Nothing says bring on summer like fresh strawberries. But if you think that shortcake and strawberries are singularly the official summer time dessert–you haven’t met this chocolate short cake.
The technical definition of shortcake is that it is biscuit like. While it generally comes in that sponge cake like flavor, you can make short cake any flavor you want. And if you can make shortcake any flavor you want, then you can fill it with whatever type of fruit topping you want too! Without further adieu–the recipe for chocolate shortcake and a few ideas for filling this scrumptious treat!
You will need:
6 oz of chopped bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons of sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of chilled unsalted butter (Make mixing easier and cut into pieces.)
1 large egg
1/4 cup whole milk
Directions:
Line a heavy baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the chopped chocolate and 1/3 cup sugar in food processor and process until chocolate is finely ground. Add flour, cocoa powder, and salt; process until combined.
Add butter and process until mixture resembles fine meal. Mix egg with milk in small bowl to blend; pour over flour mixture in processor and pulse just until combined. (Note: I would tend to combine this by hand. If you’re the same way, you can take the chocolate mixture out of the processor and then combine the flour, and add the liquids.) Spoon dough into six 3-inch mounds on prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly. Sprinkle with remaining 2 teaspoons sugar. Bake at 350 until cooked through, about 18 minutes. Carefully transfer shortcakes to rack. Cool completely.
Fillings:
You can be as creative as you want to be with the fruit filling. My personal favorite is berries with vanilla pudding. But even fruit, with a few tablespoons of sugar will add an elegant flare to our dessert.
Whipped topping is easy to make and it tastes so much better from scratch. Simply pour whole cream (you can use lighter versions–you’ll just have to “whip” longer) into a bowl along with a little sugar and vanilla. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form.
Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.
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