Strawberries, sweet cream & chocolate.....

I came across the recipe for Strawberries & Cream pie while looking through some baking blogs that I had just found.   This one is from "The Way The Cookie Crumbles" - what a great combination of not-too-sweet sweets......

The recipe was for a full-size pie.   For some reason,  I like to take "full-size" desserts and down-size them to single servings.  I don't know - maybe it's because it makes them a more personal experience.   Maybe it's because it gives me a  "re-do" opportunity to make changes and improvements as each one is done; maybe it's flexibility?   I don't know - but so far, no one has complained...

Because of its small size, using whole strawberries as instructed in the recipe just wouldn't work.   A few simple slices to each berry allowed me to completely cover the cream filling.   Another version used chopped berries that were heaped on top of the cream filling (this was actually my favorite as I thought the flavor was best).   Because my "drizzles" using a fork always seem to end up looking gloppy and messy - I put the melted chocolate mixture into a parchment piping bag fitted with a #3 tip and "drizzled" away - it firmed up nicely (without cracking) when it was chilled.  THE PICTURE ABOVE DOESN'T DO THIS DESSERT JUSTICE!

When I ran out of pie crusts - I picked up some pre-made graham cracker crusts at the local market.   It took just a couple minutes to make a quick-last minute dessert with the last of the filling - a bottle of chocolate syrup provided the finishing touch.

It is fun to think of other ways to make this dessert..... raspberries, blueberries, kiwi, cherries, pineapple - what else could there be when combined with white chocolate, whipped cream (plain or flavored)........