It has to be what Mama made.

I love strawberries. I also love strawberry shortcake.

To most people, the image that comes to mind when someone says strawberry shortcake is a sweetened biscuit with strawberries. Not me. Don't get me wrong, the biscuit kind is fine, but for real shortcake, it's gotta be sponge cake.

Not just any sponge cake -- Carla's Hot Milk Sponge Cake, from the More with Less cookbook. If you have the 25th anniversary edition, it's on page 282. Why you ask, because, that's what Mama always made!

This cake was always made in a cornbread pan and we would have big squares of shortcake with sliced strawberries fresh from the garden. The strawberries would be tossed with just enough sugar to bring out some juice. It was served in soup bowls and we'd pour on the milk.

Well, I realized the other night that it was nearing the end of the strawberry season and I hadn't had real shortcake yet, just the fake biscuit kind. So I "borrowed" 2 eggs (I only had beaters) and made the cake. I had strawberry shortcake last night and will have it tonight for dinner as well.