Move Over, Strawberry Shortcake!

I was going to wait and tell you about this on Monday but I got scared and thought, "What if this baby comes over the weekend and I completely forget about posting this until after strawberry season?" That's how much I want to share this with you!

I know there are a lot of strawberry shortcake fans out there. I didn't grow up on strawberry shortcake, though. I grew up on Mrs. Davey Funk Cake and Tishy Fuloo. In my book, this is way better than strawberry shortcake but I don't want to start any fights, so I won't say more than that.

First off, what in the world am I talking about? In old cookbooks, especially old, Mennonite church cookbooks, the author of the recipe didn't have their name underneath their creation, they had their husband's name with a "Mrs." thrown out in front. So, we don't know the author's first name. We just call her Mrs. Davey Funk. Mrs. Davey Funk cake is a light, buttery cake topped with crumbs. These crumbs create a delicate crust which is a perfect platform for the Tishy Fuloo and strawberries.

What is Tishy Fuloo? No one in my family is exactly sure how to spell this, so I did my best to spell it phonetically (I think), so at least you're saying it right (if not spelling it right). Tishy is Fishy with a "t". Fuloo is DO, RE, ME, "FA"... with 'loo' at the end. You all know how to say 'loo', right? Like saying, "I have to go to the loo". Now that you know how to say it, Tishy Fuloo is a wonderful merainge that you put on top of your Mrs. Davey Funk cake.

KEY CONCEPT: Both the cake and the merainge are a CINCH to make. Seriously. And I bet if you have fresh strawberries, you will not have to go out and buy a single ingredient to make this. Ready for a picture???



Mrs. Davey Funk Cake

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 egss
1 cup milk

In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the sugar and butter. Add flour and baking powder and beat well. Once crumbs have formed (scrape down the sides of your bowl if you don't see crumbs right away and beat again), reserve 3/4 cup of crumbs and set those reserved crumbs aside. Add the eggs and milk to the mixing bowl and beat until you have a creamy batter. Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan (OR into two 8 x 8 inch pans- this cake freezes very nicely once it's baked and cooled and this way you can pull the extra one out for company several days later). Sprinkle the top with the reserved crumbs and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Cakes before and after baking.

Tishy Fuloo (recipe possibly from Mrs. Davey Funk, but we're not totally sure)

1 egg white
1 cup crushed strawberries
3/4 cup sugar

Beat these ingredients in the bowl of your electric mixer (use the whisk attachment if you have one) for 3-5 minutes until the volume increases 300-400 percent and soft peaks form. Refreigerate until you are ready to serve it. If it sits several hours in the fridge, you may want to whip it up a bit again just before serving (a spoon or spatula will do for the whipping).

That's it. You're done! To assemble, serve the cake with a a large dollup of Tishy Fuloo on top. Top the Tishy Fuloo with sliced or crushed strawberries. I'm so glad I got all this out before I'm distracted by sweet little fingers and toes. Enjoy and (dare I say it?) prepare to be converted!

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