Red, White and Blue Desserts!

Friends, I have not yet eaten today and it is 12:30pm. This is a situation! Especially when you are about to write about dessert. I’m not sure where my morning has gone but my stomach is yelling at me because I have clearly missed it’s feeding time.

OK – I grabbed a handful of nuts and a glass of water. That should hold me until lunch. Hehehehe!

Today I have a few very simple recipes for your Fourth of July cookout. Not only are these simple but they are delicious.

First up…

Red, White and Blue Berry Trifle

• Berries (You can use one or a variety. My favorite combination is one container each of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries)
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 Angel Food cake (from scratch, a box, or purchased from your bakery)
• 4 cups whipped cream or Cool Whip

Set aside a handful of berries to use as a garnish. Slice remaining strawberries and place in a large mixing bowl along with raspberries and blueberries. Gently stir in the sugar and set aside so the sugar will begin to dance around the berries to create a glaze. YUM! (OK – I am hungry so I may be getting a little to excited about the berries.)

Tear the angel food cake into chunks about the size of golf balls.

In a clear bowl or trifle dish, layer in this order:

1. 1/3 of the Angel Food Cake
2. 1/3 of the berries
3. 1/3 of the whipped cream

Repeat two more times so that you have three layers, whipped cream on top. Garnish with reserved berries and cover and refrigerate until time to serve.

I have found that this is best if made the night before or the morning of the day you serve. It seems to work better if it has a few hours to hang out. However, it starts to get mushy after two days so don’t wait that long!

Variation: My son, Nick, LOVES it when I add a layer of chocolate pudding. When I make this addition I layer the pudding right over each layer of cake when assembling.

One little note. It’s an “oops.” I promised two desserts with only three ingredients. I forgot the sugar in the berries so this one actually has four ingredients. Sorry

Ice Cream Sandwiches

• Cookies
• Ice Cream
• Sprinkles

Purchase or bake your favorite cookies and sandwich your favorite ice cream between two of them. Roll edges in sprinkles. That’s it! How easy is that? It’s a fun activity for the kids, too!

I like to use the plain chocolate wafer cookies for this. They are the perfect size and go with just about any flavor of ice cream. I made these with plain ‘ol vanilla but I also really like it with strawberry or coffee ice cream. Oh… how about coffee ice cream then rolled in crushed dark chocolate covered espresso beans? Come to mamma! Or, dark chocolate ice cream rolled in crushed peppermint candy? Oh my! Or, pineapple sorbet rolled in toasted coconut? Mmmmmm.

You can see the combinations are only limited by your imagination. And, you can make these for any occasion by simply changing the sprinkles… or nuts… or coconut… or crushed candy canes, etc. You see what I mean? It’s endless. Gracious… my stomach is growling again.

Here are some other quick ideas for the Fourth of July:

• Make strawberry shortcake using star cookie cutters to cut out the shortbread before baking.

• Make a sheet cake (any flavor), frost with white frosting, and then decorate with berries to make the American flag

• Make and decorate cupcakes with star toppers or, simply frost or decorate so that some are white, some are blue, and some are red and then arrange in flag formation.

• Bake your favorite cake or pie and insert mylar star “ting-ting” in the center so it looks like fireworks are shooting out the top.

Want some healthier options?

• Grill or toast slices of Angel Food cake and top with fresh fruit
• Make or purchase meringue and serve with fresh fruit
• Spoon berries into pretty goblets and drizzle with a little Greek yogurt sweetened with just a little bit of honey
• Arrange fresh fruit on a platter and shave a little of a good quality dark chocolate bar over the fruit.

Since I began with dessert, how about I end with an appetizer? Visit my friends at www.seashinemag.com for my Tropical Salsa recipe. It will add both freshness and a bit of a fire cracker kick to your Fourth of July festivities!

Happy Fourth of July my friends!

Sweetest Blessings,
LeAnn