Cherry Bars

The price is right for cherries right now because they are in season so it's the perfect time to make these fresh-tasting and easy to make Cherry Bars.

Now is also the time to get extra cherries and freeze them since I have a feeling you'll want to make these Cherry Bars again. Can you imagine how cute these bright red filled bars would be to serve to your sweetie on Valentine's Day? Cherries aren't easy to come by in the winter time, and if you do find them, they're expensive. I'm planning ahead.

Here's the recipe:

Cherry Bars
(makes 24 2-inch bars)
Crumb Mixture:
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Filling:
5 cups pitted pie cherries (frozen works just fine)
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of sea salt
1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon red food coloring (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan then line the pan with greased aluminum foil or parchment paper so that after baking the whole thing can be lifted out of the pan after cooling. This makes cutting the bars much easier.

In a medium sized bowl make the crumb mixture by combining the sugar, baking powder, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the shortening and break it into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. I like to use my fingers to do this. Add the egg, mix well and set aside.

In a sauce pan combine all the filling ingredients and mix well. Cook the mixture over medium heat until simmering and the mixture thickens. Watch it and stir it constantly. This takes about 7 minutes.

The cooked filling. Adding red food coloring in optional but it really does make the filling extra bright and pretty.

To Assemble:
Press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the greased and lined pan. Spread the filling evenly over the bottom layer. Crumble the remaining crumb mixture evenly over the filling layer.

The first layer.

The second layer.

The third layer.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the top is slightly brown and the filling is bubbling. Cool completely before lifting out of the pan and cutting into squares.

Let it cool in the pan before cutting into bars.

Being able to lift it completely out of the pan makes cutting the bars so much easier.

Mini Tirimisu

Over the last few months I've been testing dessert recipes for a summer wedding I am catering.  I say desserts because in lieu of a wedding cake, the couple wants to serve an assortment of mini desserts to their guests. I love the idea of a mini dessert buffet and I have a feeling so will the guests.

Lately, I've been working on a recipe for Mini Tirimisu. Because it's a summer wedding and I'm assuming it will be hot, I need to be conscientious of coming up with desserts that can survive the heat.  For these tirimisus,  I substituted cream cheese for the traditional mascarpone because it will hold up better on a hot day and allows me to make the tirimisus, minus the whipped cream and cocoa powder topping, a full two days in advance.

I found the mini dessert cups I am using online and love that you can see all the layers through the clear hard plastic. I also like that the cups are not throw aways because they are sturdy enough to be washed and reused.

If you don't want to make tirimisu in mini form, just use a bigger glass. The recipe serves four if you use  8-oz wine glasses.

It's also really helpful if you use piping bags to add the cheese and whipping cream layers. That way you can add these layers quickly and neatly. 

This recipe is also great because there is no cooking involved. Truly perfect for a hot summer day.

Mini Tirimisu 
(makes 10 using 2.7-oz cups)
1 cup heavy cream, divided
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, divieded
1 7-oz. package ladyfingers
1 cup strong black coffee
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Make the coffee and let it cool to room temperature.

Whip 3/4 of the cream with 1/4 cup of the sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla. Whip until soft peaks form. Chill the whipping cream until you are ready to use it.

Whip together the cream cheese, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and remaining teaspoon of vanilla. Whip until smooth then add the remaining 1/4 cup of cream and whip again until it's light and smooth.

To assemble:
Transfer the cream cheese mixture and the whipping cream to piping bags fitted with a #5 tip or if you are using disposable bags, just cut off a 1/4-inch opening.

Cut a ladyfinger in half and dip each half into the coffee. Do this quickly or else the ladyfinger will fall apart. Place the halves in the bottom of a mini cup. Repeat for all 10 cups.

Pipe a layer of the cream cheese mixture into each cup.

Repeat with a layer of ladyfingers in each cup.

Repeat with a layer of the cream cheese mixture in each cup.

Repeat with a layer of ladyfingers in each cup.

Using a piping bag for adding the cheese mixture makes assembling these very easy. And, there's no messy smears on the inside of the cups.

Finally, add a layer of whipped cream to each cup and using a small sieve, add a sprinkling of cocoa powder to the top of the whipped cream.

For a size comparison, I assembled one large tirimisu in an 8-oz. wine glass.

Refrigerate the tirimisu for at least 1 hour before serving.

Strawberry Shortcake

The strawberry shortcake assembly line.

The strawberry shortcake fundraiser for Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Food Ministries was a success thanks to the volunteers who made it, those who purchased it and a foolproof recipe from my friend and fellow volunteer Linda.

When I was trying to decided what recipe to use (I needed a simple recipe that could be multiplied and would be easy to serve), Linda brought her Southern Living Cookbook to show me her favorite recipe. Just looking at the cookbook and recipe, there were telltale signs that it was the one for our fundraiser.

Linda's treasured cookbook.

The best strawberry shortcake recipe. When I'm not making shortcake for a crowd, I'd like to assemble the cake like the one in the book. Linda says it's a cake that always impresses her guests.

For one, the cookbook opened right to the strawberry shortcake page which let me know it was the most used recipe in the book. And two, the page was spattered which is a definite sign of a hit recipe.

Perfect looking cookbooks don't impress me one bit because that means nothing was ever made from them. I prefer cookbooks with worn spines, torn pages and notes scribbled in the margins because that means they have the best recipes.

We made nine hotel pans of shortcake, each filled with a double recipe. The resulting shortcake was a wonderful combination of a biscuit and a cake. It held up against the juicy strawberries and it had just a hint of nutmeg which I thought was a nice addition.

The Southern Living recipe calls for beating egg whites, brushing them onto the top of the shortcake and then adding a sprinkle of granulated sugar just before baking. Linda says this step adds a nice sweet crunch to the top of the shortcake. Because of a shortage of time though, we decided to skip the egg whites and just added a sprinkle of sugar. Our shortcut worked well but I still would like to make the recipe again using the egg whites.

Here's the original recipe from Southern Living:

Strawberry Shortcake
1 quart strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened and divided
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
dash nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs separated
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
whole strawberries

Combine sliced strawberries with 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sugar. Stir gently and chill 1 to 2 hours. Drain.

Butter two 9-inch cake pans with 1/2 tablespoon butter each; set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  Cut in remaining butter until it resembles coarse meal.

Combine milk, egg yolks. Beat well.  Add to flour mixture and stir with fork til soft dough forms.

Pat out dough evenly into greased cake pans. The dough will be sticky so moisten fingers with water as necessary to help. 

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.  Brush surfaces of dough with egg whites and sprinkle with 1/4 cup sugar.

Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until layers are golden brown. The layers will be thin.

Beat whipping cream until foamy, add powdered sugar and beat until soft peaks form. 

To assemble:
Place one cake layer on a serving plate and top with half of the whipped cream. Arrange half of the sliced strawberries on top.

Repeat the procedure by topping with the second layer, adding whipped cream (reserve a bit for the top of the cake) and the remaining berries. Add the reserved whipped cream to the very top and garnish with whole strawberries.