Rustic Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Tart

Valentine's Day is only a few days away and everywhere you look you are being inundated with chocolate desserts. Don't get me wrong, I like chocolate as much as the next person, but over the years my taste buds are definitely changing. These days I find myself gravitating towards fruit based desserts more often than not. There is just something about the combination of sweet and slightly sour or tart that seems to go oh so well together.

As far as desserts go, today's recipe comes together quickly and ranks high in the fruit satisfaction department. Store bought puff pastry sheets, a creamy no-bake cheesecake filling laced with a luscious lemon curd and topped with glorious sweet, red raspberries. Perfection! I made my own lemon curd following my recipe for Meyer Lemon Curd, but store bought is a perfectly fine substitution and will help to streamline the process.

The combination of flaky crust, creamy filling, and fresh fruit makes this dessert irresistible in my book. This is the perfect alternative for all of you non-chocolate lovers (like my husband) and I don't think that the chocolate connoisseurs would even mind a slice of this beautiful tart. 

Rustic Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Tart
~makes 1 tart~
(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but still cold
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1/3 cup lemon curd, homemade or store-bought
1 pint raspberries
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, warmed
Powdered sugar

Directions:
For the tart: Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat. Unfold the thawed out puff pastry on a lightly flour dusted area and gently roll into a 10x11 inch rectangle. Carefully transfer to your baking sheet.

Brush edges with a little bit of water and fold over all 4 sides to create a lip. Using a fork, poke holes all over the center of your tart. Gently brush the entire tart with an egg wash and sprinkle about 2 tsp. of sugar over the center. Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully with the back of a spoon press the center back down if it has puffed. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the filling: In a bowl combine softened cream cheese and sugar. Mix with a hand-mixer or by hand until smooth and the sugar is well incorporated. Add the heavy cream and mix for about 1 minute. Fold in the lemon curd. 

To assemble the tart: Carefully spread your lemon cheesecake mixture over the center of your cooled tart crust. Arrange berries decoratively over the curd and drizzle with the warmed jam. Dust the tart with powdered sugar.

Notes: This tart is best made and eaten on the same day. You can prepare the tart along with the cheesecake filling ahead of time. Refrigerate the filling and assemble the tart right before eating.

Other berries would be lovely as well. I bet blueberries, strawberries, blackberries or a combination would also be great!

A Susi's Kochen und Backen Original Recipe

 

Mini White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecakes

 

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. I can honestly say it's been a blast. 19 years of laughter and love and hopefully many more to come. 

We decided to keep our special day fairly low-key and enjoy it with our children. The weather was spectacular with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the high 70's. Perfect!

We started our day with a lovely brunch of salmon and different cheeses along with artisan bread, fruit and of course mimosas (for the adults). We spent the afternoon just hanging out on the back porch, reading and sharing a good bottle of wine. Our dinner was just as lovely and truly a combined effort. My husband grilled some nice looking T-bone steaks and fresh asparagus, while I made roasted herbed fingerling potatoes and my Favorite "Fancy" Salad. I knew I wanted something special for dessert and knowing how much my husband loves anything with fruit that's not too sweet, I thought a cheesecake would fit the bill. 

I found this great recipe on foodnetwork.com for a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. I did make a few changes to the written recipe and it turned out great. Instead of making one big cheesecake I thought it would be fun to make mini cheesecakes. There is something that appeals to me every time when presented with a "personal" dessert. The crust is simply composed of graham crackers and slivered almonds, ground up in a food-processor until well combined and mixed with butter. That's it, no extra sugar required, which I really liked considering the filling is quite rich. The cheesecake part is pretty much your average recipe, but is in enhanced with melted white chocolate which takes away a little more of the tartness of the cream cheese and leaves you with an incredible smooth mouth-feel with every bite. It also helps adjust the sweetness level since the filling only calls for a little more than 1/2 cup of sugar. To make my cheesecakes even more special, I decided to add dollops of seedless raspberry jam to each of my Mini Springfrom Pans and gently swirl it into the filling with a toothpick. The mini version of this dessert bakes up in just 25 minutes. You will however have to cool the cheesecakes in the refrigerator over night which really helps "set" the finished dessert.

