On Monday at work, I got to make dessert again for the residents. I knew I would be doing this the week before, when I made the strawberry-rhubarb crumble (which was a HIT with the residents, BTW!) and I came across a 2.5kg bag of frozen strawberries languishing in the freezer. I told the cook I'd think about it for a week and come up with some way to use the berries on Monday. I turned over various ideas in my mind, but eventually came up with something simple and within budgetary requirements: chocolate strawberry shortcakes.
I made the biscuit recipe before, here, and knew it to be a reliable, good recipe, as are most that come from Canadian Living. I needed 29 desserts, not of huge size, and so I doubled the recipe and got what I needed from it.
A word about cocoa powder: not all cocoa powders are created equally! Since the organization I work for is non-profit, there is a strict ingredients budget to work around, so the priority is not high quality cocoa powder. The cocoa I used in this particular dessert was the Wally World el cheapo brand, and it has a greyish hue. Hence the biscuits are not terribly chocolatey-looking or -tasting. But they were OK for this crowd.
For the filling, I used the entire bag of strawberries, thawing them out first and slicing them in half. In a large pot, I mixed the berries, their juices, some lemon juice, nutmeg, and about 2 cups sugar. I brought the whole thing to a boil and simmered for a little while...
...When the berries had cooked down a bit, I skimmed out some of the juices and made a slurry with a few TBSP of cornstarch. After the filling had thickened, I took it off the stove to cool.
The final result - fabulous!
The staff, including bosses, were really happy, so I hope the residents are, too. I tried this one and it was really, really good.
15 comments:
Those surely taste very good!
Cheers,
Rosa
And it looks good. Great idea to add the chocolate.
I can't believe that I have never (even once) thought of a chocolate strawberry shortcake...brilliant.
It's 6:30 AM and this is the first thing I looked at when I logged online this morning. I would eat this for breakfast over Cheerios right now! Wait...let me have a coffee first.
Whta a great idea to make the biscuit chocolate. who doesnt love chocolate and strwberries together?
I am certain your residents will love these. how can one not? Its so sweet the way you truly care about their 'culinary happiness'. Is it a nursing home you work in?
This is a good one...you're so innovative, LOL! Send on my way :D
That's a great idea! Mmmm, chocolate biscuits.
Donna-FFW: it's a seniors residents where the seniors live independently but have one meal, dinner, provided for them each day. The kitchen also provides the baking for the hospital's coffee shop, which is what I normally do there.
Mmm, I have a weakness for fruity desserts. They look great!
That looks so delicious. And of course the residents loved the crumble!
Cocoa powder with a grayish hue? Umm, doesn't sound all that appetizing! I read a trick somewhere that you can enhance not-so-high-quality cocoa powder by adding coffee into the recipe. It really does work!
ps...I forgot to tell you that I had an award for you over at my place :)
Very creative! I would of never thought to do a chocolate shortcake. It's such a delicious combo!
I didn't know it was a seniors place...they have the best stories. Well, some of them ;-) They have lived through some periods of time that we'll never have the perspective, so I ;ove to listen to stories.
Hmmm, that bubbling berries on the stove make me want to make my own.
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