These Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcakes are Grandma’s classic tender strawberry shortcakes, but with a twist. The addition of chocolate chips makes them extra delicious! Top with a cloud of fresh homemade whipped cream and you’ll have the most delightful dessert to share with family and friends.
Chocolate Chip Strawberry Shortcakes
Soft tender chocolate chip shortcakes topped with fresh sweetened strawberries and homemade whipped cream.
Heavy cream or buttermilkfor the tops of the shortcakes
coarse sugarfor the tops of the shortcakes
Whipped Cream
1cup (237ml)cold heavy whipping cream
½teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2tablespoons (15g)powdered sugar
Instructions
Macerated Strawberries
Stir the strawberries and sugar together. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours.
Chocolate Chip Shortcakes
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together until well blended. Work the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or with your fingertips until small pea-size pieces are formed. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk and vanilla extract together. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients just until a shaggy dough forms
Turn the dough out into a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over into itself a few times. Do not overwork the dough! Form the dough into a 1-inch thick, 6-inch diameter round. Cut out 6 rounds with a 2 3/4-inch floured biscuit cutter. Place them about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. (It’s important to keep the dough cold. If your kitchen is very warm, freeze the rounds for 5-10 min. before baking.)
Brush the shortcakes with heavy cream & sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until golden, about 17-22 minutes. Immediately transfer the shortcakes to a cooling rack. Split the cooled shortcakes and top with strawberries and whipped cream.
Whipped Cream
In a large bowl, mix the heavy cream and vanilla, with an electric mixer on low speed. Sift the powdered sugar into the heavy cream and mix until combined. Turn the speed up to medium-high and beat until medium peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Meet Little Strawberry Charlotte. She brings romance with her wherever she goes. Whether it’s a tea party, a birthday celebration or a romantic dinner, you’ll gaze at her beauty and sigh. This lovely Charlotte has luscious strawberry mascarpone cream filling layered with lady fingers and topped with fresh strawberries. I used store bought lady fingers to make life easier but you can certainly bake your own if you wish. I typically make this in spring or summer when the weather is warm and strawberries are plentiful. But since my local stores start carrying an abundance of strawberries around Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be a perfect time to make this pretty little Charlotte.
Little Strawberry Charlotte
A pretty no-bake dessert layered with strawberry mascarpone cream filling and lady fingers and topped with fresh strawberries.
In a separate large bowl, whip the heavy cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until medium peaks form, being careful not to over whip. Fold the whipped cream into mascarpone mixture.
Slice one round end off of 16 ladyfingers. Dunk them briefly in the simple syrup then line them up along the inner sides of a 7-inch by 3 inch deep springform pan.* Typically you would line them smooth side in facing the filling, but I placed mine smooth side out which gives a smooth look on the outside and it makes removal from the pan easier. (You can also line the bottom of the pan with a cake board** if you don't want to serve the dessert from the base.)
Line the bottom snuggly with ladyfingers, cutting to fit where necessary. Top with half of the filling, about 2 cups. Then top with a layer of ladyfingers, cutting to fit. Top with the remaining filling. Smooth the top with a small offset spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours.
Imagine you’re in a beautiful room, reclining on a plush velvet chaise lounge. There’s a dainty table nearby. On the table is a cake pedestal with a little pyramid of small, perfectly plump, pink pastries. They’re filled with sweet, luscious strawberry cream. And they’re all yours. This Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles recipe can make that dream come true. Maybe not the velvet chaise lounge, but really any comfortable chair will do while you indulge in these delicious little gems. Profiteroles have a way of making you feel regal and majestic. I think princesses and princes snack on them. Most of us don’t have a personal pastry chef or the budget to order from a French bakery every day, but we can certainly follow a recipe and make one of the easiest pastry doughs there is. Choux pastry or pate à choux is used to make profiteroles, cream puffs, eclairs, churros and other pastries. Once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless.
Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Meanwhile, whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the egg and whisk until smooth.
When the milk starts to boil, remove from heat and pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
Pour the egg mixture back into the remaining hot milk and cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
Remove from heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture through a sieve placed over a bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and let cool completely.
In a medium-sized bowl, whip the heavy cream, with an electric mixer at high speed, until stiff peaks begin to form. Fold the whipped cream into cooled strawberry pastry cream. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Profiteroles
Preheat oven to 400ºF (205ºC). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine the water, butter and salt in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat. Add the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball.
Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until steam dissipates and mixture cools to lukewarm. Add the eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl.
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. (I used Ateco tip 808.*) Pipe 1 1/4-inch mounds, about 2 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Smooth the tops lightly with a wet finger.
Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven heat to 350ºF (180ºC) and continue baking until golden brown, about 8-10 more minutes. Using a toothpick or skewer, prick a small hole in each profiterole to allow steam to escape. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Use the tip of a paring knife to make a pilot hole in the bottom of each profiterole.
Place strawberries and cream filling into a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip. (I used Wilton tip 12**) Place the tip into the pilot holes and fill each profiterole with filling.
Strawberry Icing
In a medium -sized bowl, whisk all of the icing ingredients together until smooth. Spoon over the filled profiteroles. Refrigerate profiteroles until ready to serve.