We ate these fantastic cheesecakes with fresh raspberries on the side and they were indeed a fitting ending to a wonderful Anniversary! I think these cheesecakes would be wonderful for any occasion. I could definitely see them being served for baby showers, birthdays, a special dinner, or simply as the perfect dessert for the perfect husband!

Mini White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecakes

~makes 6 Mini Cheesecakes~

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 cup slivered almonds

2 cups (7 ounces) graham crackers

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

7 ounces fine-quality white chocolate

4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam, slightly warm and whisked to remove any lumps

Fresh raspberries for decoration (optional)

Directions:

For the crust: Finely grind almonds and graham crackers in a food processor and add butter, blending until combined. Press over bottom and 2/3 up the sides of 6 mini springform pans*. Set aside.

For the filling: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a large metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, and remove from heat.

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy, then beat in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well at low speed and scraping down the bowl after each addition.

Beat in flour and vanilla until just combined, then add melted chocolate in a slow stream, beating until filling is well combined.

Pour filling over crust. Add a couple of teaspoons of raspberry jam to each pan and gently swirl with a toothpick to get a marble effect being careful not to overmix.

Set mini-pans on a baking sheet and place in the middle of oven. Bake for about 25 minutes or until cake is set, but center is still wobbly when pans are shaken gently shaken.

Remove from oven, run a thin knife around edge of cake to loosen, then cool completely in pans on a rack. (Cake will continue to set as it cools). Serve chilled with additional raspberries if desired.

*Alternately you can just make this in a 10-inch springform pan. 

Adapted from: Foodnetwork

Chocolate-Raspberry Marble Pound Cake with Chocolate-Raspberry Glaze

Do you ever cook or bake something and when it's time to write your post you are at a loss for words? Well, that's how I feel today. I should talk about this great cake I made, but I would much rather talk about my youngest son and the awesome soccer season we've been having. Or how about my middle son, he just got done with a big science project. I could certainly tell you about the effects aspirin has on plants. Not your thing? Well then how about my oldest? She is a senior in high school and we are in the middle of prom season. Would you like to know about all the emails she sends me daily of the pretty dresses she is finding all over the internet. I could also talk about all the yard work we've been doing since our weather has been gorgeous and we are having a big graduation party coming up in just a few short months. None of those are of interest to you? Well, then can I tell you about my two silly, extremely loving dogs who've been enjoying the warmer days by exploring the yard like they've never seen it before. In fact our little Cocker Spaniel is out there with her nose on the ground and her little "nub" wagging all day long, that is as long as I'm out there with her, since she has a slight case of separation anxiety, but we'll save this subject for another time. All of those things are going on in my life and I could easily talk about all of them for hours, but coming up with an interesting post about this recipe is just not in my cards today. I really don't want to bore any of you, so I guess I better try and turn this around and bring it back to my cake (how did you like this extremely smooth transition?).

OK fine, let's talk about this recipe. This is an extremely tasty cake, which I found in a great little book called "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman. This cake is a kicked up version of a marble/pound cake. Kicked up with raspberry flavor that is. The chocolate part of this cake comes from melted bittersweet chocolate which is folded into half of the dough. The other half of the dough gets some berry love from raspberry jam. Both are layered alternating into a loaf pan and then swirled with a knife to get the marbled effect. Once baked, the cake gets even more flavor from raspberry jam, which is brushed all over the cake. Last, but not least, once the cake is cool, a chocolate glaze with a little bit of Chambord liqueur adds the finishing touch for this delectable dessert. 

