Sumptuous Strawberry Shortcake

Stop! Don't put that spongy yellow excuse for a shortcake in your grocery cart! We know ... you don't have time for all the muss and fuss of rolling out biscuit dough.

We're here to say you don't have to. We have something we'd like you to meet: "Rustic" Strawberry Shortcake.

Sure, we use a mix, but it's what we do with it that counts. We add only two ingredients to the mix, stir, plop the batter by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet, bake and assemble. You'll see smiles all around.

"Rustic" Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups Bisquick (or other buttermilk baking mix)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
2 quarts strawberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine Bisquick, oil and milk, and stir with a large spoon until liquid disappears. Batter will be moist. Drop large spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The tips of the shortcake will be slightly brown.

Meanwhile, wash 2 quarts of ripe strawberries. Slice and mash half of the berries with 1/2 cup sugar, or to taste. A potato masher or pastry blender works well for this. Add the rest of the hulled berries (halved if they are large, whole if they are small) to the sugared berries and let stand.

Whip cream while adding vanilla and 1/4 cup of confectioners' sugar.

Slice slightly cooled shortcake in half. Spoon on generous amounts of berries on bottom half. Top with other half and pour on berries. Top with whipped cream.

Yields: 9 shortcakes