Buddhas Chocolate Mousse Shortcakes Recipes

ALMOST-FAMOUS CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE

Steps:

• Make the cake: Prepare the cake mix as the label directs for a 9-by-13-inch cake. Bake; cool slightly in the pan, then invert onto a rack to cool completely.
• Clean out the cake pan and line it with plastic wrap. Cut the cake in half lengthwise, then in thirds crosswise to make 6 rectangles. Using a serrated knife, slice each rectangle in half to make two layers. Arrange half of the pieces snugly in the cake pan. Crumble the remaining pieces and press tightly into 6 small balls; arrange 1 cake ball in the center of each cake rectangle in the pan.
• Make the mousse: Heat the chocolate, butter, coffee and 1/4 cup water in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water), stirring, until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan; stir until cool. Reserve the simmering water. Fill a large bowl with ice water.
• Whisk the egg yolks, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a separate large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water and whisk until pale yellow, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the chocolate-coffee mixture and the vanilla and whisk until combined, about 2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and set in the bowl of ice water; whisk until slightly cool but not thick, about 4 minutes.
• Beat the egg whites and salt in a bowl with a mixer until foamy. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until almost stiff; gently fold into the chocolate-yolk mixture to make a dark chocolate mousse. Spread 5 cups over the cake and cake balls. Freeze until firm on top, about 30 minutes.
• Beat the heavy cream and the remaining 4 tablespoons sugar until soft peaks form; fold into the remaining mousse. Remove the cake from the freezer; spread with the light chocolate mousse, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Make the chocolate shell: Stir the chocolate, heavy cream and 4 tablespoons corn syrup in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water) until melted. A spoonful at a time, spread half of the shell mixture over the frozen mousse. Return to the freezer.
• Make the chocolate sauce: Add the remaining 1 tablespoon corn syrup and the butter to the remaining chocolate shell mixture. Microwave 30 seconds, then stir until glossy.
• To serve the cake, beat the heavy cream with a mixer until foamy. Add the sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Remove the cake from the freezer; invert onto a baking sheet and unmold, then invert again onto a platter, chocolate shell-side up.
• Cut the cake in half lengthwise using a warm knife, then cut into thirds crosswise to make 6 rectangles; cut each rectangle in half diagonally to make 2 triangles. Top each triangle with whipped cream, ice cream and the prepared chocolate sauce.

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• Combine strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar; refrigerate if desired. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar. Cut in butter and 2/3 cup chips until crumbly. Add half-and-half and stir until just moistened. , Divide dough into 8 patties, about 3/4-in. thick. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Brush with egg white; sprinkle with coarse sugar and remaining chips. , Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat whipping cream and confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate., To assemble, split shortcakes in half. Place cake bottoms on dessert plates. Top with about two-thirds of the strawberries, whipped cream and fudge topping. Replace shortcake tops; top with remaining berries, cream and topping. Garnish with chocolate if desired.

CHOCOLATE LOVER'S STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a shallow bowl, mix confectioners' sugar and cocoa until blended. Dip biscuits in cocoa mixture to coat; shake off excess., Place 2 in. apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool slightly., In a small bowl, toss strawberries with sugar. In another bowl, beat cream and cocoa until cream begins to thicken. Add confectioners' sugar; beat until soft peaks form., To serve, split shortcakes in half. Fill with strawberries and half of the whipped cream. Serve with fudge topping and remaining whipped cream.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Steps:

• For shortcakes:
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Blend flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in processor. Add butter and process using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1/2 cup buttermilk and process just until moist clumps form. Blend in chopped chocolate using on/off turns.
• Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Dust lightly with flour. Gently press dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Using 3 1/4-inch cutter, cut out shortcakes. Gather dough scraps and press to 1/2-inch thickness; cut out additional shortcakes for a total of 6. Transfer shortcakes to prepared baking sheet. Brush shortcakes with remaining 1 tablespoon buttermilk. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.
• Bake shortcakes until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
• For topping:
• Toss strawberries, sugar and liqueur in large bowl. Let stand at room temperature until juices form, tossing occasionally, about 1 hour.
• Cut shortcakes horizontally in half. Place 1 shortcake bottom on each of 6 plates. Spoon 1/3 cup White Chocolate Mousse over each. Spoon some of strawberry topping over each. Cover each with shortcake top. Top each with spoonful of mousse, then more strawberry topping and serve.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Steps:

• Bring an inch of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Combine the cream and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. When the water boils, turn the heat to low so the water is barely simmering or just steaming. Set the bowl over the saucepan and melt the chocolate, gently stirring with a whisk now and then.
• While the chocolate melts, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer on medium speed. When the whites are foamy, add the sugar in a slow stream while whisking. Continue whisking until stiff peaks form. The whites should look glossy but not dry, and, when you lift the whisk from the mixture, a peak should form in the bowl and hold.
• Once the chocolate has melted completely, turn off the heat but leave the bowl over the saucepan. Holding the bowl with a kitchen towel, add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking after each addition. If the mixture looks broken, remove the bowl from the saucepan, cool for a minute, then add 1 tablespoon cream and whisk just until shiny and smooth. Whisk in the vanilla. (Don't worry if it still doesn't look completely smooth. It will come together in the next step.)
• Add a quarter of the beaten whites to the chocolate mixture and stir gently with a flexible rubber spatula until incorporated but still a little streaky. This will make it easier to fold in the remaining whites to create an airy mousse by gradually lowering the temperature of the chocolate (tempering) and making the mixture loose.
• Add the rest of the whites and fold them in by running the spatula from 12 o'clock on the bowl to 6 o'clock, then scooping up the chocolate on the bottom and gently folding it over the whites as you move toward 9 o'clock. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Continue folding just until the last streak of white disappears. It's OK if there are a few lumps of whites left. It's better to not deflate the batter by folding too much.
• Scoop into a pretty bowl or into individual cups or bowls for serving if you'd like. Otherwise, keep it in the mixing bowl. Refrigerate the mousse uncovered until cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 more hours and preferably 24. The covered mousse can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.
• If you'd like to serve the mousse with whipped cream, whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form. A cup or two of heavy cream is plenty for this amount of mousse. Serve the mousse cold, straight from the refrigerator, with the whipped cream.

WALK OF FAME CHOCOLATE STAR SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Sift flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into large bowl. Mix in chocolate chips. Mix in just enough chilled cream to form dough that will be firm enough to roll out. Turn out dough onto well-floured work surface. Using well-floured hands, pat out dough to 3/4-inch-thick rectangle, frequently sliding long knife under dough to prevent sticking. With floured 2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out stars. Gather dough scraps; pat out to 3/4-inch-thick rectangle and cut out additional stars (for total of about 24).
• Brush stars with butter, sprinkle with additional sugar. Arrange shortcake stars sugared side down on 2 heavy large baking sheets. Brush tops with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until shortcakes feel firm and tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 22 minutes. Transfer shortcakes to racks and cool (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover, let stand at room temperature.)
• Place scoop of ice cream in each of 8 bowls. Garnish with sauce, berries, whipped cream, 1 or 2 stars and mint, if desired. Serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE SHORTCAKES WITH SOUR CHERRY TOPPING

Steps:

• For cherry topping: In small saucepan combine all topping ingredients and cook over medium-high heat, until cherries start to release their juice and the liquid thickens and becomes syrupy, 6-7 minutes; cool and refrigerate until needed (you can make this up to 1 day ahead).
• For shortcake biscuits: Preheat oven to 350F and set rack in middle of oven; combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl until blended; rub butter into flour mixture with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal; in a small bowl, whisk egg yolks with buttermilk to blend; add to flour mixture and stir just until evenly moistened; turn dough out onto a floured board and, with lightly floured hands, knead just until it comes together (if the dough is very sticky, sprinkle on some additional all purpose flour); pat out to about 1 1/4 inches thick and cut into rounds with a 3 inch cutter; gather dough scraps and pat out again to make remaining shortcake biscuits; set 2 inches apart on a large baking sheet; bake biscuits for approximately 25 minutes, or until golden-brown, and transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• For whipped cream: Beat cream, sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.
• To assemble: Slice shortcake biscuits in half and set bottoms of biscuits on 6 dessert plates; dollop generously with whipped cream and distribute cherry topping evenly over the cream; place biscuit tops over cherries at a slight angle and sprinkle tops lightly with confectioners' sugar.

CHOCOLATE SHORTCAKES WITH MIXED BERRIES AND RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• In large bowl, combine strawberries, 1 cup raspberries and blackberries. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons liqueur; stir until all berries are coated. Cover; refrigerate at least 3 hours.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 400ºF. Line air-cushioned baking sheet with parchment paper, or place 2 baking sheets together and line top sheet with parchment paper. (This helps control overbrowning the bottoms of these shortcakes.) In another large bowl, combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and espresso coffee powder; mix well.
• Add butter. Using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-size pieces of butter. Add buttermilk, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla and egg; stir until dough forms.
• Sprinkle work surface lightly with cake flour. Turn out dough onto flour. (Dough will be sticky.) With floured hands, gently knead 12 to 14 strokes. Pat dough into round 1 inch thick.
• Cut out shortcakes with floured 2 1/2-inch round cutter, pressing dough scraps together when necessary. Place on baking sheet; sprinkle tops with remaining 2 teaspoons sugar.
• Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until shortcakes are firm to the touch. Cool on wire rack at least 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in food processor, combine raspberries with their syrup and 2 tablespoons liqueur; puree until smooth. Place strainer over medium bowl; pour raspberry mixture into strainer. Press mixture with back of spoon through strainer to remove seeds; discard seeds. Cover; refrigerate until serving time.
• In large bowl, whip cream, sour cream, 2 tablespoons sugar and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Cover; refrigerate until serving time.
• To serve, split shortcakes in half horizontally. Place bottom halves on individual dessert plates. Top with cream and berries. Cover with shortcake tops. Pour some raspberry sauce onto plates around shortcakes. Serve with remaining sauce. Refrigerate leftovers.

BUDDHA'S CHOCOLATE MOUSSE SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• MOUSSE: Mix all mousse ingredients except semisweet chocolate until well blended and thick. Cover and refrigerate til needed.
• SHORTCAKES: Heat oven to 375°F In food processor process the dry ingredients briefly to mix. Scatter butter over top and pulse till it gets crumby.
• With motor running, add liquid and process till mixture pulls from sides of bowl. Drop 1/3 cupfulls of dough 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake about 18 minutes till puffed and look dry. Cool completely on wire rack.
• AT SERVING TIME: Beat chilled mousse mixture with a mixer on high speed til soft peaks form. fold grated chocolate into mousse mixture.
• MAKE WHIPPED TOPPING: Beat heavy cream and powdered sugar in a med bowl with mixer on high til soft peaks form.
• Split shortcakes in half. Fill each with chocolate mouse and whipped cream. Sprinkle tops with some additional cocoa and garnish with chocolate curls.