This is a great cake with a wonderful, but yet subtle raspberry flavor. The whole family (minus my chocolate hating husband) really enjoyed this. In fact, my youngest was terribly upset when he got home from school and realized his brother and sister had gotten to the last couple of pieces before him. Yeah, it is that good and apparently it makes a 9 year old very upset when gone. I'll be making this one again and this time a little someone already put "dibs" on the last piece.

Chocolate-Raspberry Marble Pound Cake with Chocolate-Raspberry Glaze

 ~makes 1 cake~

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

4 large eggs, at room temperature lightly beaten

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups cake flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup raspberry jam

For the glaze:

1/4 cup raspberry jam

6 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1 tablespoons raspberry liqueur (Chambord)

Preparation:

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan and dust with sugar.

Put 1 inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler or a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Place the chocolate in the top of the double boiler or in a stainless steel bowl big enough to rest on top of the saucepan, and set the bowl on top of the simmering water, making sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Heat, whisking occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Combine the eggs and vanilla in a glass measuring cup and lightly beat. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, pour the egg mixture into the bowl in a slow stream, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the bowl.

Turn the mixer on low speed an d add the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. After the last addition, mix for 30 seconds on medium speed.

Scrape half the batter into a medium mixing bowl and whisk in the raspberry jam. Whisk the melted chocolate into the batter remaining in the mixer.

Scrape 1/2 the raspberry batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top, then add 1/2 of the chocolate batter. Repeat the layers with the remaining batters. Run a butter knife blade through the batter to create marbling. Do not overmix.

Bake the pound cake until it is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up on a rack to cool completely.

For the glaze: Heat 1/4 cup raspberry jam until loose, and use a pastry brush to brush the warm jam all over the top and sides of the cake. Combine the heavy cream, corn syrup, and chocolate in a samll pot and heat over medium, whisking until smooth. Stir in the raspberry liqueur. Let stand until thickened, about 30 minutes. Spoon the glaze over the cake, smoothing it over the top and sides with a small metal spatula to cover. Let stand until the glaze firms up, about 1 hour. Slice and serve.

Adapted from: Cake Keeper Cakes

Raspberry Cheesecake-Truffle Brownies

I know what you are thinking, raspberry and chocolate again? Yes, I could try and rationalize this decision with all of you, but truly it's more like a disease and I'll fully admit to it. Once I started with this flavor combination in my ice cream I just couldn't stop. I kept coming across all sorts of yummy recipes featuring both of these ingredients. So, I figured I could torture you all one more time and I promise (maybe) that I will stop after this recipe.

This recipe comes courtesy of Cuisine at Home which appears to be my new go-to magazine. In case you have not heard of them you are missing out. Their magazines are full of great recipes and best of all, the pages are not cluttered with advertisements. Anyway, back to the bars, how could I resist a fudge brownie layer, a smooth cream cheese layer and to top it off, raspberries. Nope, not possible, even if I tried. This bar is what dreams are made out of and I'm almost ashamed to admit that I ate more than my share of these little delights.

The bars are made pretty quickly and don't require any special skills. The brownie layer by itself is utterly amazing and is almost more reminiscent of real fudge than a brownie. It starts by melting unsweetened chocolate, butter, cocoa powder and instant espresso powder in the microwave (or a double boiler). Sugar, vanilla and salt are mixed in and then eggs are incorporated one by one. Finally flour is folded under without overmixing the batter. It gets spread in a 8-inch square pan and set aside while you get started on the cheesecake layer. Cream cheese is mixed with just a bit of sugar, lemon zest and juice, and one egg until creamy and smooth, then carefully spread over the already prepared unbaked brownie layer. The final touch is a cup of fresh or frozen raspberries that are added on top of the cheesecake before baking. The brownie bakes for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the cream cheese layer is lightly golden and set. After that comes the hardest part of the recipe - the wait time. The brownie has to cool to room temperature and after that time is over it must then be refrigerated for at least another 8 hours or overnight, which means pure torture! Before serving you can sprinkle the bars with powdered sugar but it's certainly not a necessity, they are good as is.

