Change Up Traditional Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

Shortcakes make awesome desserts because they come together quickly and they're relatively forgiving. Still, with a biscuit dough and rustic flavor, I'm always left feeling like they're better suited as a breakfast item, rather than the end to a posh meal.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I wanted to come up with a recipe for you that has the ease of preparation of a shortcake but is impressive enough to score big on the final act. What I came up with is a chocolate shortcake that's richer and more decadent than your average shortcake, lighter and fluffier than a brownie (though no less chocolatey), and involving significantly less effort than a full-blown chocolate cake.

I stuck with a fairly standard biscuit dough, but crammed in about as much chocolate flavor as possible before the dough threw it's hands up in the air and refused to rise. With about as much chocolate and coco powder in this shortcake as there is flour, even the most unapologetic chocoholic can't accuse you of skimping on the chocolate.

Because chocolate is the primary flavor in the shortcakes, it's important to use the best quality cocoa and chocolate you can find (I used Scharffen Berger cocoa powder and Valrhona Caraïbe 66%). Other than that, don't overmix the dough and you should end up with tender, fluffy shortcakes that are literally oozing chocolate out of every pore.

While the contrast of creamy white, berry red, chocolate brown and mint green make for an impressive plate, what's more impressive is how easily this all comes together. With about 10 minutes of prep and 20 minutes in the oven I can't think of many desserts that can rival this one one on the taste/effort ratio.