Blueberry {and Strawberry} Shortcakes with Lemon and Thyme Biscuits

This is from my bon appetit magazine and are super amazing. Puts a whole new spin on the normal shortcakes. I made them for Mother's Day {yes, I love cooking that much} and none of us were saying a word other then, Mmmmmm...., because they were so good. I added some strawberries too, because I can't do a shortcake without them.

berries
4 cups fresh blueberries (21 to 22 ounces), rinsed, drained well
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water

biscuits
3/4 cup chilled buttermilk
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1 tablespoon raw sugar

Vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream

Berries: Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until berries are slightly softened and syrup coats spoon, about 10 minutes. Transfer to medium glass bowl. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Biscuits: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with silicone baking mat, smooth side up, or parchment paper. Mix buttermilk, lemon peel, and thyme in small bowl. Whisk next 5 ingredients in large bowl to blend, breaking up any large clumps of brown sugar with fingertips. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk mixture and stir with fork just until blended (dough will be sticky). Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Knead gently just until dough comes together, 4 to 5 turns (do not overwork dough or shortcakes will be tough). Pat dough out to 3/4-inch-thick round. Using 3-inch-diameter cookie cutter dipped in flour, cut out dough rounds. Gently gather dough scraps and pat out to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut out additional rounds, for 6 rounds total. Transfer dough rounds to prepared baking sheet, spacing apart. Sprinkle dough rounds with raw sugar.

Bake biscuits until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool slightly. Using serrated knife, carefully cut biscuits horizontally in half. Place bottom half of each biscuit on each of 6 plates. Spoon blueberries and syrup over, dividing equally. Cover with biscuit tops. Place scoop of ice cream or dollop of whipped cream alongside each and serve.

strawberry cheesecake bowl

I made this for Amy's celebratory dessert on Saturday night. It was fantastic and so pretty!

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

3 T. sugar

2 pkg. Neufchatel Cream Cheese, softened

1-1/2 cups cold milk

1 pkg {3.4 oz} vanilla instant pudding

2 cups thawed Cool Whip Lite, divided

2 cups frozen pound cake, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 square Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate {I just used a handful of chocolate chips}

Combine berries and sugar and refrigerate until needed. Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Add milk and vanilla pudding; blend until smooth. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip until well blended. Spoon half into 2 1/2 quart bowl or trifle dish. Top with cake cubes, then strawberries, then remaining cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate 4 hours. Top with remaining Cool Whip. Melt chocolate in bowl and drizzle over the top. If you want to get fancy, you can even chocolate-coat a strawberry for the top. Enjoy!

La Madeleine`s Strawberries Romanov

Have you been to La Madeleine's? Its a yummy place and my little sister LOVES their Strawberries Romanov, she gets it almost every time we go and savors ever minute of it. We found the recipe and low and behold it has brandy in it! Who would have thought? But, I am sure you could substitute the brandy with an extract or just leave it out. I also use this as a topping on German Puffy Pancakes (without the brandy). This says it will serve 2 but I bet Lindsey would argue that it will only serve her!

Ingredients:


1 cup strawberries, hulled and rinsed
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon brandy



Directions:
Just before serving, rinse berries and trim stems with a paring knife. Mix remaining ingredients and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes.

Put berries in stemmed wine glass and top with sauce.

Slow Berry Cobbler

This was SO good, and so easy because you just put it all in the crockpot. Great summertime treat because you're not heating up your house with the oven. Filling:
1 (10-ounce) bag frozen strawberries
1 (10-ounce) bag frozen blueberries
1 (10-ounce) bag frozen raspberries
1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar, depending on your level of preferred sweetness
1/2 cup baking mix

Topping:
2 1/4 cups baking mix
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Spray the insert of a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, toss together all the frozen fruit, sugar and 1/2 cup baking mix. Transfer the fruit to the slow cooker. In another large mixing bowl, stir together 2 1/4 cups baking mix, 1/4 cup sugar, melted butter and milk with a wooden spoon. With your hands, drop bits of dough on top of the fruit in the slow cooker. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and ground cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of the dough and place the lid on the slow cooker. Turn the power onto high and slow cook for 3 to 4 hours until the topping has puffed and the fruit is bubbling.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Paula Deen

Yogurt Fruit Salad

24 oz. Strawberry Yogurt
3 bananas, diced
16 oz. frozen sliced strawberries, slightly thawed and undrained
8 oz. crushed pineapple, undrained

This is good fresh, but it is also very yummy if you spoon some into paper lined muffin tins and freeze. Zap in the microwave for about 15 seconds after removing from freezer and serve while still slushy.

Strawberry Cream Cake

So last night was the annual "Dinner and Silent Auction" Fundraiser for the YM/YW in my ward. I signed up to bring a dessert....this is the first time I have made this cake as a layer cake, but I think it looks pretty good this way when you're going for presentation.

1 yellow cake mix

1 8oz. pkg cream cheese, softened

2 c. powdered sugar

1 pint heavy whipping cream + 2T sugar

1 pkg. Danish dessert (or the pre-made gel filling for a strawberry pie)

1 lb. strawberries (if making a layer cake, save some large whole ones for decorating)

Make cake according to package directions. Bake as 2 9" rounds or 1 9x13". Dump out onto serving tray and cool completely. (An over-turned jelly roll pan works great for this if you are making the 9x13" version.) A couple of hours before serving, whip cream with sugar to form stiff peaks. Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and incorporated. (This will be very stiff at first) Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Slice strawberries and mix with the Danish dessert (made according to package instructions) or the strawberry pie filling.

For the 9x13" cake: Frost with all the cream cheese/whipped cream mixture. Top with the strawberries and sauce. Refrigerate until it is time to eat.

For the 9" round cake: Pipe about a two inch wide and one inch high layer of the cream cheese/whipped cream mixture on the top edge of the bottom layer. Fill in the center with your strawberry mixture. Place second layer on top of bottom layer. Frost entire cake with remaining cream cheese/whipped cream mixture. You can either top with the strawberry/glaze mixture or top with several large whole strawberries to achieve the look in the photos. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This cake does not save well. If you are not going to use all of it in one sitting, you can create individual servings (this works best with a 9x13"). Do not frost the entire cake. Simply cut the cake into individual pieces, top with the cream cheese/whipped cream mixture and some of the strawberries and sauce. For some reason, when they are not all assembled, the individual components of this cake save better.