The reward is seriously an amazing flavor combination of sweet, dark chocolate with a light tasting cheesecake layer and heavenly raspberries. True decadence at its best. Besides me eating more than my fair share of these brownies, my kids also went absolutely nuts over them. I think the brownies make a beautiful presentation and would be lovely served for all kinds of occasions when entertaining. I will definitely be baking these again, but first I have to kick up my workout schedule to work off the extra calories I inhaled from these!

Raspberry Cheesecake-Truffle Brownies
(adapted from Cuisine at Home)
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

For the brownies:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cubed
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the topping:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Minced zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
Sifted powdered sugar

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray.

Melt chocolate, butter, cocoa, and espresso powder for the brownies in a large bowl in the microwave oven on high power, stirring every 30 seconds, or in a double boiler. Remove mixture from heat when chocolate is nearly melted; stir unti it's smooth.

Stir in  the 1 1/2 cups sugar, vanilla, and the 1/4 tsp. salt. Add the 3 eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition.

Fold in flour, mixing just until blended. Spread batter into the prepared pan; set aside.

Using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat ream cheese, the 1/4 cup sugar, zest, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt for the topping in a bowl until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Blend in the 1 egg, then spread cheesecake batter over unbaked brownie batter.

Top cheesecake layer with raspberries. Bake brownies until cheesecake is set and golden around edges, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool brownies in pan on a rack to room temperature, about 45 minutes. Cover brownies with plastic wrap; chill 8 hour or overnight in the refrigerator.

Dust brownies with powdered sugar before serving, Cut brownies into small squares with a lightly oiled knife.

Ice Cream Fridays: Chocolate-Raspberry Ice Cream and Giveaway Winner Announcement

Welcome to the final installment of Ice Cream Fridays for the year. All of you ice cream fans, this does not mean that I won't be featuring seasonal ice cream flavors every now and then, it just means, that for now it will not be a regular feature anymore. But don't fret, Ice Cream Fridays will be back for sure next year with new ideas and flavors. For the time being though, I'm cooking up a couple of different ideas for a new Friday feature, so stay tuned to see what I have in store.

Which ice cream did I chose to cap off my feature? It is none other than a Chocolate-Raspberry Ice Cream with Chambord. To break this one down with one simple word would be: Decadence. I had this flavor bookmarked in my all time favorite ice cream book, "The Perfect Scoop" for a very long time. I figured there was no better time than now to feature a flavor combination that I have loved for as long as I can remember, raspberries and chocolate.

This ice cream was another very easy, non-custard based, quick to fix recipe. Heavy cream, unsweetened (dutch processed) cocoa powder and sugar are whisked together and brought to a boil. Fresh (or in my case freshly frozen) raspberries are added and left to "steep" for a bit. The mixture is then processed in a food processor or blender until smooth, and finally strained to remove all those pesky little "get stuck in your teeth" seeds. To kick the flavor up another notch, I added a couple of tablespoons of Chambord liqueur to really enhance the raspberry flavor. After chilling in the refrigerator for a few hours the mixture is churned in an ice cream maker.

True bliss with every creamy, rich, decadent bite. On first taste you think it's just a chocolate ice cream until the bright tartness of the raspberries gets you upon swallowing - heavenly. One of my definite favorites this year. One that I will be making over and over again. Maybe next time I'll add some chopped semi-sweet chocolate to the final mix to make it even better (if possible).

In case you were wondering what my personal top 5 ice cream flavors were this season, here they are in no particular order:

- Chocolate-Raspberry Ice Cream with Chambord

- Nutella Ice Cream with Frangelico

- Oatmeal Raisin Ice Cream

- Toasted Coconut Ice Cream

- Super Lemon Ice Cream

 And finally, here is the winner (who was generated by Random.org) of the giveaway. The winner receives the book that has brought me,

and hopefully all of you, so much joy this summer:

Congratulations to:

Carole

who said:

"I recently purchased an ice cream maker so I've been enjoying your ice cream posts. I'm a Nutella fan."

