Strawberry Chocolate Cake Bites

Strawberry Chocolate Cake Bites

The following recipe is the result of my attempt to make a light dessert to go with some rich enchiladas suizas I made for some guests last night.  My plan, and what we did eat was strawberry shortcake.  I wanted chocolate, though, so I whipped up some chocolate ganache to use on the side, or as an extra topping for the shortcake.  Mmmm...chocolate tastes good with strawberry shortcake.  I decided today to stack the ingredients for a cute bite-size dessert.  My sister-in-law liked it too, but thought it might taste better with some whipped cream, so I suppose you could put that on the side for dipping.  I think that would be awesome as well.  For now, this is what I've done, and this is what I have pictures of.  At any rate, these are a nice addition to my growing collection of miniature desserts.
By the way, the amounts below are my best guess.  You might end up with too much of one ingredient or another, but each is so yummy on its own, I doubt you'll have trouble finding a reason to eat them.

Strawberry Chocolate Cake Bites

Ingredients:

• 48 one-inch cubes of angel food cake
• 12 medium to large strawberries, cleaned, hulled, and quartered
• 4 oz. tasty dark chocolate (I use Dove Dark Chocolate), coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Instructions:
Place chopped chocolate in a medium sized heat-proof bowl.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring cream and butter to a simmer.  Once cream/butter has come to a simmer, pour over the chocolate and let sit for about 10 minutes.  Stir chocolate and cream with a rubber/silicone spatula until completely mixed.  Set aside to cool to a pudding-like consistency, about an hour and a half to two hours, if room temperature is about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once the chocolate ganache (chocolate and cream mixture) is the right consistency, spoon about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon onto each angel food cake cube.  Pierce a strawberry quarter with a toothpick so that about half an inch extends beyond the bottom of the piece of strawberry, and then poke into the chocolate-topped cake cube.  Pop one in your mouth to see if they taste good.  They do.

Makes 4 dozen.