Strawberry Shortcake, Nacho Style

I’m so excited to be involved in a Strawberry Shortcake Recipe Contest for so many reasons. First, if you follow this blog you know that especially at this time of year I love using fresh berries in recipes and strawberries are a favorite. Also, I’ve said this before too, I love a challenge. Nothing sends me to the kitchen faster than a house full of teens an ingredient challenge.

I have to admit that when the invitation to this challenge first arrived in my email inbox I was crushed. It would take place while I had out of town guests staying with us for my son’s Memorial day weekend graduation extravaganza. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to participate in time but consoled myself with the fact that I’d create a recipe anyway, when life calmed down, even if it wasn’t entered in the contest but was just for you and I.

And then the great strawberry gods smiled down on me. I got another email stating that the deadline had been extended for a week. I was SO in!

As many of you know, part of what I love so much about the inspiration of a challenge is trying to think of a completely different angle from the other participants. So for my entry into the challenge, I came up with Strawberry Shortcake, Nacho Style. 

Full disclosure: this dessert was initially named Nacho Mother's Strawberry Shortcake, but my teens rolled their eyes so hard I was afraid they were going to stick to the back of their sockets. Guess they don't think bad puns are as fun as their mom does. Turns out, once I served this, I could have called it pretty much anything. They called it a major success.

 

Strawberry Shortcake, Nacho Style

 

The base for my dish is actually a quick homemade lemon shortbread cookie partially dipped in dark chocolate. This part of the recipe can be done ahead and stored in the fridge in an airtight container. 

The center, like a traditional strawberry shortcake, is fresh strawberries in their own juice. I also added some chopped fresh strawberries to the whipped cream, then drizzled the whole dish with a little more dark chocolate.

I put a platter of these onto the table in front of a group of teens and watched them disappear. I don’t know about you, but I’m calling that a win.

Strawberry Shortcake, Nacho Style

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Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon extract
2 cups flour
 
1# Strawberries
2 TBSP sugar
 
1 cup (plus ½ cup) dark chocolate chips
 
1 cup heavy cream
2 TBSP Sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
 
Directions:
*Beat butter. Mix in powdered sugar until just incorporated, add the lemon extract and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour. Roll into a log, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
*Set 3 strawberries aside. Stem and slice the rest, sprinkle with sugar, mix and refrigerate.
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Remove cookie dough from fridge and cut into ¼ inch slices. Place onto parchment paper covered cookie sheet and bake for approximately 12 minutes, until they just start to brown.
*Remove from cookie sheet and allow cookies to cool completely. 
*Melt 1 cup of the dark chocolate chips in microwave until completely smooth when mixed. Dip one side of each cookie into the chocolate place on parchment paper in the fridge to set.
*Take the 3 strawberries that were set aside and chop them fairly finely.
*Beat heavy cream until it just starts to thicken. Beat in the sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Mix in the chopped strawberries.
*Melt the remaining dark chocolate chips until completely smooth when mixed.
*Arrange the cookies on a platter. Top with the sliced strawberries and their juice, then with the whipped cream. Drizzle the dark chocolate over the top. Serve immediately.