Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake - Yeah, it's as good as it sounds.

Chocolate cake (gluten-free), chocolate whipped cream, and macerated strawberries combine to create something so unique, so amazing, so delicious that I'm not even sure I should tell you about it. It may be illegal. But you know what, you're cool, and you deserve to experience this Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake in all its glory. Just as long as you promise not to tell anyone, I think it will be okay.

In all seriousness, I have never seen a double chocolate strawberry shortcake. I'm sure someone has done it, I've just never seen it. So, I thought I would make it and bring it to the masses, and that is what we are going to look at today. So, let's get to it.

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Chocolate Cake

Short cake vs. Cake

The real difference between Cake and Shortcake is that shortcake, as we know it is like a cross between a cake and biscuit. But you know what, I took some liberties here and used regular chocolate cake. I'm not the first to sub out the shortcake for regular cake, that's for sure. But, you could easily choco-fy your regular shortcake recipe to get the same effect. That is if you would prefer a more traditional shortcake. I'm going to leave that up to you. As I said, I chose to use a regular chocolate cake but you do whatever you'd like.

I hate to say this, but I used a mix to make my cake. First of all, I do not enjoy baking at all. Second of all, gluten-free baking is such a pain that I don't even bother. And, in all honesty, this KinniKinnick cake mix is pretty good. You don't have to use a cake mix if you don't want too. But, know that it's alright if you do.

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The Strawberries

The strawberries I grabbed at the grocery store the other day, in all honesty, I was kind of taken aback by the price, which was $8 a pint. If I hadn't already decided to make this dessert, I would never have bought them. Intellectually, I understand that with COVID-19, it's been hard to find workers to pick the berries, and the prices have to go up. But, emotionally, Jesus! It is pretty hard to spend $8 on a pint of local strawberries in the middle of the summer. But again, I do understand as hard a pill it is to swallow.

I washed the strawberries, took the stems off, sliced them and sprinkled them with 1 tablespoon of sugar. I then wrapped the berries in plastic and put them in the fridge for a few hours. As the strawberries sit, the sugar pulls moisture out of them, creating a sauce, softening the berries, and intensifying their flavour. Once the berries have sat for an hour or two, they can be used to make Strawberry Shortcake as we are going to do, but they can also just be served over ice cream or whipped cream.

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Chocolate Whipped Cream

I am always surprised by how surprised people are when I serve them chocolate whipped cream. A lot of people don't seem to know that you can flavour whipped cream. Well, if you didn't know, now you do. There is a full recipe below, but basically I combined some cream with cocoa, sugar, and vanilla extract and beat it until it was thick. That's it.

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Putting the Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake Together

Rather than making individual Strawberry Shortcakes, I made one big one. To do this, cut the cake in half and carefully remove the top piece. Spread about half of the chocolate whipped cream over the bottom piece and then spoon the strawberries over the cream. Gently place the top of the cake back on and cover that with the remaining chocolate whipped cream.

I garnished my cake with chocolate shavings. The shavings make the cake look beautiful and add that little "extra" element. The easiest way to make the chocolate shavings is to take a chocolate bar and grate it on a cheese grater right on to the cake. That's what I did, and it worked like a dream.

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Conclusion

Despite the chocolate cake, chocolate whipped cream, and chocolate shavings, this cake is not overly chocolatey. With every bite, it is still clear that the strawberries are the star of the show as they should be with any Strawberry Shortcake recipe.

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