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Chocolate, Strawberries, OH MY!

With Valentine’s Day just a few short days away, and the thoughts of strawberries and chocolate dancing in our heads, I was reminded of this delicious dessert, a twist on the traditional Neopolitan ice cream, that I made last year for my husband and I immediately had to share. Try it out with your significant other and leave a comment on how it turned out for you!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease two large-sized muffin pans with butter and set aside. Place diced strawberries in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until berries starts to bubble, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until very thick, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely. Prepare vanilla cake according to package directions. Pour batter into one of the muffin pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Prepare chocolate cake according to package directions.

Pour batter into the remaining muffin pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Meanwhile, place thickened strawberries in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add cream cheese and butter, mixing until smooth and creamy.

Place the slightly larger layers (these will be the cake bottoms) on a sheet of wax paper. Spread strawberry mixture thickly over the bottoms. Cover with remaining layers of cake. Each cake will have both a chocolate and a vanilla layer. Place 1/3 cup of the chocolate chips in a small bowl and set aside for garnishing. Place remaining chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high at 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until chocolate has melted and is very smooth.

Pour over tops of cakes, letting drip down the sides. Let set for 20 minutes at cool room temperature if serving right away. Or, refrigerate until ready to serve. Cakes can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours. Garnish tops of cakes with slices of strawberries and reserved chocolate chips before serving. Makes 12 single-serving cakes.

Strawberry Extract

Ingredients:

1 lb. strawberries

1 cup water

½ cup sugar

cheesecloth

Preparation:

Pick off stems and slice strawberries.

Place the strawberry slices in a saucepan with 1 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar. Cover the pan and turn on medium heat to bring to a simmer.

Cook the strawberries for about 30 minutes or until the slices start to become very soft.

Line a strainer with cheesecloth and place it into a plastic container to catch the liquid. Pour the liquid through the strainer to separate the liquid from the solids. Squeeze excess juices from the cheesecloth into the plastic container.

Pour the liquid back into the saucepan and turn it on medium heat. Leave the saucepan uncovered. Cook the liquid until it is reduced to 1/4 cup. Reducing the liquid evaporates the water in it and concentrates the flavors.