Desserts that Dance in your Mouth

One of the things I love most about summer are the long, slow, warm evenings spent outdoors while the grill is cooling.  A nice beverage and cool light dessert while sitting on the porch simply completes the entire day.

I have been looking for something with raspberries to put on the “after dinner” menu for this week and thought I would share a couple finds with you.

Light, delicate and fragile, these shortcakes from Saveur.com simply melt in the mouth.  Take some time, recreate this tantalizing recipe and let the flavors dance around on your tongue.

When you finish printing, go on over to Saveur and poke around a bit.  It’s a beautiful site and very easy to spend an entire afternoon jotting down notes and planning entire menus.

• 12 tbsp butter, softened
• 2/3 cup superfine sugar
• Finely grated zest of one small orange (about 1 tsp.)
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup whole unblanched almonds, ground
• 2/3 cup toasted white bread crumbs
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 4 cups raspberries

1. Put butter and 1⁄3 cup of the sugar into a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until pale and well combined, about 1 1⁄2 minutes. Add orange zest and beat again until just combined, about 15 seconds. Add flour, almonds, and bread crumbs and beat again until a soft dough forms, about 1 minute.

2. Transfer dough to a piece of plastic wrap and roll up, twisting both ends tightly as if it were a piece of candy, to form a 3″-wide log. Refrigerate dough for 8 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 300°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Unroll dough, discarding plastic wrap, and cut log crosswise into sixteen 1⁄4″-thick slices. Arrange slices on baking sheets in a single layer, leaving them spaced at least 1″ apart. Bake until just golden and slightly puffed, about 20 minutes. Transfer shortcakes to a wire rack and let cool.

4. To assemble: Beat heavy cream in a large bowl to soft peaks. Put a small dollop of whipped cream in the middle of a small plate (or, as Lee puts it, “a comma of cream to a wee plate”) to hold shortcake in place and top with a shortcake. Dollop a large spoonful of whipped cream on shortcake; heap with 1⁄2 cup of raspberries and another spoonful of whipped cream. Sprinkle with some of the remaining sugar to taste and put another shortcake on top. Repeat process with remaining shortcakes, whipped cream, raspberries, and sugar. Serve immediately.

This next recipe is another melt in your mouth dessert brought over from Land O Lakes.  This is an excellent site to spend a couple of hours either printing or pinning.

Raspberry Meltaways ~ Land O Lakes

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Land O lakes Butter, softened
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 5 tablespoons whipping cream
• Sugar

Filling

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons Land O Lakes Butter, softened
• 4 teaspoons whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon raspberry-flavored coffee drink syrup

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. Combine flour, 3/4 cup butter and 2/3 cup powdered sugar in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually stir in 5 tablespoons whipping cream.

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface, one-third at a time (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter. Dip 1 side of each cookie into sugar. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets, sugared-side up. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 4 teaspoons whipping cream and raspberry syrup in small bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy.

Spread scant teaspoonful filling on unsugared side of 1 cookie; top with second cookie. Squeeze together gently. Repeat with remaining cookies.