Chocolate Shortcakes With Sour Cherry Topping Recipes

FRESH CHERRY SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• Combine 6 cups cherries, 6 tablespoons sugar, and lemon zest in a bowl. Allow cherries to rest for 2 to 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Mix flour, 1/4 cup sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a knife or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk egg and half-and-half in a small bowl; stir into the flour mixture with a fork until dough is moistened with large clumps. Add a teaspoon more half-and-half to the bowl if dough won't come together.
• Roll tennis ball size scoops of dough and place on prepared baking sheet. Press each ball down lightly to form 1/2-inch discs. Brush dough with egg white and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Slice each cake in half horizontally. Layer a generous portion of halved cherries, almonds, and whipped cream between cake halves. Top with another dollop of whipped cream, almonds, and a whole cherry.

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 BUNDT CAKE WITH CANDIED CHERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 14-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray.
• For the cake: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until pale yellow, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl regularly. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Add the sour cream, orange zest and vanilla, and then mix until smooth. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Fold in half the sifted dry ingredients, and then half the milk. Mix together, and then add the remaining dry ingredients and milk.
• Scrape the batter into the greased Bundt pan and bake in the center of the oven for 1 hour. When done, a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake will come out clean. Cool in the cake pan for 10 minutes before inverting and carefully removing the cake from the pan.
• For the cherry sauce: Combine the cherries with 1/3 cup water, confectioners' sugar, rum, vanilla, lemon peel, lemon juice, orange juice and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan. Simmer until the cherries are tender and the sauce is lightly syrupy (it will thicken further when cooled), 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the lemon peel and cinnamon stick. Add the butter and stir to combine and melt. Serve with the sliced chocolate Bundt cake.

LUSCIOUS CHERRY SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• In a preheated 375-degree oven, bake the biscuits as directed on package.
• In a medium bowl, sprinkle the brown sugar over the sour cream; let stand for 2 minutes. Beat in the whipping cream on high speed until slightly thickened. Refrigerate until time to serve.
• When the biscuits are done, brush them with melted butter; sprinkle with sugar. Cool 5 minutes. Split biscuits horizontally; fill and top with pie filling and the sour cream mixture.

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease two 9 inch layer pans.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, 1/3 cup sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in butter or margarine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk, mixing until just moistened. Spread batter evenly into two prepared layer pans.
• Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool.
• In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar. Let the mixture stand 10 minutes.
• Cover the bottom shortcake layer with half of strawberry mixture and half of the whipped topping. Top with second shortcake layer, remaining strawberry mixture and whipped topping. Drizzle with chocolate topping.

EASY CHERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• If working with fresh cherries, wash them thoroughly and carefully remove all the stems and pits.
• In a medium saucepan, place the cherries (fresh or frozen), sugar, and water. If using frozen cherries, add just half the amount of water to begin with. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often.
• In a small bowl, stir the lemon juice and cornstarch together until smooth.
• Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the boiling cherry mixture.
• If working with frozen cherries, check on the texture of the mixture and add one tablespoon of water at a time if too thick.
• Return the sauce to a boil, stirring constantly. Don't let the sauce scorch on the bottom.
• Cook until the liquid has properly thickened, about one more minute.
• Remove the pot from the heat and taste. Add a little extra sugar or lemon juice if needed at this point, depending on your personal preference. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before using it.

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Steps:

• For Sauce:
• Combine cream and sugar in heavy small saucepan. Stir over medium-high heat until mixture comes to boil. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and stir until chocolate melts and sauce is smooth. Mix in brandy and vanilla. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.)
• For Biscuit:
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 1 1/2- inch-high sides; dust with flour. Combine 2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl; whisk to blend. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add chopped chocolate. Gradually add 2/3 cup buttermilk, stirring with fork until dough forms.
• Transfer dough to cake pan; press gently to level top. Brush dough with 2 tablespoons buttermilk, then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake biscuit until cooked through and golden on top, about 25 minutes. Cool biscuit in pan on rack (biscuit will be 1 to 1 1/2 inches high.)
• For Filling:
• Reserve 8 berries for garnish. Slice remaining berries into large bowl. Add 4 tablespoons sugar and toss to coat; let stand until berries begin to release juices, about 30 minutes. Combine whipping cream, vanilla and 1 tablespoon sugar in medium bowl. Whip to soft peaks. Cover and chill cream until ready to serve.
• Rewarm sauce over low heat, stirring often. Cut around pan sides to loosen biscuit. Turn biscuit out onto work surface. Using long serrated knife, carefully cut biscuit in half horizontally. Using large spatula as aid, place biscuit bottom on platter. Spoon sliced berries with their juices over. Drizzle with some chocolate sauce. Spoon all but 1/2 cup whipped cream over; cover with biscuit top. Drop reserved whipped cream in dollops onto biscuit. Garnish with reserved whole strawberries. Cut into wedges and serve, passing remaining chocolate sauce separately.

CHERRY-ALMOND CHOCOLATE SHORTCAKES

Steps:

• Make the shortcakes: Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the all-purpose flour, almond flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl until combined. Work in the butter with your fingers until it is in pea-size pieces, then stir in the chopped chocolate. Whisk the heavy cream and egg in a small bowl, then add to the flour mixture and stir until combined. (The dough will be slightly sticky.)
• Scoop 6 balls of dough (about 1/3 cup each) onto the prepared baking sheet using a large ice cream scoop or a measuring cup, spacing the dough 2 to 3 inches apart. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly brush each ball of dough with melted butter and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake until the edges are firm and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Toss the cherries with 1/3 cup granulated sugar, the cornstarch, almond extract and water in a medium saucepan; let sit 30 minutes. Cook over medium heat until the juices are bubbling and syrupy, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the amaretto. Let cool to room temperature, at least 2 hours.
• Beat the heavy cream and the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a medium bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Whisk the mascarpone to loosen, then beat into the whipped cream until medium peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Split each shortcake and fill with the whipped cream and cherries.

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.