Chocolate and Fresh Raspberry Cream Napoleons

Cook the 12 ounces of raspberries in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until the raspberries are broken down into a sauce. Line a fine mesh strainer with 2 layers of cheese cloth and set over a bowl. Pour the raspberry sauce over the cheese cloth to remove the seeds. Gather up the ends of the cheese cloth and press out all the raspberry juice with the back of a spatula. You should be able to get at least a half cup of juice from this amount of berries, but I can usually press out almost 3/4 of a cup. Pour the raspberry juice back in the sauce pan. Simmer over medium to medium-high heat until the juice reduces to a 1/4 cup. It will be a very rich red and concentrated sauce. Set aside to cool completely. To speed up the cooling, the sauce can be placed in the refrigerator to chill.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, whip the cream on high speed until stiff. Remove whipped cream to another bowl and set aside.

In the same bowl of the stand mixer (no need to clean the bowl first), with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until very smooth. Add the 1/4 cup of prepared and cooled fresh raspberry sauce and mix on medium to high speed until combined and completely smooth. Then add the marshmallow cream and mix again on medium to high speed until combined. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in reserved whipped cream until combined.

Spoon fresh raspberry cream into a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip and pipe it onto the top of one chocolate cookie. Top with a second cookie and pipe on more raspberry cream. Repeat until you have a fourth cookie on top. Then swirl on a smaller amount of raspberry cream to the top cookie. Gently press in a fresh raspberry. Use a thin metal spatula to transfer finished napoleon to a serving plate or platter. Repeat until all napoleons are finished. Alternately, you could use a small spoon to layer on the raspberry cream, for a more free-form look. Right before serving, sprinkle powdered sugar lightly over the tops of the napoleons.

Serve immediately for a crispy chocolate cookie experience. Or refrigerate for at least 2 hours for a softer chocolate cookie. Both ways are completely delicious, but two entirely different experiences. When the napoleons are left to mingle and chill for a couple hours, the chocolate cookies take on the moisture of the fresh raspberry cream, yielding a dessert that is eaten just like a small layer cake. It's very fun!

To see more raspberry dessert recipes, click here!