There's rarely enough space in a Prague apartment, and frequently that lack of space occurs in the kitchen. Compressed, badly laid out, ill-furnished and dark, the average flat's uninspiring galley is hardly the place to cook something spectacular.

This is even more true at my place, a studio that is called a 1+KK, or one room plus a kuchynský koutek, a so-called kitchen corner. In fact, my kitchen is no euphemism, but an actual corner just outside the main room, clean and well-lit but hardly large enough to breathe in, let alone chop, fry or stir. Worse, there's no oven — just a dvouvařič, or two-burner hot plate, and a small fridge with a freezer. What the heck can you do with that?

Quite a lot, as it turns out, especially if you think creatively. Stopping by a fruit stand on my way home recently, I was struck by a box of late-season strawberries, sweet and plump and perfect for strawberry shortcakes. At home, I took one look at my KK and struggled to come up with an idea of what to do — no oven, no baking. Then I remembered making biscuits in a skillet while camping. I was pretty sure my landlady would ixnay a campfire, but couldn't I bake the shortcakes on the dvouvařič the same way?

Absolutely. And as it turned out, even better than the last time I make shortcakes in the oven. For this recipe, a heavy-bottomed skillet with a lid is best, but I faked it with a regular frying pan covered with an overturned dinner plate. The most important thing is the shortcake batter, which should not be overmixed. And then, in your tiny apartment, finding a suitable place to enjoy it.

DvouvaŘiČ strawberry shortcakes

Ingredients

• 500 grams (about a pound) fresh strawberries

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 cups flour

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon baking powder (kypřicí prášek/prášek do pečiva — see note, below)

• 8 tablespoons chilled butter + 1 tablespoon

• 1/2 cup (about 120 milliliters) milk

• 200 milliliters whipping cream, chilled

Preparation

• Remove the crowns from the strawberries, clean and slice into small pieces. Toss with sugar in a bowl and let stand.

• Combine the flour, salt and baking powder (be careful not to use the baking powder labeled "na perník," or you'll have gingerbread strawberry shortcake — good, but maybe not what you expected). Cut the butter into the flour, piece by piece, mixing with two knives or your fingers until it resembles coarse meal. Turn one burner of the dvouvařič to high heat and the second to low.

• Thoroughly grease a heavy skillet with the remaining tablespoon of butter and drop heaping tablespoons of the dough into the pan. Cover and place on high heat for two minutes. Move to the second burner and cook on low heat for 20 minutes. Turn each piece of shortbread over and cook for 10 more minutes, still covered.

• While the shortcakes are finishing, whip the cream using a whisk and lots of willpower or hand mixer. (If using a whisk and willpower, returning the mixing bowl of cream to the fridge halfway through can help it set and will give your arm a much-needed rest.)

• When the shortcake are done, slice in half and cover the bottom half with scoops of strawberries and a large portion of whipped cream. Cover with the other half of the shortcake and serve.