Please contact me by email with your address so I can send you the book! :o)

Chocolate-Raspberry Ice Cream with Chambord

(Print this Recipe)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) heavy cream

5 tablespoons (40 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

2/3 cup (130 g) sugar

2 cups (240 g) raspberries, fresh or frozen

2 tablespoons Chambord liqueur

Directions:

Whisk together the cream, cocoa powder, and sugar in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up). Remove from the heat and add the raspberries. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender. If you wish, press the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Add the Chambord.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Adapted from: The Perfect Scoop

Orange Raspberry Muffins

If you've been following my blog for a bit, you know how important a good breakfast is in our house. I have a few things that I make over and over like the Morning Glory Muffins, the Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie (especially in the summer), and my freezer always has Breakfast Burritos in it. For me, it is important that my family always has the opportunity to grab something on the run that is made with wholesome, fresh, and most importantly, natural ingredients.

School is starting up again, so I was busy this weekend baking a couple of different muffins for breakfast variety. I always bake my muffins and then end up freezing most them. This way, they can either be taken out the night before to thaw on the counter, or the kids can "nuke" them for a few seconds in the microwave and are good to go. Freezing them works out perfect for us since there always seems to be something available to eat, and I don't run into the problem of food spoiling or getting stale before it can be eaten up.

Both of the muffins I chose were out of Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From my home to yours, and they are simply wonderful. The first one, which I'm featuring today, is an Orange Berry Muffin. Dorie's original recipe called for blueberries, but since I had just purchased fresh raspberries, I decided to go that route.

The muffin is made quickly and without dirtying a stand mixer. All you need is a couple of bowls, a whisk, and a spatula. The recipe has you using orange zest, which gets rubbed into the sugar (one of Dorie's trademark moves), along with the juice of the orange. Buttermilk, with the acidity of the orange makes these muffins very tender. A little bit of honey, and a very small amount of sugar (only 1/3 cup) make these muffins perfect for breakfast and let the fruit be the real star of this recipe.

These muffins were hands down one of the best fruit muffins I have ever made. I loved that they were tender, and juicy, but not too sweet. In fact, they were perfect, especially when enjoyed with a cup of coffee in the morning. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I can't wait to try these muffins again with blueberries, blackberries, or even cherries.

Orange Raspberry Muffins

(adapted from Baking: From my home to yours)

(Makes about 16 muffins)

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange

About 3/4 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons honey

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups raspberries - fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)

Decorating sugar, for topping (optional)

Preparation:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Butter or spray the molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance or orange strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don't worry about being thorough - the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that's just the way it  should be. Stir in the raspberries. Dived the batter evenly among the muffins cups.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Tender Shortcakes with Chambord Raspberries

For this weeks BWD: Baking with Dorie Challenge, it was my turn again and I chose Tender Shortcakes on Page 423 and 424 in Dorie Greenspan's book

Baking: From my home to yours.

Choosing a recipe from this amazing cook book is a much harder task than one might think. For one, it has a lot of recipes and for two, every single one of them looks and sounds like it would be amazing. So in order to come up with some kind of selection process, I try to at least go with something seasonal, which eliminates about half of the recipes. This is how I decided on the shortcakes. I figured everyone in our blogroll would be able to find some kind of fresh fruit that would complete these little biscuits.

The dough is quickly made in one bowl without dirtying a lot of dishes. You have to be careful not to overwork the shortcakes, but again Dorie's instructions are always wonderful and easy to follow. Baking time is a short 15 - 18 minutes, and after briefly cooling the shortcakes you are ready to use the filling. I wasn't sure which route I was going to go since all the berries in the store looked delicious, but ultimately decided to make the recipe a little different from the traditional strawberry and used raspberries instead. To further enhance the raspberry flavor, I macerated them not only in sugar, but also in a tablespoon of Chambord which really heightened their flavor. Since the berries turned out quite sweet, I didn't think the cream needed further sugar, so I just whipped it to soft peaks and left it "au naturale".

The recipe makes about 10 shortcakes, but I went ahead and halved it with fantastic results. My alterations netted me 6 shortcakes which was perfect for my family.

These were probably the best shortcakes I have ever had and everyone in my house was in agreement. The cake part was unbelievably tender and tasty, with the raspberries and cream being a wonderful accompaniment. Dorie Greenspan definitely hit a home run with this recipe and it will go into my permanent recipe file and will be the only shortcake recipe I will use from now on.

Please go and check out the other Baking With Dorie participants blogs (which you can find on the bottom of the BWD page) and find out what they decided to do with this weeks recipe.

For our next BWD in two weeks (the 7th of June) it is Grapefruits turn with Lemon Cup Custard on Page 387.

If any of this has peeked your interest and you want to join the fun with us next time, then shoot me or Grapefruit an email and we'd be more than happy to have you.

Tender Shortcakes

~makes about 10 Shortcakes~

(Print this Recipe)

For the Biscuits:

4 cups  all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

For the Filling:

Berries (about 1/2 cup per shortcake), hulled and slice if using strawberries (I used raspberries)

Sugar

Chambord (optional)

Lightly sweetened softly whipped cream

Directions:

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

To make the biscuits: Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips (my favorite method) or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces in between - and that's just right.

Pour the cream over the dry ingredients and toss and gently turn the ingredients with a fork until you've got a very soft dough. When the dough comes together, you'll probably still have dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl - just use a spatula or your hands to mix and knead the dough until it's evenly blended. Don't overdo it; it's better to have a few dry spots than an overworked dough. Even with all the flour mixed in, the dough will be soft and sticky.

Spoon out about 1/3 cup of dough for each shortcake onto the baking sheet, leaving about 3 inches of space between the mounts of dough. Pat each mound down until is is between 3/4 and 1 inch high. (The shortcakes can be made to this point and frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight and kept in the freezer for up to 2 months. Bake with out defrosting - just add at least 5 more minutes to the oven time.)

If you have more dough, repeat, cooling the baking sheet first.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes, rotating the sheet from front to back at the midway point, until the shortcakes are puffed and give just a bit when prodded. Pull the sheet from the oven and transfer the shortcakes to a cooling rack.

To make the filling: Put the berries in a bowl, sprinkle with sugar to taste and add Chambord if desired. Let them sit for about 10 minutes , until they are juicy.

The cakes are tender and really pretty fragile, so go easy with them. Use a serrated knife and not much pressure to cut each cake in half horizontally. (Alternatively, you can use the tines of a fork to prick a ring around the middle of the shortcake, then use your fingers to gently pry the halves apart.) Put the bottom halves on plates, top with the berries - make sure to include some of the sweet juices - and spoon over some whipped cream. Put the tops on the shortcakes or lean them against the cream, my preference. If you decide to go for the open-faced shortcakes, you'll get two textures - moist and moister.

Adapted from: Baking: From my home to yours

Perfect Party Cake

  

For my husband's 40th birthday I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something completely different. A 4-layer cake. I had tried 3 and 4 layer cakes before but was never happy with the results. The layers were sliding, it didn't look neat and I just got frustrated before the cake was even done. This time I wasn't going to go down this road again. After reading countless Tuesday with Dorie blog entries and purchasing her book "Baking: From My Home to Yours" I was all set. I decided on her Perfect Party Cake. The cake takes time, it is certainly nothing you will throw together in half an hour but was it ever worth it. My family and especially my husband loved it. It looked perfect and tasted even better. This will be my go-to Party Cake from now on!