• Preheat oven to 450° F. Butter or spray a 9-inch round cake pan.

Prepping

• Remove 6 to 8 of the best looking berries and set them aside for the garnish. Do not hull these. Wash and hull the remaining berries, then cut them into fourths. Sprinkle the cut strawberries with 1/3 cup sugar and mash them slightly. Set them aside to macerate while you work.
  2 pounds strawberries, 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• Beat the heavy cream and powdered sugar together until medium-soft peaks form. It should be firm but not stiff. Refrigerate until needed.
  2 cups heavy whipping cream, 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

To Make the Shortcake

• In a medium bowl, combine the 1/4 cup sugar, flour, shortening, milk, egg, baking powder, lemon zest and salt.
  50 g granulated sugar, 210 g all-purpose flour, 94 g shortening, 1/3 cup milk, 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 3/4 teaspoon salt
• With a mixer at medium speed, beat the mixture until it is well combined. It will look crumbly and clumpy rather than smooth, and it will not gather into a ball on its own in the bowl. That is exactly right, so do not keep beating to try to bring it together and do not add more milk.
• Gather the dough in your hands. You should be able to form a dough ball. Put the dough ball into the prepared pan and press it evenly out to the edges with a spatula or your fingertips until the surface is level.
• Set the cake pan on a baking sheet and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched. Start your timer the moment the oven door closes.
• Remove the cake from the oven and invert it onto a cutting board. Allow it to cool for 15 minutes. Give it the full 15, because the warmer the layer is, the more fragile it is.
• Using a bread knife, carefully split the warm shortcake in half horizontally with a long, gentle sawing motion. Plain, unflavored dental floss works well for this too. Expect a few crumbs along the cut edge. That is normal for a shortcake and not a sign anything has gone wrong.
• Slide a wide offset spatula or turner under the top half and carefully slide it onto a cooling rack. Set a second cooling rack upside down over it and invert so the cut side is facing up. Move the bottom half to its own rack. Both should be cut side up.
• Spread both cut faces evenly with the softened butter while the cake is still warm.
  4 tablespoons butter or margarine

Topping and Filling the Shortcake

• Spoon the macerated strawberry mixture onto the bottom half of the cake. Spread half of the whipped cream on top of the berry layer.
• Place other cake half on top and spread the remaining whipped cream across the top.
• To decorate, garnish with the reserved strawberries.