you don't have to skip dessert: strawberry shortcake

I like eating healthy, but I also don't like the idea of depriving myself of dessert. Not that I'm going to make chocolate kahlua cheesecake every night, but if I'm craving something sweet, I am going to have it. Sometimes that's a fun date to get a gelato, and sometimes that's making a healthier option at home. I picked up a pound of fresh strawberries from the farmers market earlier this week, so I knew I had the option to make a light and healthy dessert with that. In order to make the shortcake healthier, I decided to keep the ingredients exactly the same (yes, butter, cream, sugar), but just make smaller portions of the bread with a larger ratio of strawberries. It was perfect.

Grocery list: strawberries, lemon, sugar, flour, butter, whipping cream, milk, powdered sugar.

Start by washing, hulling and slicing the strawberries. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over them, and sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of sugar over top. Refrigerate for an hour or more, stirring occasionally, so the strawberries release their juices and make a nice syrup.



For the shortcakes, the recipe I followed (from Epicurious) calls for 2 cups flour, 1/2 stick cold unsalted butter, 1/8 tsp salt, plus 2 T sugar (in order to make 6 shortcakes). I went for half this recipe, to make 4 smaller shortcakes, but I'll let you make that call for yourself. Anyway, after sifting together the dry ingredients, cut the butter up into small pieces and add to the bowl. With your hands, mix until the texture is course (like cornmeal). Then, pour in 3/4 cup milk and mix just until it turns doughy - don't over-mix.



Drop the shortcakes into 6 round shapes on a greased baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops with heavy cream. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees, until the shortcakes are golden on top.



Transfer the shortcakes to a wire rack to cool. To make whipped cream, beat 3/4 cup whipping cream with 4 T powdered sugar with a hand mixer for 2-3 minutes (this made plenty for 4 shortcakes, but if you made the full recipe you might want to make double the whipped cream). Slice the shortcakes in half, lay strawberries and their juices on top of the bottom half of the shortcakes, a dollop of whipped cream, then top with the other half. Garnish with more whipped cream and a whole strawberry if you like.

Next time I'll try one of the many variations on shortcake - possibly with Grand Marnier?

strawberry pie

This pie was featured in the June 2008 issue of Gourmet magazine - and the editors raved about it. I decided to try it because (a) there's an influx of local fresh strawberries down at WF right now (b) A loves cut strawberries with desserts, so I figured he'd like this and (c) a reasonably healthy, chilled, refreshing dessert for 95-degree-Atlanta weather. The reality: the recipe took a lot longer than described, and the finished pie was gorgeous but fell completely apart when serving. Maybe it needed more gelatin to hold everything together, and maybe I should have buttered the pie pan so the crust would release a little more easily. A did love it though, and it certainly was a refreshing change of pace from heavier desserts I've made recently.

Grocery list: (crust) 1 5-oz package shortbread cookies, 2 T sugar, 2 T cold unsalted butter; (filling) 2 pounds strawberries, hulled, 3/4 c sugar, 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (2 1/4 tsp); fresh whipped cream for serving.



This crust was my favorite part. Pulse the cookies in a food processor to make fine crumbs, then pulse in sugar and butter till combined. Press the mixture in the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan, then bake for 15 minutes until golden. (I included the shortbread packaging in the picture below - maybe this would be a way to use up any extra Girl Scout shortbread cookies though?)



To make the filling, select 20 of the hulled whole strawberries that are all the same size and set aside (this will give the finished pie more texture). Cut the rest of the berries into 1/4-inch dice and toss with the sugar and lemon juice. Let stand for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries have released a lot of their juice.



Drain the berries into a large glass measuring cup, then add enough water till you have 2 cups of liquid. Transfer the liquid into a medium saucepan and set the diced berries aside.



Sprinkle the gelatin packet into the saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring continuously until the gelatin dissolves.



