: After reading your e-mail, I thought it would be great for this column. I put it in a safe place so I would never lose it ... but for the life of me, I can't find it.In fact, are you really there, Paula? Has anyone seen Paula? We may need to reconstruct her: a body, a dress, an apron, some little shoes, and one missing strawberry shortcake recipe.Last seen she was with a 9-inch springform pan, waiting for her cake for 20-25 minutes so she could cut it in half. I only remember five things about her; she watched the television show, she read the article in the Philadelphia Daily News, she liked strawberries, she had a terrible memory, and she had a tendency to lose things. She's been known for spraying 9-inch springform pans with non-stick spray, and then laying parchment paper in the bottom and spraying them again.If you can reconstruct Paula, please send her home so she can bake!Five ingredients? Really? Sounds to me like you're one drumstick short of a Texas picnic, or said another way, a few ingredients short of a strawberry shortcake! There has to have been at least one more ingredient because something's just gotta lighten up this cake! Otherwise, you may end up with a strawberry short brick.By definition, "shortcake" is really a sweet biscuit. Shortcake is typically made with more than five ingredients; usually a recipe for this dish will call for flour, sugar, baking powder or soda, salt, butter, milk or cream, and sometimes eggs. So Paula, you have either misplaced the miracle five-ingredient recipe for strawberry shortcake that was meant to simplify the lives of chefs all over the world, or you have miscounted the recipe's ingredients.Let's hope it was the latter, because believe me, you wouldn't want a bunch of disgruntled chefs coming to look for you!There's one ingredient you certainly can't do without in a strawberry shortcake recipe — strawberries. Of course, you can make other kinds of shortcake, such as peach or blueberry, but there's nothing like the classic strawberry variety.Strawberries have had a wild past. They used to grow only in the wild, and they grew that way for hundreds of years. The ancient Romans considered strawberries medicinal and useful for ailments such as tooth decay and gastritis.They were on to something, since strawberries are considered a "superfood" for their anti-oxidant properties, high fiber content, and vitamins and minerals.Later in their history, strawberries grew up and became a food of the nobility. The nobles were the only ones to delight in the strawberry since food that grew above ground was considered only for royalty, and root vegetation was for the common-folk. So back then, people like you and I would have been eating shepherd's pie, and there would have been no strawberries for us — let alone shortcake and whipped cream.Lucky for us, this system eventually fell out of favor, and by the 13th century, strawberries were being cultivated for everyone.Imagine what life was like back when you could only get fruit in season, and the strawberry season only lasted from April until June.I'm not talking centuries ago, I'm talking a couple decades ago! Only three months of strawberries! When you finally got to see a strawberry after nine months of waiting, what better way to celebrate than with shortcake and whipped cream?The season was such a big deal that communities would throw strawberry festivals where they would hold court and crown a "queen of the strawberries" each year. I guess those strawberries just can't get rid of their royal roots.These days strawberries are available just about year round. In honor of this popular fruit, Paula, I'd like to crown you "Queen of the Disappearing Strawberry Shortcake."I'm sure you've always wanted to be queen of something. Today is your day! I don't think this recipe will duplicate your five-ingredient version, but I can tell you that when you make this shortcake, it will surely disappear. Just don't put it in a safe place!