STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE WITH GRAND MARNIER SAUCE
SOURCE: PIERRE FRANEY AND BRYAN MILLER. COOKING WITH THE 60-MINUTE GOURMET: 300 REDISCOVERED RECIPES FROM PIERRE FRANEY’S CLASSIC NEW YORK TIMES COLUMN.
Rather than adhere to the stringent code of shortbread biscuits and softly beaten Creme Chantilly, Pierre Franey elevates the classic dessert to an otherworldly ambrosia by respectively using pastry rounds made from cream cheese and sabayon-like cream spiked with Grand Marnier liqueur for the base and topping. The cream cheese adds a savory taste to the cookie at the expense of sweetness, whereas the Grand Marnier gives the sauce a sweet orange scent that harmonizes with the floral notes of the self-macerating strawberries. This unexpected twist truly incites divine awe and awakening to the gustatory senses!
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Pastry Rounds
1/4 pound/110 grams cream cheese
1/4 pound/110 grams unsalted butter
1 cup/240 grams plus 2 tablespoons/30 grams all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons/25 grams granulated sugar
Grand Marnier Sauce
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup/50 grams granulated sugar
2 tablespoons/30 mL Grand Marnier
1 cup/250 mL heavy cream, chilled
2 pints/700 grams strawberries, hulled off its stem ends
1/2 cup/100 grams granulated sugar
OPTIONAL: Fresh sprigs mint leaves for garnish
Specific Equipment
Food processor
Spatula
Marble pastry board
2 plastic wrap sheets
2 mixing bowls
Small saucepan
Wire whisk
Rolling pin
Round biscuit cutter OR drinking glass with a diameter of 3.75 inches/9.5 cm
Baking tray lined with parchment paper
Wire rack
Serves 6 to 8
Instructions
1. Place the cream cheese, butter, 1 cup/240 grams flour, and sugar altogether in a food processor. Blend thoroughly until the mixture looks like a coarse cornmeal and scrape the sides of the container with spatula as necessary.
2. Dust the marble pastry board lightly with 1 tablespoon/15 grams flour. Scrape the dough into the pastry board and sprinkle all over with 1 tablespoon/15 grams flour. Roll the dough into a smooth and round ball and flatten it slightly. Wrap with a plastic wrap and chill inside a refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
3. Beat egg yolks and sugar altogether in a mixing bowl with a wire whisk until well-blended and the mixture forms a ribbon.
4. Bring water to a boil in a sauce pan. Reduce the heat to low and place the mixing bowl snugly over the saucepan. Whisk vigorously for 10 minutes or until the egg yolk mixture thickens and turns pale yellow.
5. Remove the bowl from heat and cool to room temperature. Stir in Grand Marnier and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside by refrigerating for at least 2 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
7. Roll the dough to a thickness of 0.13 inches/0.32 cm. Cut out rounds of the pastry with a biscuit cutter or drinking glass. Gather the scraps of dough altogether and repeat rolling and cutting the dough to round pastries. There should be about 12 to 16 rounds.
8. Place the pastry rounds in a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes or until crispy and golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool the pastry rounds to room temperature on a wire rack.
9. Sprinkle the strawberries with sugar and refrigerate for 1 hour, stirring occasionally until the strawberries are equally sweetened.
10. Whip the heavy cream with a wire whisk to almost but not quite to the stiff state. Fold the cream into the egg yolk and Grand Marnier mixture.
11. Spoon a small dollop of the Grand Marnier sauce at the center of each dessert plate. Stick the pastry round to plate by placing it on the Grand Marnier sauce. Arrange half of the hulled strawberries, stemmed side down, on the pastry rounds. Fill the center of the pastry rounds with a spoonful or two of the Grand Marnier sauce.
12. Cover the strawberries with another pastry round. Arrange the rest of the hulled strawberries, stemmed side down, on the top pastry rounds. Fill the center with a spoonful or two of the Grand Marnier sauce. Garnish with fresh sprigs of mint leaves, if desired.
