I’m fortunate to live in the Salinas Valley in California, some of the best produce in the country is grown here.  However there are some crops we grow in abundance, and one of those is Strawberries.  The Strawberries at the market were the smaller spring berries that are just the most flavorful and delicious. Perfect for a simple shortcake.  Since I bought a half flat of berries (for a whopping 5 bucks) I decided to use some of them to make a syrup to go on the dessert (and to save for an ice cream topper later).

For the syrup I took:

1 1/2 cups of berries

1/4 cup of sugar

the zest and juice of one orange

2 tablespoons of water

1 tablespoon of honey

Combine and simmer until the berries start to fall apart.

I mashed up the berries into a pulp and then strained them in a fine sieve to get rid of the seeds.  I put them back into my (cleaned) pan and let the liquid reduce until I got a wonderful thick syrup.  Let me tell ya, I could eat it with a spoon.

To assemble my strawberry shortcake I take a thick slice of pound cake (I just used a store bought cake) drizzle some syrup, top with sliced fresh strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream and another drizzle of syrup. Viola! Super simple and very delicious.  And since it’s a dessert made with fruit it’s healthy right? At least that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself :)