BEST EVER STRAWBERRY TOPPING

This topping rates 5 out of 5 stars for an ice cream topping, but it is also DELICIOUS over pancakes, pound cake, cheesecake and right out of the jar with a big spoon!! It is nice and thick and bright red (not a hint of watery-ness........is that a word?) 

It is economic to make for a large crowd and it keeps well in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Only TWO ingredients!!

 

 

2 pounds of frozen strawberries

1 cup of sugar

 

I buy large bags of bulk frozen strawberries from our local discount store. I let them thaw for about 1/2 hour or so, then I pulse them in the food processor several times until you get a fairly small dice.

 

Add 1 cup of sugar, stir and put it in a heavy bottom kettle (heavy bottom kettles help it cook but not scorch). Cook on medium high heat until you get a good boil going, then turn down the heat to a medium low boil and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

 

After 20 minutes, remove from heat and skim off any pink foam. That's it!!  Chill in the fridge before using. Makes 4 cups of topping.

 

 

ENJOY !!



STRAWBERRY CHANTILLY

This is a fantastic frozen dessert for those hot summer get-togethers. It is quick, easy, pretty and can be made days ahead.

The strawberry mousse filling sits on a shortbread cookie crust and the whole thing is frozen and ready for company at a moments notice. 

COOKIE CRUST
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cold butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Cut the cold butter into the flour and sugar (I used my food processor)then stir in the nuts if you are going to use them and press the mixture into a 9" or 10" spring form pan.  Bake at 325° for about 20 minutes. Cool completely.

STRAWBERRY FILLING
2 egg whites        (see note below)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups fresh strawberries
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chop the fresh strawberries in a food processor until they are a smooth puree.

Put the pureed berries, egg whites, sugar, and lemon juice in a stand mixer and whip it on high for a full ten minutes.

In a different bowl, beat the whipping cream and vanilla until you get stiff peaks, then gently fold it into the strawberry mixture, until well mixed. 

Pour it over the crust and freeze it overnight (or at least 8 hours).

To serve, remove from freezer about 15 minutes before slicing.

If you don't have a spring form pan, you can make this in a 9" x 13" dish.

NOTE: When I don't want to heat up the kitchen by baking the cookie crust, I substitute a graham cracker crust for the shortbread crust and sprinkle a few extra crumbs on top.

NOTE: If your strawberries are really big, cut them in half before you measure out 2 cups.

NOTE: If using raw egg whites freaks you out, I'm assuming you could use powdered egg whites which are pasteurized and safe to eat. I've never tried the powdered egg whites in THIS recipe, but I don't see why they wouldn't work.



STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE FOR TWO

I put three recipes together, to come up with this dessert for two. It has a shortbread cookie crust, a creamy cheesecake layer and it is topped with a  jelled strawberry topping. The contrast between the smooth vanilla cheesecake and the juicy strawberries was excellent!!!

 

 

COOKIE CRUST
¼ cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter
a pinch of baking powder

Mix the dry ingredients and cut in the butter. Press, evenly, onto the bottom of a greased foil lined mini-loaf  (6" x 3" x 2"). See important note below.

Bake the cookie crust in preheated 375 oven for 10-12 minutes or just until it starts to turn golden. Set aside to cool.

CHEESECAKE FILLING
4 ounces of cream cheese (room temperature)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons all purpose flour
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 egg white (room temperature)

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the egg white until well mixed. Pour over the baked (and cooled) cookie crust.

Set the mini-loaf pan inside of a larger pan (I use a 9" cake pan) and put enough HOT water in the larger pan, so that it comes about half way up on the mini-loaf pan.

Bake in preheated 325 oven for 28 to 33 minutes (my oven takes exactly 33 minutes). You'll know it is done when it barely jiggles when you tap the pan. This little cheesecake has NEVER cracked on me.

Cool about 20 minutes before putting it into the fridge to chill for several hours.

STRAWBERRY TOPPING

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
¼ cup granulated sugar

Cook strawberries and sugar in a heavy saucepan. When the strawberries start cooking, they will release lots of liquid. Let this cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until strawberries are soft. Thicken the mixture with a slurry of cornstarch and water (1 tablespoons cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water). Cook until this mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in ½ teaspoon vanilla. Cool to room temperature and pour over the cooled cheesecake. Put the whole thing in the refrigerator to chill for several hours. To serve, gently lift the dessert out of the pan by holding onto the foil ends.  Peel back the foil and cut in half.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure you line the mini-loaf pan with foil and then spray it with vegetable spray. Leave the ends of the foil long enough so that you can grab onto them and lift the chilled cheesecake out of the pan.

STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

I made these strawberry cupcakes yesterday and they were a big hit. The recipe is a great "cheater recipe" that I've used for years. Basically it is a dry cake mix + a 20 ounce can of fruit filling + 3 eggs. That's it! It produces an extremely moist and flavorful cake! You can use ANY dry cake mix and ANY canned fruit pie filling so the combinations are endless. Our favorite is chocolate with cherry pie filling but we've also thoroughly enjoyed chocolate cake with raspberry pie filling, spice cake with peach pie filling, spice cake with apple pie filling and yellow cake mix with lemon pie filling.

For the cupcakes posted today, I combined a box of Betty Crocker strawberry cake mix (ignore any directions on the box) with a 20 ounce can of Wilderness strawberry pie filling and three eggs. Beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes (batter will be a little thicker than you expect). Fill paper lined cupcake pans about 2/3 full and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Oh so yummy!

NOTE: Don't worry about the "chunks" of fruit in the pie filling. When you mix it into the cake mix with your electric mixer, the fruit will break up (which is what you want).

NOTE: This recipe is not suited for white cake mixes for some reason. They taste good, but have a strange color after they are baked.
NOTE: The weight on most cans of pre-prepared pie filling is different...some cans are 18 ounces some are 20 ounces. This measurement doesn't seem to be crucial. Just get the size can closest to 20 ounces that you can find.

NOTE: This recipe works very well for sheet cakes as well as layer cakes. Just use the toothpick test for doneness instead of the baking times on the cake mix box. After you remove the cake from the pan, cover it tightly with plastic wrap and let it cool. Keep covered until you frost the cake.

 

Buttercream Frosting

1 cup of UNSALTED butter (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
food coloring (optional)

Cream the butter with an electric mixer until it gets fluffy. Add everything else and beat on medium speed until everything is well mixed, then beat on high speed until it is smooth and fluffy.

NOTE: These cupcakes are topped with Wilton's sparkle sprinkles (clear).

BERRY RIPPLE TEA CAKE (KNOWN IN MY HOUSE AS THE BEST COFFEE CAKE IN 10 YEARS!) (Seriously!)

Usually, when I hear the word "coffee cake" I think of a sweet treat that is at it's best right out of the oven and it usually needs either a cup of coffee, tea or glass of milk to wash it down. Well, dear friends, this coffee cake IS the exception to that rule. My husband and I finished this cake in a single day with NO trouble (a cake this size usually lasts us three or four days). We just couldn't stop eating it!

"Three B's" blog posted this recipe a few days ago and it caught my eye (she has some great recipes). She made it with a combination of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries and her beautiful photographs encouraged me to give it a try.

I used all strawberries which added to the sweetness of this buttery cake.I sure hope you give it a try, you will NOT be disappointed. Make the fruit filling first. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, mix:

12 ounces of frozen raspberries (I used 12 ounces of frozen strawberries that I chopped finely in my food processor).
1/4 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/3 cup)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Heat the above ingredients, over medium heat, stirring until it is thick and bubbling. Set aside while you make the batter.

Cake Batter:

2 & 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup COLD butter sliced in to thin pats

The directions say to use a pastry cutter, but I put the flour, sugar and butter in my food processor and pulsed until I had fine crumbs (much easier). Remove 1/2 cup of these fine crumbs and set them aside. To the remaining crumbs, add:

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3/4 cup buttermilk (no substitutions)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (my addition)

Mix the above ingredients into the four/sugar/butter crumbs and mix only until everything is good and moist (don't over-mix).

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour a (2 piece) 10" round tart pan (I used Baker's Joy spray). Using your fingers, press 2/3 of the batter into the prepared tart pan, pushing the batter evenly across the bottom and one inch up the sides of the pan (flouring your finger tips helps here).

Once you have the batter spread out and pushed up on the edges, gently pour in the fruit filling and spread it around the bottom. With the remaining 1/3 of the batter, place small pieces of batter in an irregular pattern on top of the fruit (I used a one teaspoon measure to get the right size). Be very careful not to push the batter pieces down into the fruit, you want them to float on top of it as much as possible. Finally, sprinkle the reserved crumbs over everything. Bake in a 350 oven (I placed a heavy cookie sheet under my tart pan) for 30 to 35 minutes (my oven took 35 minutes). The finished cake will be golden brown and smell heavenly!! I am certain that any fruit would work with this coffee cake; the strawberry version would be hard to beat though! When the cake is done baking, place it on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before you take it out of the pan.