Couldn't help myself

Wafting from a bowl

Heavenly scent fills the kitchen

Crimson sirens seduce

Strawberry Not-So-Short Cake – yields one 10-inch cake

1-cups sugar

½-pound butter

2½-cups flour

1-teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

3 eggs

1-can sweetened condensed milk

2-pints strawberries – hulls removed

2-pints whipping cream

2-teapoons vanilla extract

1-teaspoon rose water

For the cake:

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the sugar and butter together until pale in color and very fluffy.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Add the eggs into the butter mixture, one at a time, beating them in thoroughly. Scrap the bowl down between each addition of eggs. Then add in the flour and 7-ounces of condensed milk, alternating between the two, ending with the flour.

Grease a 10-inch, and pour the batter in. Bake for about 40 minutes, until golden and a cake tester comes out clean.

Place a cooling rack allow to cool completely - un-mold.

Slice the cake into three layers about ¼-inch thick each.

Cut the strawberries in half or thirds, depending on their size, lengthwise.

Beat the vanilla, rose water and cream to soft peak. Then drizzle in the remaining 7-ounce of sweetened condensed milk, beating the cream back to soft peaks.  

Assemble the cake:

Place a layer of the cake on a plate cut side up and spread a third of the cream across its surface. Lay a single, but snug, layer of strawberries. Top with another layer of cake, and repeat the process. Finish the third layer with remaining cream and strawberries. Refrigerator for a few hours before serving.