The Greatest Strawberry Shortcake

A few weeks after Paper Moon opened here, I figured I'd try out their cakes. I chanced upon their strawberry shortcake, liked it, and thus my journey on finding the best strawberry shortcake in the Philippines started.

I searched high and low to find the fluffiest, most delectable strawberry shortcake that is. What makes a strawberry shortcake delicious? It has to have a fluffy sponge or chiffon base drizzled with syrup, stacked in layers between airy, light, subtly sweet icing blended with strawberry flavor (from actual strawberries), ideally with strawberry slices in between the cake layers, topped with more airy, creamy and light icing and lots of fresh strawberries.

In my research I'm certain I purchased these cakes during strawberry off-season. So they're all equal in the sense that fresh strawberries were difficult to aquire on those months.

These are my encounters, and the Best Shortcake of Them All.

Classic Confections / Nono's strawberry shortcake

This shortcake looked appealing, especially with the icing's design. But other than that, there's nothing impressive. Classic Confections/Nono's uses a strawberry jam in the middle (see those dark pink patches between the cake slices) and I just can't accept a strawberry shortcake that scrimps on strawberries.

TFD's rating - ✗

Costa Coffee's strawberry shortcake

I don't usually trust coffee shop pastries because they're more a miss than a hit, but this one was just bad. Icing was too grainy, strawberry was old (thus covered in gloopy strawberry jam), the cake was dense and obviously not fresh. Hard pass.

TFD's rating - ✗✗

Mary Grace's strawberry shortcake

I expected a lot from Mary Grace because the shop usually churns out decent cakes... but not this time. Their shortcake was too dense, too watery (it was frozen, most likely to prevent the cream from being a mess), the icing was too thick and dense, and the strawberries were obviously icy and not fresh. I think there were slices in between the cake layers but tbh I couldn't taste the difference because it was just. so. damn. cold.

I want my money back.

TFD's rating - ✗✗

Polly's strawberry shortcake

I was hankering for Polly's chocolate cake (which isn't my favorite anymore) and I discovered they had a strawberry shortcake too. I was very wary in ordering this (because of my past experiences in subpar shortcakes) but my curiosity won in the end. And it was bad. The icing was grainy and oily--not even the shavings of white chocolate could save this cake. The chiffon (I think?) was medium light (not too dense, but not airy fluffy either), but the worst thing was the lack of decent strawberries in this slice. I think Polly's used commercial strawberry jam--or at least tasted like it. My tongue felt waxy afterward; the sign of a bad meal.

TFD's rating - ✗✗

Yamato Bakery's strawberry shortcake

You know, I had high hopes for this cake because Japan makes godly strawberry shortcakes, and it will be part of my pilgrimage for the best strawberry shortcake in the world. Anyway, Yamato's shortcake has tons of icing and not enough sponge cake or strawberry syrup glaze. The strawberries are also a bit old, but at least they're not frozen. I wouldn't order this again. Such a shame though, because I want to encourage Japanese-style pastries and cakes to flourish in this country.

TFD's rating - ✗

Patisserie Bebe Rouge's strawberry shortcake

Ah, finally. One of the decent strawberry shortcakes. If only it weren't so small in size, I'd be recommending this to everyone with abandon. The icing was light, airy, and subtly sweet; the sponge cake was light and fluffy in texture. In between were thin slices of fresh strawberries, and it was topped with more (delicious!) icing and a whole fresh strawberry, dusted in icing sugar. At a hefty pricetag of almost PHP 200, I can easily eat this piece in two bites. Although I think the technique required to make this + labor + ingredients validate the price tag, I don't think people will be too happy to hear you can scarf down this slice in less than two bites.

You can opt to buy their whole cakes (with cute designs!) but take note, their cream melts in less than 15-30 minutes in the Manila weather so it's strongly suggested to carry an ice box filled with... ice and put it in the fridge/freezer as soon as possible to avoid melting. I bought one and even got an Uber just to protect the cake, but it melted despite my efforts.

TFD's rating - ♡♡♡♡ (get the whole cake if you can)

Wildflour's strawberry shortcake

Wildflour churns out lots of quality pastries. Cakes, I'm not really sure. Thankfully their version of the strawberry shortcake is delicious: fluffy, airy icing; fluffy, light sponge cake; slices of fresh strawberries in between layers and topped off with a very fresh, plump strawberry. It's so fresh you can even see the seeds protruding in the photo. The downside here is the sponge cake is lighter than the icing, so after a few bites my cake slice capsized on the plate.

Wildflour's cakes are seasonal in the sense that it's always a guess whether they carry the specific cake flavor you want. The usual ones (like chocolate) are almost always there, but I had to do several trips to Wildflour's branches just to order this cake.

TFD's rating - ♡♡♡♡ 

❀🍓❀🍓❀

Thus my journey culminates in presenting the best strawberry shortcake ever. I sought different restaurants, far and wide, just to taste other cakes in the hopes of finding a better one; but I never found it. I returned to where I started and fell in love with the strawberry shortcake.

🍓 Paper Moon's strawberry shortcake 🍓

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Paper Moon's strawberry shortcake is the quintessential strawberry shortcake. It has the most airy, fluffy, and light sponge cake, which I wager was brushed with a light strawberry syrup. In between those cake layers are bite-sized strawberry chunks, not slices, covered in delicious icing. The cake is wrapped generously, but not cloyingly, with more subtly sweet creamy icing, and then topped off with mounds and mounds of fresh, thick-sliced strawberries glazed with syrup. With every bite, you get fresh strawberries, light and airy sponge cake, and creamy icing. 

You might say these ingredients are also included in the other cakes. But no: the combination of these three parts blend so harmoniously well that the total flavor of Paper Moon's strawberry shortcake is greater than the sum of its parts. My mouth is watering at the thought of eating this cake again.

TFD's rating - ♡♡♡♡♡

❀🍓❀🍓❀

Every year, I wish someone would gift me with Paper Moon's whole strawberry shortcake for my birthday. My wish hasn't been granted yet.