Stir in the diced berries and transfer the mixture to a bowl set inside an ice bath (I used 2 bowls - the bottom one filled w/ice packs and ice cubes, set the other bowl w/strawberry gelatin inside, then filled the empty space with cold water). Stir until the mixture begins to solidify. The recipe says this will be 20-30 minutes, but it was at least an hour for me.



Spoon 1/2 cup of the filling into the pie crust, then arrange the 20 whole strawberries (stem ends down) on the filling. Then spoon the rest of the filling around and on top of the whole fruit. Chill pie until the filling is set (the recipe says 4 hours - more like 8 for me).

happy birthday cheesecake

Yesterday was A's birthday, so I knew his "Mama Lynn" would be making him his favorite chocolate kahlua cheesecake to celebrate. Of course there's no way I wasn't going to make him a dessert myself, I just had to do something different (and a day early). I decided to make a standard cheesecake with lots of strawberries and sauce on top, as "refreshing" as a cheesecake can possibly be. I found an Emeril recipe that I took some pointers from as well -- like adding lemon and orange zest, and a splash of bourbon. Other than that, the ratios of sugar to cream cheese, how to make the crust, etc are based on the chocolate cheesecake. It was delicious - and poor A now has to choose between 2 types of birthday cheesecake every night this week.

Grocery list: 24 ounces cream cheese, 1 orange, 1 lemon, splash of bourbon or scotch, 1 package graham crackers, butter, sugar, 5 eggs, sour cream, vanilla.



Start with the crust - preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and crush 1 - 1.5 cups of graham crackers. Mix with 3 T of melted butter and 2 T of granulated sugar, and press into the bottom of a spring form pan. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes, then bake for 8 minutes. Lower the oven temp to 350 degrees.



To make the filling, start with 3 packages of softened cream cheese (I use lower fat neufchatel). With a hand mixer, blend 1 cup of granulated sugar into the cream cheese. Add the zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange, plus 1 T of vanilla and blend until smooth. Next, add the eggs one at a time, blending after each addition. Finally, stir in 1 T of bourbon and 1/2 cup of sour cream.



Pour the filling into the prepared crust (depending on how much you trust your spring form pan to be nonstick, you may want to grease the sides of the pan with more butter). Place the pan inside a large roasting pan, and fill the roasting pan with water until it's about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes.



Carefully remove the cheesecake pan from the hot water, and allow to cool to room temperature for an hour or 2, then place in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. I sliced fresh strawberries and poured 1/4 cup sugar over them, so that plenty of syrup was released. I also made some fresh whipped cream (3/4 c whipping cream + 4 T of powdered sugar, whipped with a hand mixer for 3-4 minutes).

making strawberry syrup

a quick note on strawberries... i normally slice up a pint of these for the challah french toast. if you slice them the night before (or early in the morning before brunch), put them in a tupperware container and sprinkle a handful of sugar on the top. the sugar reacts with the strawberries to create the perfect strawberry syrup to drizzle on top of the toast when serving.

challah french toast

this is my favorite french toast recipe ever. it's actually not as unhealthy for you as most, since it reduces fat and adds more protein by substituting vanilla yogurt for a lot of the cream and eggs. grocery list: 1 loaf challah bread, 3 eggs, 3/4 c vanilla yogurt, 1/2 c milk, dash vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon. strawberries and powdered sugar for topping (or just syrup if you prefer).



i love challah bread for french toast -- you can find this in the bakery section of any grocery store. slice off the end pieces and then cut on the diagonal. lay all the slices flat in a large pan (or 2 pans if needed).

make the batter: beat the eggs, then add the other ingredients and mix well (the vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon -- maybe 1T, 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp, if i had to put a measurement on them?). pour over the bread slices, flip and make sure there is batter touching all pieces. let stand for a few minutes.



in 2 big fry pans, heat 1 T butter in each pan over med-high heat, plus drizzle about 1 tsp vegetable oil in each to keep butter from browning too much. fry the toast slices till brown.