Chocolate Nutella Strawberry Shortcake

Chocolate Nutella Strawberry Shortcake

I always buy a three pack of strawberries at the farmer's market. It's always a deal, and I can eat a whole pint in one sitting!

I was heading over to my friend Racheal's house and her 2 1/2 year old son, Caden can sniff out sweets a mile away. His very first sugar was a bite of my chocolate cinnamon bundt cake!

I cobbled together a chocolate shortcake recipe...it's more like a chocolate scone/biscuit. They are not very sweet on their own...they are waiting for the whipped cream, nutella and a bit of sanding sugar on top!

2 1/2 year old Caden gave me the best compliment...after eating his banana shortcake, he asked, "Where do you live?" (The left photo is Caden's teenage look!!)

My friends Racheal and Lee and their ultra cute family!

Recipe:
Chocolate Nutella Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:
Strawberries + Sugar (if you wish) or Bananas
Nutella
Whipped Cream (Whisk together 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream with 3 T sugar)

Shortcakes:
2 cup flour (280 grams)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used 20 grams of Hershey's Cocoa)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar (65 grams)

1 stick butter, cold
3/4 - 1 cup buttermilk
Sanding sugar

Prep: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
2. Cut butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter, your fingers or two knives.
3. Pour in 3/4 cup of the buttermilk and combine together. I use a fork to lightly mix. If it's too dry, add a little bit more buttermilk.
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a slab. Cut out circles.
5. Place on parchment paper. Sprinkle with sanding sugar.
6. Bake, depending on your oven and the size of your cakes, about 15 minutes.

Assembly:
1. If you want, combine sliced strawberries with a few teaspoons of sugar (depending on the sweetness of your strawberries). Set aside for 30 minutes. (I didn't want to wait and just used fresh strawberries and fresh bananas!)
2. Cut shortcake in half with a serrated knife.
3. Spread Nutella one side...or both! :)
4. Place strawberries on cake, then top with whipped cream.

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Devilish Shortcakes with Caramelized Bananas - Tuesdays with Dorie

Devilish Shortcakes with Caramelized Bananas 

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Tania of Love Big, Bake Often chose the Devilish Shortcakes on page 425 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. 

You know I'm all about the mini. They are cute. They are small. And they are all about portion control. Unless you eat 5 of them. Well, let's just focus on the positive.

I scooped these out with a cookie scoop and baked them from 10 minutes. A bit of sanding sugar topped the biscuit before baking...because life is just better with sanding sugar.

During this time of year, our selection of berries was pretty sad. I had to work last Saturday and couldn't visit the farmers market so I knew I needed a different fruit. What else goes with chocolate? Of course, bananas!

I caramelized the bananas. A dollop of whipped cream would be nice...but I was all out.

Today is Tuesday. Guess what NEXT Tuesday is?! Hellz yes! My 40th Birthday! You know I've been building up to this for the last six months or so...and I can't believe it is almost here! Whoo hoo. My friend and I are going to take a 3-day Mexican cruise for our birthdays (Helen's birthday is Dec 4th and mine is Dec 7th). (Note to bad people: Our homes, cars, identity & credit scores are all protected and under guard while we are gone!)

Check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their creations!

Recipe:
Tania of Love Big, Bake Often
Page 425 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours

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Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. Lots of stuff going on...in addition to the World Cup's games at 4:30 am, my usual baking time. I apologize for missing several Tuesdays with Dorie weeks, and hope to get back into the swing of things soon. And special thanks to a few readers who sent me emails asking if I was okay! That was so thoughtful!

Remember Team Dave and the Los Angeles Marathon? I brought this lovely dessert to the post-marathon party. It's a great summer cake for a casual dinner party or way to highlight beautiful strawberries!

I adapted the recipe from Sky-High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman. Man, you have to get this book. It is Delicious with a capital D.

This cake is light (made with cake flour) and just delicious. Get her book for the filling which includes rose water. I didn't do that for this version, just macerated some strawberries in sugar.

Here is the Sky-High cake in three layers...see post here.

I've make this in a 6" triple layer before and it is quite lovely, but does NOT travel well at all. So this time I decided to make two 8" layers and assemble it at the party. Nothing like pulling out a whisk at the party...makes you look like a baker! :)

Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman, page 89

Cake:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 - 2 cups heavy cream

Fresh Strawberry Filling (See the book for this recipe that includes rosewater...I just macerated some strawberries with sugar)

Whole strawberries, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I made mine with two 8" cake pans. The original recipes calls for three 6" pans.
2. Cream butter, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
3. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients to the batter, alternating with the buttermilk in 3 additions. Divide among the prepared pans.
5. I don't remember how long I baked my 8" pans. The 6" pans bake for 20-25 minutes. I pulled them out when a toothpick came out clean. I let them cool for 10 minutes and then cooled them on a cake rack.

Assembly:
1. In a large chilled bowl, whip the cream with the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar until stiff.
2. Assemble the cake with cake, strawberries, whipped cream and repeat. Finish with your best strawberries on top. Enjoy!
Again, the book has a recipe for fresh strawberry filing that includes rose water.

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Tender Shortcakes with Raspberries - Tuesdays with Dorie

Tender Shortcakes

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Cathy of The Tortefeasor chose Tender Shortcakes on page 423 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Cathy is one of my favorite bloggers. She is hilarious and such a good chef and baker! Be sure to add her blog to your reader!

Since I made Strawberry Shortcakes recently, I made 1/8 of the recipe, used raspberries and made them really small. The shortcake is very simple to make and I could pretty much eat these biscuits all day! :)

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

Recipe:
Cathy's blog, The Tortefeasor
Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, page 423

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