My uncle, Cậu Bảy, is visiting us for a few months from Vietnam. He absolutely loves strawberries because they’re not available in Vietnam and if they are, they’re extremely expensive. I’ve planted strawberries in our garden but not enough to satisfy his cravings. He really enjoys the Farmers’ market and we bought lots and lots of his favorite fruit over Memorial Day weekend.
I transformed a few into delicious strawberry dessert cups flavored with Cointreau. The cups consisted of shortcake, mousse, Cointreau-flavored custard strawberries and chocolate sauce.
1. Info for Strawberry Cointreau Shortcake Cups
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 16
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Strawberry Cointreau Shortcake Cups
- 2½ tablespoons Cointreau liqueur
- 3 egg yolks, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 (8-ounce) package mascarpone cheese
- 1 round shortcake
- 2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped, then melted in a double boiler
- 2 teaspoons pure strawberry extract (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2¾ cups heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup powdered sugar, to taste
- 1 cup bittersweet chocolate
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons raw sugar
- 16 fresh strawberries
3. Directions:
- With a handheld mixer, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a small stainless steel (or heat-proof) mixing bowl until you get a pale yellow foam.
- Prepare a double boiler: Fill a saucepan with water, making sure the water barely covers the bottom of the stainless steel mixing bowl. I always like to add a little kitchen towel on top of the saucepan. The bowl won’t jiggle and there won’t be any splatter of water in your egg mixture. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Place the stainless steel bowl over the saucepan and, using the handheld mixer, start whisking the egg mixture vigorously for about 3 minutes to thicken the texture of the egg yolks. The mixture should fall like a ribbon of sauce when you lift the whisk. Add 2 tablespoons Cointreau. Stir constantly using a silicone spatula. The mixture will thicken. Remove the saucepan from the stove. Add a pinch of salt and stir well.
- Note: A way to know that the custard is ready (so the egg yolks are fully cooked) is to use a digital thermometer and wait until the temperature reaches 160-175°F.
- Reserve about ½ cup custard for garnish.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk the mascarpone cheese with 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar to soften it. Slowly add the custard and melted white chocolate to the mascarpone cheese, adding just a little custard at a time. Add 1 teaspoon strawberry extract (if used).
- Clean your handheld mixer in hot soapy water. Always make sure the beater blades are completely clean prior to whipping cream for optimum results. Rinse with cold water to ensure the blades are cold. The whipping cream should also be whipped cold. Whip 2 cups of cream (at low speed) for 2-3 minutes until creamy and smooth. Add the rest of the powdered sugar. Increase to maximum speed and keep beating for another 2-3 minutes, until it forms soft peaks.
- Pour ⅓ of the whipped cream into the Cointreau mixture. Mix well using a silicone spatula. Pour in the rest of the whipped cream; gently fold the whipped cream to get a light and airy mousse.
- Place the bittersweet chocolate, raw sugar and the corn syrup and a pinch of salt in a bowl.
- In a little saucepan, bring the rest of the heavy cream to a boil and pour over the bittersweet chocolate. Add 1 teaspoon strawberry extract and Cointreau to the dark chocolate. Mix with a wooden spoon. The sauce will thicken as the chocolate melts. Set aside.
- Transfer the Cointreau mousse to a piping bag.
- Create 16 small rounds of shortcake that fit the dessert cups, using a circle cutter.
- Spoon about 1½ teaspoons custard into each serving cup. Drizzle a bit of the chocolate sauce (make sure it’s visible on the wall of the cups), then pipe the mousse to fill the cups entirely. Plastic wrap, seal and chill them in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
- When you’re ready to serve, place each Cointreau mousse cup on an individual serving plate and top with a fresh blueberry (as a reminder of the flavoring in the chocolate sauce) and decorate with a sprinkle of chopped almonds.
- Serve immediately.
- Bon appétit!