Tag Archives: strawberries

Strawberries, Oats & Greek yogurt

I created this concoction last year when we were in Florida leaving the hotel after the Disney Princess half Marathon. I was trying to clean out our mini fridge, and not waste one thing before we loaded up to head back home to the airport. This overnight yogurt oatmeal tastes like a strawberry cheesecake for breakfast!

Ingredients::

One cup of Greek yogurt nonfat plain

1 teaspoon of ground Vietnamese cinnamon

1/8 cup of old fashion oats

Two packets of true lime which is equivalent to two slices of lime freshly squeezed

1 tablespoon of vanilla protein powder

Half a packet of truvia (optional)

1 cup of fresh diced strawberries or frozen if they are not in season

Directions:

1. Place the first six ingredients into a 1 pint mason jar. Mix with a small spatula very well.

2. Top the yogurt mixture with freshly cut strawberries. Place the seal of the mason jar on the lid and store the yogurt in the refrigerator overnight.

3. The next morning sprinkle with additional cinnamon swirl and enjoy!

Vanilla Cake with Pastry Cream Filling & Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting

My grandfather turned 86 years old this past weekend and I was honored to bake the cake for him. We were able to celebrate with some of our family at his favorite restaurant. We finished off the celebration with this refreshing spring cake.

Strawberries are one of his favorite fruits. My grandpa grows them in the summer and there is nothing, absolutely nothing that compares to his homegrown strawberries.

When my sister and I were kids we would go to his house and pick them fresh out of the garden. Two for me and one for the basket was our motto. We loved spending the summers at our grandparent’s home. Once we were finished we would have angel food cake, vanilla ice cream, & fresh sliced strawberries with some cool whip. Yum! I can taste the dish just thinking about it. This cake takes me back to those wonderful nostalgic memories at Grandma & Gtrandpa Harpers.

This cakes serves 16- 24 servings

Cake Ingredients:

3 cups cake flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup (8 oz) (2 sticks)unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pastry Cream Filling:

3-4 Large Strawberries

1/2 cup skim milk 1/4 cup fat free half and half1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup cornstarch
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Strawberry Cream Cheese Whipped Cream Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar, divided
4 oz cream cheese, 1/3 reduced fat, room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 lbs strawberries, hulled and sliced into pieces slightly under 1/2-inch
Sliced strawberries for decorating

Directions for the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cooking spray with Bakers Joy (or a flour based spray) 3 9-inch round cake pans then line bottom with a round of parchment, cooking spray with Bakers Joy parchment. Set pans aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium mixing bowl, set aside.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and egg yolks one a time. Also add vanilla in with the eggs. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time (to the butter/egg mixture) alternating with 1/2 of the milk and mixing on low speed just until combined after each addition. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl and gently fold batter several times.
Divide batter among prepared baking pans evenly. I like to use my scale for this, even distribution makes for even baking. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan about 5 minutes, run a plastic knife around edges of cake to ensure they are loosened then invert onto wire racks to cool for 20 minutes. After the time has elapsed prepare them for the freezer. I like to wrap them in plastic wrap and place them back into their baking pans and stack them in a deep freezer before frosting.

Directions for the Custard Filling:

In a small saucepan, heat the milk, heavy cream, half and half, and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours before placing in between the layers of the cake.

Whipped Cream Frosting:

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip heavy cream until soft peaks form (occasionally scrap down sides and bottom of bowl to ensure even mixing), add 1/4 cup powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form (make sure they are stiff or your topping will be runny, it should get to the point where it doesn’t have a wet sheen). Scrape cream out into a separate bowl.
Add cream cheese to bowl of stand mixer, fit with paddle attachment and whip cream cheese until smooth and fluffy, mix in remaining 1/4 cup powdered sugar and vanilla. Add strawberries and mix until uniform in color. Remove bowl from stand mixer, add whipped cream and fold into mixture.

Putting it all together:

Take the side with flat surface (the side that was touching the bottom of the pan) and place it onto cake plate or cardboard cake circle. Place a ring of the whip cream frosting around the border of the cake (I piped this by using a ziplock baggie & cutting a small rectangle at one of the tips of one of the corners) and then pour some of the custard into the center. Spread the custard evenly in the center. The ring of whip cream serves as a border to prevent spillage. Place slices of strawberries around the middle.

Place next cake layer down and repeat the custard layer with boarder of whipped cream. Top with the last cake layer. Finish frosting by taking the remaining whipped frosting and frost cake. Place the cake in the freezer immediately and remove before serving. Store leftover cake in an airtight container in refrigerator, well that is if there are any leftovers. We did not have any…

Strawberry-Rhubarb Whole Wheat Shortbread

Strawberry Rhubarb Shortbread

My grandpa gave me fresh rhubarb from his garden this past weekend. I couldn’t wait to use it. I love baking with rhubarb!! I have made rhubarb muffins, rhubarb cupcakes, rhubarb bars, rhubarb pancakes but never have I made shortbread using rhubarb. We had a very special birthday in the office today so I researched for a new rhubarb recipe to try and when I came across this recipe for Rhubarb Shortbread I had to give it a whirl. This recipe was adapted from a recipe on PBS’s website http://www.pbs.org/food/kitchen-vignettes/rhubarb-cardamom-shortbread-bars/. The original recipe called for a few different ingredients so I switched it up slightly since I didn’t have spelt flour , cane sugar, nor did I have red wine on hand.

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 Cup of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 Cup AP Flour

A pinch of salt

1 Teaspoon of baking soda

2 Teaspoon of ground cardamom

2 sticks of butter (unsalted and brought to room temperature)

1 Cup of Sugar

2 Egg Yolks

Baking dish needed: 10 inch tart pan

Rhubarb Compote:

2 Cups of Rhubarb Chopped

1/2 cup Strawberries chopped

1/3 Cup of Sugar

1 Teaspoon of Water

1 Teaspoon of Pure Vanilla

Directions for the Dough:

Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter until fluffy.

3. Add the eggs yolks one at a time and sugar and mix well.

4. Add the dry ingredients ingredients and combine the two until a soft dough has formed.

5. Form the dough into two balls, make sure to form one larger than the other.

Wrap the dough in plastic cling wrap and place in freezer for 30 to 45 minutes. them for a minimum of 30 minutes.

6. For the Compote: Place a 2 quart sauce pan on low heat, add water, sugar, strawberries, rhubarb into the pan. Make sure to stir often. Add the sauce to come to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low continue to stir often.

7. Remove from heat after thickened and stir in the vanilla. Place the compote in a freezer safe bowl and sit on ice in the freezer for at least 30 to 45 minutes to cool completely.

8. Preheat oven to 350. Once compote is cooled get the larger piece of dough out of the freezer and start to grate with larger holes on a grater directly into a Pam Sprayed 10 inch tart pan.

9. Pat down the dough into the pan lightly.

10. Spread the rhubarb compote over the first layer of dough evenly. MAKE sure to leave a least a half inch from the perimeter to prevent leaking on the outside.