Summer Desserts

When I think of summer foods my mind automatically goes to berries.  Below are photos of two desserts that use berries as the star:

Blueberry Upside Down Cake

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies:

Both are delicious served with homemade whipped cream!

Baby Shower Cake

Baby Carriage Cake

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Why not think out of the box for your baby shower cake?  This carriage cake is a fun idea that is so easy to make.

To make the carriage you:

Bake one 9 inch round cake

Let cool and then cut in half

Cut one half in half to make two quarter pieces.

Cut one quarter piece in half.

Attach the small piece to the large half with frosting and decorate.  Add two chocolate donuts for the wheels and a chocolate bar standing on its side for the handle.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Strawberry Birthday Cake

Chocolate Strawberry Birthday Cake

The inside of the cake is devils food with fresh strawberry filling.  The frosting is milk chocolate meringue buttercream.

The pictures above show the four steps you need to take to decorate your birthday cake.

1. Cut cake rounds so they are even, then add a layer of frosting.  Then add a layer of your filling of choice.

2. Do this with each layer.

3. Add the crumb coat layer of frosting.  The crumb coat layer helps to make the cake frosting look even.  After the crumb coat you must refrigerate your cake at least a half hour to an hour.

4. Remove cake from refrigeration and add final layer of frosting.  Try to make it as smooth and even as possible.

5. Decorate as you wish!

Pie

Well we are getting to the start of spring/summer fruit pie season.  Last week I made a nectarine, plum and strawberry pie.  Personally I love pies, all flavors.  I love apple and pumpkin in the fall and winter and berry and lemon pies in the spring and summer.  You really can't go wrong with a good pie.  You want to make sure the filling is not too runny, which can be tricky with berry pies.  Most people use flour or cornstarch to help the filling stay firm.

Here is my recipe for my spring pie:

Ingredients
4 Nectarines (not too soft)
1 -2 plums
6 Strawberries
1/4 cup cornstarch or flour
1/4 granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon ( not necessary but if you like the flavor go for it!)

Directions

Slice fruit and put in a large bowl.  Mix dry ingredients and vanilla into the fruit and mix well, making sure all the fruit is covered.

Pour fruit into a pie dish with one half of the rolled out pie crust.  Dot fruit with two tablespoons of butter.  Cover with second sheet of pie crust and prick in center with a fork.  Bake for up to 45 minutes or until juices are bubbling.

Enjoy!

Jelly Belly Cupcake Challenge

Hello Everyone

This week, thanks to my friend Erin, I found out about the Jelly Belly Cupcake Challenge.  To win you have to decorate the best cupcake with Jelly Belly Jelly Beans.

Please check out the website:  www.jbcupcakechallenge.com    to see some really great cupcakes.  Two of my favorites are the Sushi Cupcakes and the Marie Beantoinette cupcake.

I'm thinking of entering and I'm trying to decide on what to make my cupcakes look like.  Maybe something easter themed, like rabbits or carrots?   We will see... but in the meantime please take a look at the cupcakes that have already been entered.

Girls Night Desserts

Most Thursdays I join a group of girls who hang out, chat, gossip and watch Greys Anatomy.  Of course this is the perfect setting for desserts!

This past week the local Harris Teeter Supermarket was the place to be when it came to choosing desserts. One of our group brought an amazingly delicious German Chocolate Cake.  It was huge!  I opted for buying the ingredients to strawberry shortcake.  Some Strawberries, Whipped Cream and Harris Teeter pound cake and we were good to go.  Someone else brought Chocolate Fudge Brownies.

I ate my cakes separately, but one of the ladies added her brownie to the Shortcake.  Brilliant I tell you.  It was a chocolate strawberry shortcake.

The overall message of this post is that Supermarket desserts can be just as good as anywhere else.  Normally I am always for making something myself but semi-homemade can be just as good.

The Skinny Dip

This past weekend I was able to make my five year old niece very excited when I told her about a place in Norfolk called, Skinny Dip.  I love this place.  First, it serves only frozen yogurt so it is somewhat healthier than your normal ice cream parlor.  Second, you can taste test every flavor, serve yourself as much as you want and choose from a very wide assortment of toppings.   Let's just say that I was acting very much like my niece, trying to choose between all the flavors and toppings.

Most of our group ended up choosing the strawberry frozen yogurt or the dark chocolate flavor.  Where we all differed was in the toppings.  You can choose anything from brownies, to granola to fruity pebbles cereal.  I chose a cup with brownies on the bottom, followed by strawberry yogurt and topped with hot fudge.  Delicious.

Another great thing about Skinny Dip is that they charge you by ounce so you can choose how much or how little you pay by the weight of your cup.

So if you every find yourself in Hampton Roads look for a Skinny Dip and treat yourself to some great frozen yogurt!