Coney Island Strawberry Shortcakes: The Review

Last week, we noted the cool blog created by the proprietors of the Coney Island Shortcakes Stand that opened in May in front of Cha Cha's on the boardwalk. Today, after going to Coney to sample one of their shortcakes (tough job, that), we have the review. In a word: Excellent. They are the perfect boardwalk treat.

The shortcakes come in large and small sizes, priced at $5 and $3 respectively. Each is a wonderful dish with a foundation of shortcake biscuits topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. The biscuits are tasty and the strawberries are fresh and soaked in their own sugary juices. The whipped cream is light and fresh. Gowanus Lounge suggests taking your time with the shortcakes so as to allow the strawberry syrup to soak into them.

We had ours while talking with Dan and Kalene, the two super friendly and nice Prospect Heights residents who created stand and make and sell the shortcakes. "We didn't want to spend the summer sitting at our computers," Kalene said of their decision to put in long workdays on the Brooklyn Riviera. Both are graphic artists and designers, and they produce a magazine called Sherbert as a side project. Unfortunately, our conversation was cut short because a nasty thunderstorm was building on the evening we visited. After one too many bolts of lightening snaked down from the sky and a stampede began to get to the Stillwell Avenue subway station before the deluge, we finished our excellent shortcake and ran for cover too.

To call the shortcakes the best thing that have happened to desert on the boardwalk food-wise in a long, long time is not an overstatement. Gowanus Lounge remembers desperately seeking some sort of desert one night last year (that didn't involve some sort of vile deep fried food) and settling on the boardwalk outpost of McDonald's for an ice cream.

By the looks of things, the shortcakes are doing well. Next time you're in Coney Island and your sweet tooth starts calling you, head to the Strawberry Shortcakes stand. You'll be glad you did.