Tuesday, June 29, 2010

White Chocolate Berry Tart



After blackraspberry picking and several berry sales in the grocery store I had quite a stock of berries. I figured a fresh berry tart would be the way to go. I combined a few different tart recipes, because I wanted something delicious that did not take much time. And man was this delicious!! As you can see I do not own a tart pan, otherwise this would look much cuter. The crust is a delicious, crisp shortbread which is a perfect contrast to the smooth cream layer and tart berries. Ryan and I loved it and will probably make it again when I go raspberry picking in the next couple of weeks.

White Chocolate Berry Tart
Crust:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners's sugar
1 1/2 cups flour

Filling:
1 package (10 oz) vanilla baking chips, melted
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 package cream cheese, softened

Fruit/Berries of choice

Glaze:
1/4 cup apricot preserves

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Gradually add in the flour and mix well. Press it into an 11 inch tart pan or 12 inch pizza pan (or any pan you can make it work in). Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. In a mixing bowl, mix the melted chips and cream. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth. Spread over the crust. Top with your fruit and berries as desired. In a small bowl, microwave the apricot preserves until it becomes runny (start with 20 seconds or so). Let it cool and then brush over the fruit. Let it chill for an hour before serving. Eat and enjoy a delicious fruit serving for the day!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Chocolate Strawberry Cake...You must make this!


This cake was good...... really,really good. I know say this about every cake I put on here but it's true. This cake has chocolate, strawberries, white chocolate whipped cream....... that's pretty much all you need to know. This recipe came from Annie's Eats.

1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1/2 c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. boiling water

White Chocolate Whipped Cream:
1 1/2 c. cold heavy cream
6 oz. white chocolate

Whipped Cream Frosting:
1 c. heavy cream
4 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Strawberries, sliced

Cake: Beat sugar, eggs, milk, oil and vanilla together. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in boiling water. The batter will be pretty thin. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9 inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until done. Don't over bake. Let cake cool 10 minutes in pans and then turn out on racks to cool all the way.
White Chocolate Cream: Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. When melted remove from heat. Boil 1/2 c. of cream and pour over the white chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute and then stir until smooth. Let the chocolate sit out until it is at room temperature. You don't want it to be warm at all. Beat the remaining 1 c. of cream until it will hold soft peaks. Pour in the chocolate all at once and then beat the cream until it will hold stiff peaks. Put the cream in a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for 2 hours.
Frosting: Pour heavy cream into mixing bowl and add sugar and vanilla. Beat on high until it will hold stiff peaks.
Assembling cake: Cut each cooled cake layer in half. Put one layer on serving plate. Spread on some of the white chocolate whipped cream. Lay thinly sliced strawberries on top of the cream. Top with another layer of cake and repeat twice. Frost the top and sides with the whipped cream frosting. Keep this cake in the fridge and try not to eat it all in one day :).