Two things spring to mind as the weather begins to warm up: what will I bake with all those sweet berries, and how can I avoid turning on the oven? Because we sprinkle brulee sugar over the mascarpone, this dish comes together so quickly and easily and appears cooked. Even though I’m not a huge dessert fan, I think this would be the ideal way to cap off that early summer dinner.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pint whole strawberries, stems removed
- ½ pint fresh blackberries
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- ½ orange, juiced
- 1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon white sugar
- 3 drops vanilla extract, or to taste (Optional)
- 2 shortcakes, halved horizontally
- 4 teaspoons white sugar, or as needed
Instructions
- Mix strawberries, blackberries, 1/3 cup sugar, and orange juice together in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate, 2 hours to overnight.
- Stir mascarpone cheese, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and vanilla extract together in a bowl.
- Spread mascarpone mixture over the top of each shortcake half; sprinkle about 1 teaspoon sugar over the top to cover. Caramelize the sugar using a kitchen torch, 20 to 30 seconds per shortcake. Place each shortcake in a shallow bowl and surround with berries and accumulated juices.
- If you can’t find fresh berries those mixed frozen berries will fill in nicely. You can substitute any berries for the blackberries.
- You can substitute cream cheese for the mascarpone. You can substitute plain scones for the shortcakes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 486 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 49 g |
| Cholesterol | 71 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 15 g |
| Sodium | 196 mg |
| Sugars | 28 g |
| Fat | 31 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Just delicious. I didn’t have lemon so I just used a little more vanilla in the cheese as well as more sugar and it was great. I also don’t own a little torch so I put it under the broiler for a few seconds. However that didn’t harden the sugar because the cheese started melting before the sugar crystallized. No matter. It tasted amazing anyway. Will make this again. I wish I had taken a picture because it looked so nice.
What a great dessert! I made the shortcakes from “Buttermilk Strawberry Shortcake” (also from this site), and used frozen strawberries and blueberries (as that’s what I had on hand). It turned out delicious! I can only imagine how good it would be using fresh berries! The mascarpone/brulee really puts this over the top. Would make this again in a heartbeat!