Murderous Strawberry Shortcake

With my fondness for both books and dessert recipes, it was only a matter of time before I got hooked on this series. It's about a young woman from fictional Lake Eden, MN* who owns a bakery and spends her spare time solving murders, the victims of which always manage to expire while consuming one of her confections.

In any case, strawberries have been cheap and plentiful here lately, so when I had to fix a church supper recently, I quadrupled the title recipe from the second book of the series "The Strawberry Shortcake Murder" and fed about 80 with it. It was wonderful.

Cake:

• 3 sticks butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups cake flour

Topping:

• 3 pints sliced strawberries (or other fruit)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup sour cream

Butter and flour 2 9 inch pans. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and beat until fluffy. Mix in sour cream, baking powder and vanilla. Add flour, one cup at a time. Spoon into pans and bake at 325 degrees for 45-50 minutes

Cool, wrap in plastic and foil and store in refrigerator for 48 hours. Remove an hour before serving. Beat cream with sugar, then fold in sour cream Serve with sliced berries, a dollop of cream mixture and garnish with whole berries. Hannah says this makes 12 pieces; for me it's rich enough to serve more like 20.

*where, judging from the amount of time the characters spend eating scrumptious-sounding desserts, the average weight must be around 500 lbs.