Thursday, June 20, 2013

Strawberry Shortcakes with White Chocolate Mousse


It's a rare day that I can resist strawberry shortcake, which is why I was so excited to make this one.  It sounds terrific doesn't it? Shortcakes dotted with chocolate, a light and wonderful white chocolate mousse and macerated strawberries in their peak season.  What's not to love?  If you offered me that dessert tonight though, I would turn you down.  My experience was entirely unpleasant. My oven (or I, if you consider that denial) burned the shortcakes after only a few minutes in the oven (at decreased temperature).  The white chocolate mousse was grainy like a bowl of millet, and to top it off, it separated, with the whole underbelly of the bowl a liquid-y mess.  The best component of the dessert; the too-sweet strawberries.  Overall I was so disappointed! Burned, grainy, and over-sweetened to the point I had to stop. Whomp Whoomp!  This time last year I was also indulging in strawberry shortcake, but with far more favorable results.

Baking notes:
-I'm not sure what is wrong with my oven, (I think it's that air circulation is limited because of it's small size) but it burned these again, even with the temperature 25 degrees lower and a different pan. I did enjoy the flavour of the shortcakes.
-I would use about half the sugar called for in the strawberry portion, it was just way too sweet, and totally didn't have to be.
-The chocolate mousse was a mess.  I read that using good quality white chocolate can actually lead to a grainy mousse because the cocoa butter forms crystals if cooled too quickly.  I thought this mousse was so overly-sweetened that I could skip this component all together and use a simple whip cream or a real mousse, with eggs and the works.

The recipe for Strawberry Shortcakes with White Chocolate Mousse can be found on the epicurious website.

84/569

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