Just a little set that has me thinking about summer. I’m over these April showers – bring on the steamy nights and strawberry cocktails!
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Tag Archives: strawberries
Perfect Pre-Fireworks 4th of July Dessert
Hope everyone had a fun holiday! I’m going to share this recipe for a fruit torte with vanilla whipped cream still, because it’s great with any fruit, and not just in the shape of a flag. I’d love to try it with some farmer’s market peaches and blackberries. It’s sure to be a summer party hit!
Fresh Fruit Torte
Adapted from Magnolia Bakery
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 16 oz carton of strawberries
- 1/2 pint carton blueberries
- 1 tablespoon mix of cinnamon and sugar
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9″ round springform pan.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Spread fruit out evenly (or in a nice little flag pattern) over batter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. (Note, most of the strawberries and blueberries sunk into the batter when baking, so I topped it off with more strawberries right after baking. They sunk in the warm cake and added a great extra fruit layer.)
- Bake for about 40 min or until golden brown. (Keep an eye on your oven because I think baking time can vary.)
Vanilla Whipped Cream
Beat 8 oz whipped cream with a tiny bit of powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla. Serve in a mason jar. Cause, you know, that’s so American.
There were so many great 4th of July dessert recipes out there this year. What did you bake and bring to the BBQ?
Ricotta Tartines
4 ingredients. All from the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market. That’s all you need for a perfect summer lunch – just a baguette, ricotta cheese, tomatoes and strawberries (oh, and a little sprinkle of salt or sugar). This has become one of my favorite Sunday traditions. So simple, so fresh, SO delicious.
Ricotta, Tomato, Sea Salt on Baguette
Ricotta, Strawberries, Sugar on Baguette
Om nom nom…
Double Strawberry Cupcakes
Strawberries are here!
For a couple weeks now, I’ve been ignoring my kitchen. I ate out a lot, kept the lights off and only ventured in to fill up my glass of water. I lost that comforting relationship I had with my kitchen. I forgot I loved its black and white tiled floors, the giant stove top, my collection of bottle openers, the smell of coffee in the morning. So to say the least, my kitchen needed some love. This weekend I was ready to get back in the kitchen and thankfully, it showed me some love back….
in the form of perfect strawberry cupcakes.
I’ve been wanting to make cupcakes with real strawberries in them every since I tried Baked and Wired’s excellent version. On Sunday the Dupont Farmer’s Market looked like a strawberry field, as the first batch of the season were finally ready. I couldn’t pass up the chance to try to make them and get back to baking.
Let me tell you, these cupcakes did not disappoint. It’s very difficult to get me excited about an all-fruit dessert (what? no chocolate?!) but these have such incredible flavors of fresh strawberries and sweet vanilla. Also, the strawberries (and probably the whole milk too) make the cake very moist.
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line muffin tins with paper cups.
- Cream together butter and sugar.
- Add the eggs, vanilla and milk.
- Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.
- Finally gently incorporate the strawberries.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
Fresh Strawberry Butter Cream
I’ve never had good luck with butter cream, but I tried a different method and Martha Stewart’s recipe (halved) this time. I never got the “stiff, glossy peaks” but it still came out great. It’s super sweet but balanced by the fresh and tart strawberries. It also reminds me a lot of strawberry ice cream….looks like it too!
- 2 egg whites
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 sticks butter, cut into 1 inch slices
- 1/2 chopped strawberries
- Heat egg whites and sugar in a double broiler and whisk until the sugar is dissolved.
- Using an electric mixer, beat for 5 minutes on medium speed, then for about 6 minutes on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. (I swear I mixed for 15 minutes and this didn’t happen–maybe because I was using a hand mixer?)
- Add the butter one piece at a time and incorporate.
- Add the strawberries and continue to beat so they get chopped up.
- Use immediately or refrigerate for up to three days.
Show your kitchen (and your taste buds) a little love and make these cupcakes. Seriously. Happiness. Joy. Sugar.
