Pink Fluff

The mandatory ingredients for the May Improv Challenge were strawberries and cream. Although there are countless tasty things you can do with those ingredients, Mini Me knew right away what we should make- Pink Fluff. This dessert is as simple to make as the name itself. Sweet, ripe berries are mixed with freshly whipped cream and topped with a brown sugar crumble, and the whole thing is put in the freezer so it can become a cold, semi-solid delicious summer dessert. Mini Me's birthday is smack in the middle of summer and she has chosen this many times over a traditional cake. It works for me because I don't have to spend hours with the oven on, and it can all be made a day or two ahead, so we can do lots of fun things on her actual birthday. This is recipe it not exactly new (it is from one of my mom's very old sorority cookbooks) but I have updated it to fit this decade- no more dream whip here! 

You can substitute any frozen fruit for the strawberries- peaches, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries all work well, as does any combination of fruits. We like to use whatever fresh fruit is in season and just cut it into 1-2 inch pieces and freeze on a rimmed cookie sheet until frozen solid before using.

Pink Fluff

1 1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup chopped nuts -optional

2 egg whites

1 cup sugar- a
1 10oz package frozen strawberries (or fresh strawberries, cut into chunks and frozen)

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine the flour, brown sugar, and nuts, if using. Mix in the melted butter and crumble on a rimmed cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool. Reserve about 1/3 cup for topping. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the egg whites, sugar, lemon juice, and frozen strawberries until light and fluffy, about 15-20 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice to make sure there are no big chunks of fruit.

In a separate bowl beat the heavy cream until about double in volume and slightly stiff.

Fold the cream into the berry mixture. Pour into the prepared pan, sprinkle with reserved crumbs and freeze until frozen, about 6 hours. Cut in serving size pieces and garnish with fresh strawberries.
printable recipe

You can easily make this in individual serving dishes if you have room in your freezer.

For more about the Improv challenge visit Kristen at the Harried Antics of a Frugal Homemaker

link:Foodie Friday

Strawberry and Peach Blender Ice Creams

 In Southern California, it is really ice cream season year round, but it always tastes just a little bit better on a hot summer's day.  When we were children it was a special treat to make ice cream. We had to have plenty of ice, rock salt, friends willing to turn the crank, and of course my Dad, who would do the final turns when it was too difficult for our tired arms. After all that work, there was nothing better than that first bite of homemade ice cream. Although making ice cream the old fashioned way is fun, I love my new, no pre-freezing required ice cream machine. The only wait time is chilling the custard, but the great thing about both of these ice creams is that they are made in the blender and do not have a cooked base, so they can be ready to churn in minutes. These kind of desserts are perfect for those summer days when it is too hot to turn on the stove and you can't wait 24 hours for your ice cream.

Nothing is easier to make than this peach ice cream. It is light, delicate and silky smooth, and is really nothing more than peaches and cream. Since we have a large crop of peaches, we did make two versions- one with diced peaches marinated in amaretto and one without. We were split on which was better. Mr. Mimi and I liked the chunks of peaches, while Boy Mimi preferred the smooth one, so it is just a matter of personal ice cream taste.

Peach Ice Cream

This is really just a method and we make it with almost any type of fruit.

Peaches

Lemon

Sugar

Cream

Amaretto, or almond extract

Peel and pit peaches, add to blender with the juice of one lemon. Puree until smooth. To 2 1/2 cups of peach puree we added 1/2 cup sugar, but the amount of sugar depend on the sweetness of the peaches so adjust as necessary, remembering that when frozen it will taste less sweet. We added 1 cup cream and pureed until thick. Taste your ice cream and if the flavor is too mild add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon almond extract or a couple tablespoons amaretto.  Freeze in your ice cream maker according the manufacturer's directions. If you like, chop up some additional peaches to add at the ending of churning for a chunky peach ice cream. We let our peaches sit in a tablespoon of amaretto while the ice cream was turning.

printable recipe

The recipe for the Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream comes from my friend Kim at Stirring the Pot. It is also a blender ice cream, creamy and smooth with a fresh strawberry flavor balanced by the slight cream cheese flavor in the background. Next time we might bake a graham cracker crust, and add some crumbled pieces to make it even more like a cheesecake.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Adapted from Food.com and Stirring the Pot
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup fresh pureed strawberry
1 cup half and half or cream


Blend all ingredients until smooth. Chill ingredients for about 1 hour, or until cold, and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

printable recipe

Links: Foodie Fridays at Designs by Gollum

Berry Fool

Sometimes the foods with the strangest names are the very best. And this fool is no exception. Fools are a great easy, light and refreshing dessert. They are also easily adaptable and can be made with a variety of fruits and berries. Cook's Illustrated had a recipe for berry fool in their Best-Ever Recipes issue and it fit in perfectly with a recent outdoor grilling dinner party. It's a little different from other fools that I've made because it has gelatin in the berry mixture. I was a little unsure about that, since I definitely did not want berry jello, but it really worked out nicely giving just the right amount of body to the berries and allowing the streaks of puree to remain distinct in the cream.

 When you have perfectly ripe fruit, you can easily decrease the amount of sugar you use to make this a semi healthy summer dessert. We eliminated the sugar entirely from the berry mixture, and loved the fresh, naturally juicy strawberries just by themselves. We are looking forward to trying it with peaches when our crop comes in, and whatever berries we can find at the farmer's markets around town. The recipe below is our take on the berry fool.

Berry Fool
adapted from Cook Illustrated

Berries:
2 1/2  pounds strawberries, hulled
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons sugar

1. Process half of the berries with 1/2 cup sugar in a food process until mixture is completely smooth. Strain berry puree through a fine mesh strainer. You should have 2 1/2 cups puree. Transfer 1/2 cup of puree to a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top and stir to incorporate. Let stand 5 minutes .

2. Heat the remaining puree in a sauce pan until it bubbles (4-6 minutes). Remove sauce pan from heat and stir in the gelatin puree, mixing until gelatin is dissolved. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.

3. Chop the remaining strawberries into 1/4 inch pieces and toss with 2 tablespoons sugar set aside for 1 hour.  Our berries were sweet, so we did not add the sugar.

4. Whip together, heavy cream, sour cream, vanilla and 2 tablespoons sugar until stiff peaks form. Reserve about 1/3 cup for garnish. To remaining cream, whisk in the 2/3 of chilled berry puree until fully incorporated. Gently fold in remaining puree, leaving thick streaks of puree.

5. Assemble: drain uncooked diced berries to remove juice and divide 2/3 of the berries evenly among 6 individual serving dishes/glasses. Top with the creamy berry mixture, followed by remaining uncooked berries. Top each dish with reserved whipped cream. Chill until serving.