Strawberry Shortcake

Source: Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

Serves 8 (I cut this recipe to 4 servings and it worked fine)

1 3/4 pounds (6 cups) strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 cups heavy cream
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss strawberries with 3/4 cup sugar; let sit to bring out their juices.

In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup sugar, and the salt until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal but with some pea-size bits of butter remaining, 10 to 12 times. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup cream and the eggs; pour over flour mixture, and pulse until some large clumps begin to form, 25 to 30 times.

Using a half-cup measuring cup, gently pack dough, invert, and then tap out onto a baking sheet. Repeat to form 8 biscuits. Bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes.

Beat remaining 1 1/2 cups cream and 2 tablespoons sugar with the vanilla until soft peaks form.

Slice biscuits in half horizontally. Spoon strawberries and their liquid over bottom halves. Spoon whipped cream on strawberries, and replace top halves of biscuits.

I talked about this recipe HERE.

Strawberry-Lime Sorbet

Source: Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

3 cups coarsely chopped strawberries
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup sugar (or up to 1 cup, depending on berries and personal preference)
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon vodka (to keep sorbet the sorbet from freezing too hard)

Note: The original recipe calls for straining the seeds after pureeing, but seeds don't bother me with the strawberries, so I don't bother.

Combine strawberries, lime juice, lime zest, sugar and vodka in an electric mixer and puree until smooth and sugar is dissolved.

Refrigerate mixture overnight for best results, or until mixture is no more than 40 degrees.

Pour mixture into the bowl of an ice cream machine and follow the directions for your particular machine. With a Cuisinart ice cream maker, it took about 20 minutes for the mixture to freeze.

Scoop sorbet into a container and freeze for at several hours to allow mixture to become firm.

I talked about this recipe HERE.

Strawberry-Sour Cream Stracciatella Ice Cream

Source: David Lebovitz's A Perfect Scoop and eggs on Sunday

1lb fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup sugar
1tbs vodka
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli chips), melted

Note: This amount of ice cream was too much to churn at once time in my Cuisinart ice cream maker. Next time I would churn it in two separate batches.

1. Slice strawberries and toss in a bowl with sugar and vodka, stirring until sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring every so often.

2. Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth but still slightly chunky.

3. Refrigerate for 1 hour (I always refrigerate overnight), then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the ice cream is nearly done, slowly pour the chocolate on top of the churning ice cream. To keep the chocolate from freezing in large clumps, you may want to use a spoon to help break it up as it churns in the machine. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and allow ice cream to ripen in the freezer for at least one hour.

I talked about this recipe HERE.

Fruit Tart/Dessert Pizza

Source: a recipe exchange

My notes: A package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix will make up to a 16-inch pizza. I also use less cream cheese - you could easily use 12 ounces and probably even as little as 8 ounces.

1 package sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I skipped this)
1 (12-ounce) package frozen raspberries, thawed (I skipped the sauce)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Kiwi fruit slices (for garnish)
Strawberry slices (for garnish)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 12-inch pizza pan.

2. Mix cookie mix according to package directions. Add almonds to mixture. Stir until thoroughly blended. Spread evenly on pan. Bake at 350° for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool completely.

3. Combine cream cheese, confectioners sugar and almond extract in medium bowl. Beat at low speed until smooth. Spread on cooled crust. Refrigerate until chilled.

4. (I skipped this part.) Combine raspberries and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer until berries are soft. Push mixture through sieve. Cool completely.

5. To serve, garnish tart with fresh fruit. Cut into wedges. Spoon raspberry sauce onto plates and place tart wedge on top.

I talked about this recipe HERE.