Dessert Table: Lemon Berry Trifle

I’ve actually made this twice since I first saw it on Recipe Girl.  The first time was for Easter and then again for my brother’s dessert table.   It was a hit both times and will definitely be making a repeat appearance.

The first time I made this I used all strawberries and the second time I used a combination of strawberries and blackberries.  I also doubled the recipe for the wedding as I was feeding more people. 

Lemon Berry Trifle, adapted from Recipe Girl                                            (for a printable recipe with my changes click here)

SYRUP:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup water                                                                                                          (I added the zest of the lemon(s) I  juiced)

LAYERS:
12 oz. pound cake or butter loaf (store bought ok)
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
3 cups fresh blackberries
3 cups fresh strawberries

1. Slice cake into ¾” slices and place on wax paper in a single layer.

2. Prepare lemon syrup: In a small saucepan, bring sugar, lemon juice, zest, and water to a boil over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar completely. Let cool, then brush over both sides of each cake slice. Quarter each slice.

2.5 Wash and dry berries well.  Hull and half strawberries if using. I kept the strawberries and blackberries separate because I wanted two distinct layers of berries in my trifle. After prepping the berries I placed them into a bowl and tossed them with half of the left over lemon sugar syrup.

3. Beat cream cheese with sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium and slowly add cream. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft whipped cream.  (I added the last of the lemon sugar syrup.)

4. Arrange half of the cake pieces in the bottom of a glass serving bowl or dish (2 qt. size is sufficient). Spoon half the cream-cheese mixture over the cake in dollops; spread to the sides of the dish. Scatter berry of your choice on top. Repeat layering with cake, cream cheese, and berries.

5. Cover and refrigerate until chilled (about an hour). You may also refrigerate overnight.

Servings: 6-8

Recipe Tips:
*For a lower fat version, try fat-free pound cake and reduced-fat cream cheese.
**You can use any variation of berries.  I’d just make certain to have 6 cups worth.     

This recipe is very forgiving; play around with it and make it yours.  I also think the lemon sugar syrup and cream cheese/whipped cream filling would be great in other recipes. Recipe Girl, has a “how to” video for putting this trifle together.

Whole meyer lemon tart

I've got a few recipes that I've made but haven't blogged about yet thanks to being sick for a week. So this is going to be short, sweet, and a little tart. 

Well, if you've been reading here you'll remember that I recently bought and tried meyer lemons.  Since that first time I've purchased more and made this whole lemon tart I saw on Smitten Kitchen. It was very good and one of the twins, Devon absolutely loved it.  I know some people commented  on Deb's blog and mentioned that it didn't go well for them but I didn't have any issues and it was my first time making tart (or pie) crust.  I did find the recipe for the crust a bit confusing but in the end it worked out.  I made my tart in the rectangular tart pan that I received for Christmas this year which means my crust was thicker than what it would have been had I used the proper sized pan.

Next up will be meyer lemon curd but first photos of a dessert (a  kinda charlotte, trifle thingy) I made.  I won't post the recipe (there wasn't one) to as it was pretty but just okay nothing that you couldn't whip up on your own (& probably even better).

FYI~ the lemon tart photos are courtesy of my sitter, Miss Karolyn! 

Technorati Tags: lemon,tart,strawberries,trifle

New Year's Eve goodies

I volunteered to make desserts for a New Year's Eve party we were attending at a neighbor's house.  For me that was rather daring as I'm very leery about making anything to bring to an adult function.  I have found that adults are much more critical and down right picky.  On the other hand I LOOOOOVE baking for my children, their friends and teammates.  Everything I bake for them is always well received and if someone doesn't like something (rare) they are always very polite when telling me so!  By the end of the night everything was gobbled up which I'll take as a sign of success!

The first dessert I made was one the White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bars which I blogged about earlier this week. 

The next dessert I made was one I found over on My Baking Addiction.  Jamie made her Chocolate Toffee Trifle in stemless wine glasses which I thought would translate well into minis. I figured after eating and drinking so much no one would have room for a full sized dessert.  Also if everything was bite sized it would be easier for everyone to try a bite of all three desserts with limited waste.  My minis were good in theory but in practice, I was beat and didn't have the patience to pipe everything into my shot glasses.  Instead they got the trifle in a large trifle bowl...self serve style!

Have I admitted to not really liking "plain" brownies or chocolate pudding? Have I also mentioned that for me cool whip and toffee are just okay BUT in this dessert something magical happens with these ingredients!  I couldn't get enough (didn't want to look like a piggy) of it.  I loved the the various textures and the taste of everything combined!

The last dessert I made was one I found on the inside of the wrapper of Ghirardelli's white chocolate bars.  On the wrapper it was called Ghirardelli Classic White Blondies. I found the recipe online under the name Classic Blondies.  Which ever name you chose to call it by it was very good and was the first to go.  (I think it helped that you didn't need any serving utensils, plate, or napkin!) It's texture was more cakey than fudgey (sp?) but not overly so as I have found that I don't care for cakey blondies or brownies.  I didn't make any changes to the recipe other than baking mine in a 11x7 inch pan.  I also lined it with nonstick foil before greasing it.

Here's a photo of the three desserts displayed in all their glory (ha-ha)!  The food wasn't  set out yet  so the table looks kinda bland but once they placed the food, the table looked very nice.

LiveJournal Tags: white chocolate,raspberry,cream cheese,blondies,chocolate,toffee,trifle