Chocolate Shortbread Hollywood Stars Food

CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD "HOLLYWOOD STARS"

Steps:

• In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cocoa and mix on low speed until just combined.
• Form dough into ball and flatten into disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Position racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll out dough to 1/4-inch-thick round and cut out cookies with 2-inch star-shaped cutter. Place on baking sheets, spacing 1/2 inch apart. If desired, reroll scraps and cut out more cookies.
• Bake cookies, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until slightly firm to touch, about 15 minutes. Cool on pans 2 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
• In medium bowl, mix together Mascarpone and confectioners' sugar until well blended.
• Turn 1 cookie upside-down and spread with 1 teaspoon filling. Top with a second cookie, right-side up. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.
• In medium bowl, combine confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon of egg white. Mix until consistency is very smooth. Pour icing into pastry bag fitted with #1 round tip. Pipe decorative design onto cookies. Let icing dry completely (about 1 hour, depending on humidity) before storing cookies.

CHOCOLATE SHORTBREAD HEARTS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in yolk, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
• Once chilled, remove plastic wrap and sandwich dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll it out into a 1/2-inch-thick slab. Leaving dough between the parchment, place it on a baking sheet or large plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours).
• Heat oven to 325 degrees, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Pull dough from refrigerator, and remove parchment from dough. Using a 2-inch heart-shaped cutter, cut out as many hearts as possible. Transfer them to the prepared cookie sheets. Reroll the dough scraps and repeat.
• Bake cookies for 18 to 23 minutes, until puffed and set, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through. Transfer pans to wire racks to cool completely.
• In a heatproof measuring cup, melt chocolate in the microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring in between.
• Dip half of each cooled cookie in melted chocolate, letting the excess drip back into measuring cup. Place back on parchment-lined baking sheets, and sprinkle chocolate with crushed raspberries, if using. Let cool until chocolate is set, then store in an airtight container.