try a simple citrus shortcake — simple, as in from a box. There’s no shame in it. The cake that comes of combining Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix and Jell-O Lemon Instant Pudding adds up to far more than the sum of its parts, luxuriously moist, with plenty of citrus punch. Garnish the lemony little cakes à la creamsicle, with vanilla ice cream, orange sorbet, orange slices and whipped cream. Delicious and unexpected and no one complains when presented with a triple whammy of ice cream, sorbet and whipped cream.
Citrus Shortcakes
Serves 12
How To:
Make cakes: Preheat oven to 350F. Butter or grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Put ¼ cup fresh lemon juice in a measuring cup and add enough water so you have ⅔ cup liquid. Add 1 box Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix, 1 box Jell-O Lemon Instant Pudding mix, 4 room-temperature eggs, ½ teaspoon lemon extract and the lemon juice-water mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat to combine. Add ⅔ cup canola or other neutral oil and beat until smooth, approximately 6 minutes, occasionally stopping to scrape down sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin tin cups. Bake in center of oven until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest,¼ teaspoon lemon extract and ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted, until smooth. Set aside.
Once the cakes are removed from the oven, decrease temperature to 350F. Let cakes cool in tin 5 minutes, then invert them onto a wire rack. Flip so cakes sit top-side up. Prick tops of cakes all over with a fork. Spoon glaze over cakes and let cool.
Use a small, sharp knife to cut 6 large navel oranges into supremes (segments free of skin and membrane). Alternatively, remove all skin and pith from oranges, then slice horizontally into rounds ¼ inch thick. In a small bowl, toss oranges with 1 tablespoon sugar and 2 tablespoons orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier. Set aside.
Whip 1 cup cold heavy cream with 2 teaspoons sugar.
To serve, halve each cake and warm slightly in oven (optional). Place bottom half of each cake on a dessert plate. Top with one scoop each of vanilla ice cream and orange or lemon sorbet. Arrange spiked oranges on top of ice cream and drizzle with juices. Top with remaining cake halves. Add a dollop of whipped cream to each plate.