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Dessert Bowl with star shapes and berries
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Dessert Bowls

How to make Dessert Bowls -- the next big food trend of 2018!
Recipe from SugarSpunRun.com
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 4 large bowls or 8 small
Calories 1680kcal
Author Sam Merritt

Ingredients

Vanilla Cake (adapted from my Vanilla Cake)

  • ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup (120 ml) avocado, canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 ½ cup (300 g) sugar
  • 4 large eggs room temperature preferred
  • 1 Tablespoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 3 cups (390 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ¼ cup (300 ml) buttermilk room temperature preferred
  • Powdered sugar for topping

Chocolate Mousse

  • 1 cup (175 g) dark or semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 cups (474 ml) heavy cream divided
  • 8 oz (227 g) cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup (150 g) powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream (adapted from my Homemade Whipped Cream)

  • 1 ½ cups (355 ml) cold heavy cream
  • ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Bean Paste

Additional Toppings:

  • 3 cups (400 g) assorted berries
  • Chocolate shavings I simply used a vegetable peeler on a chocolate bar for my chocolate shavings

Instructions

Vanilla Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare a jelly roll pan (12x17x1”) or cookie sheet by lining the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer) cream together the butter, oil and sugar, until well-combined.
    ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature, ½ cup avocado, canola or vegetable oil, 1 ½ cup sugar
  • Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
    4 large eggs
  • Stir in Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Extract.
    1 Tablespoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
    3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
  • Using a spatula and gently hand-mixing, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just combined after each addition. The batter should be smooth and completely combined, but avoid over-mixing.
    1 ¼ cup buttermilk room temperature preferred
  • Spread batter evenly into prepared jelly roll pan and bake on 350F (175C) for 18-22 minutes. When the cake is finished, the surface should spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean with few moist crumbs (no wet batter).
  • Allow cakes to cool in the pan completely.
  • Once cake has completely cooled, either cut into squares or use star or heart or preferred cookie cutter to cut into shapes and lightly dust with powdered sugar. Set aside until ready to serve dessert bowls.
    Powdered sugar

Chocolate Mousse

  • In a small saucepan, combine chocolate chips and ½ cup (118.5 ml) of the heavy cream over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until chocolate chips are completely melted and mixture is smooth.
    1 cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips, 2 cups heavy cream
  • Remove from heat and pour into a heatproof bowl. Stir in Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Extract.
    1 teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • Allow mixture to cool completely before continuing.
  • In a clean, medium-sized bowl, use an electric mixer to beat remaining 1 ½ cups (355.5 ml) heavy cream to stiff peaks. Set aside.
  • In bowl of stand mixer, combine cream cheese and (cooled) chocolate mixture, stirring until completely combined.
    8 oz cream cheese
  • Gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
    Fold in prepared whipped cream until completely combined (don't over-mix).
    1 cup powdered sugar
  • Set aside until you are ready to assemble dessert bowls (keep refrigerated in an airtight container if not assembling immediately)

Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream

  • Place a medium-sized bowl (preferably metal) in the freezer for at least 10 minutes to chill.
  • Once bowl has chilled, remove from freezer and add heavy cream, powdered sugar, and Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Bean Paste.
    1 ½ cups cold heavy cream, ½ cup powdered sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Bean Paste
  • Using an electric mixer, beat ingredients on low speed, gradually increasing speed to high, and beat on high until stiff peaks form.
  • Transfer whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a large closed-star tip.

To Assemble

  • Set out the bowls that you are using for serving and evenly divide the Chocolate Mousse into each bowl, using a spoon to spread it around the bottom and up the sides to form a “nest” that covers the entire bottom of each bowl.
  • Pipe your whipped cream inside the “nest” until it is completely filled
  • Place powdered sugared cake cut-outs around the bowl.
  • Strategically place berries around the cake cut-outs and top with chocolate shavings, if desired.
    3 cups assorted berries, Chocolate shavings
  • Serve immediately. Make sure to share a pic to Instagram and tag me @sugarspun_sam so I can see what you’ve created!

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 1680kcal | Carbohydrates: 199g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 92g | Saturated Fat: 54g | Cholesterol: 450mg | Sodium: 590mg | Potassium: 632mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 121g | Vitamin A: 3457IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 308mg | Iron: 6mg