Frothy Whipped Berry "Parfaits"

Photo courtesy of Betty Crocker




From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...The Sirens occasionally try to lure me to their islands. Fortunately, I know my own weaknesses and usually stand my ground. My restraint, however, failed me when I saw the first photo in today's post. I found the recipe for that beautiful dessert on the Betty Crocker website. I wasn't much interested in some its elements, but I loved the possibilities of what could be done with the yogurt, gelatin and fresh berries that formed the base of the dessert. So, I took just the three ingredients and came up with the recipe that appears below. This is a featherlight, almost frothy, dessert that is packed with the flavor of the berries that are used to extend it. If you have a sweet tooth, this dessert will disappoint you, but if your dessert tastes run more to the tartly sweet, I really think you will enjoy this nearly effortless treat. I use full fat Greek yogurt and lots of fresh berries when I make this. If the berries are not fully ripe, I add a tablespoon or two of baker's superfine sugar and a teaspoon of pure berry extract to bring them up to snuff. The berry extracts can be found here. This dessert is best served on the day it is made. I hope you'll give these frothy parfaits a try. They can be made with any type of berry and I really think you'll enjoy them. Here's the recipe.

Frothy Whipped Berry "Parfaits"...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Betty Crocker

Ingredients:
1 cup boiling water
1 box (4-serving size) strawberry-flavored gelatin
2/3 cup Greek yogurt
2 cups diced fresh strawberries
Optional: 1 teaspoon pure berry extract
Optional: 1 to 2 tablespoons superfine sugar

Directions:
1) In medium bowl, pour boiling water on gelatin; stir until gelatin is dissolved. Stir in yogurt until melted and smooth. If using, stir in berry extract and superfine sugar. Cover; refrigerate until thickened but not set, about 60 to 90 minutes.
2) Beat gelatin mixture with electric mixer on high speed 7 to 8 minutes or until doubled in volume. Fold in diced strawberries. Spoon into 8 (1-cup) parfait glasses or clear coffee mugs. Cover; refrigerate about 1 hour or until firm. Yield: 8 servings.

Berry Patch Cake - Pink Saturday

Photo courtesy of Photobucket Creative Commons License

What are little girls made of? Sugar, spice and everything nice, but in different proportions than the cake below. Isn't she dear? The raspberry cake is delicious but no match for this sweet thing.



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It's not my habit to make berry cakes in October. This one was the result of my inattention. I had pulled what I thought was a bag of cranberries from the freezer, only to discover my labeling system had failed me and I actually had raspberries that now had to be used. While I had planned to make a flan, I decided to use this cake as a stand-in. It's very old-fashioned and one of the first cakes I learned to make. I love to add blackberries or raspberries to the batter. It's an everyday snack cake meant for family and close friends. It's a bit like a Swedish Visitor's Cake, but it's not as refined and it's much quicker and easier to make. It can be oven ready in 15 minutes. It is best frosted when slightly warm and I prefer to eat the cake the day it is made, as it stales quickly. Here's the recipe.

Berry Patch Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Icing
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons milk
2 cups raspberries

Directions:
1) Adjust a rack to middle third of oven. Preheat to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch square pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment or waxed paper. Grease and flour paper. Set aside.
2) Place butter and sugar in bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add egg, vanilla and milk. Beat just until combined.
3) Mix flour with baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into wet mixture with a large spoon, until well blended. Do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared pan. Scatter raspberries over top. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Invert cake and continue cooling on a cake rack.
4) Meanwhile, combine confectioners' sugar with butter and beat until smooth and creamy. Add salt, vanilla and milk, a tablespoon at a time, until frosting can be easily spread.
5) Transfer cake to a serving plate. Frost top with icing while cake is still slightly warm. Some icing will spill over sides. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

This post is being linked to Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Rhubarb and Red Berry Pie

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...When the family gets together there are always requests for pie in various guises. This beauty is known to the gang as Daddy's Birthday Pie. It was Bob's favorite as a child and it was his choice for dessert on his birthday. This version of the pie won best of show at the National Pie Championship. It was created by Susan Gills. Everyone other than Bob swears they dislike it and refuse it when offered. I suspect that's not so because we have a mystery in my kitchen. Let's call it the case of the mysterious shrinking pie. When we went to bed last evening only two slices had been taken from the pie. When I pulled it out for dessert this evening less than a third of the pie remained. My family has a tendency to cut slivers of pie when they think they are unobserved and this pie had been slivered to death. Folks who like tart berry pies will love this rhubarb and red berry pie. It's incredibly easy to make, but you will need lead time, so plan to begin it the night before you intend to serve it. You can use ready-made pie crusts. I make my own but my pastry comes from a recipe on the back of a can of Crisco and it's as easy to make as the filling. Here's the recipe for the mysterious shrinking pie.

Rhubarb-Strawberry-Raspberry Pie...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup fresh strawberry halves
1 cup fresh raspberries
2 cups rhubarb pieces, cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pastry for a two crust pie

Directions:
1) Mix sugar and flour in a bowl. Add berries and rhubarb and mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3) Line a 9-inch pie pan with pastry. Pour berry mixture into pan, dot with butter and drizzle with lemon juice.
4) Cover top of pie with remaining pastry, crimping edges to seal and create a decorative border. Cut vents into pie and brush with milk.
5) Bake pie for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees F. and bake for 40 to 50 minutes longer, or until crust is golden brown.