Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

My stars!

I love, love, love this one. If you're looking for a recipe for heavenly ice cream, I urge you to try this one.

I must say, I am not overly fond of cheesecake. For example if we're dining out I'll usually choose anything other than cheesecake if there is a choice.

I don't dislike it, in fact I have a killer recipe for cheesecake that I've been making for years ~ but it's just not my favorite dessert. So I was really surprised that I LOVE this ice cream, as it's reminiscent of a delightful, not-too-sweet raspberry cheese cake.





The ingredient list is short ~
a little cream cheese whole milk cream sugar raspberry puree  (I used frozen, unsweetened raspberries, pressed through a sieve)

Once you make it, you won't need a written recipe!
Now my mind is spinning, and I'm thinking of all of the other fruit purees that could be used in place of the raspberries... YUM!




I'm usually a "one scoop", or at the most "two scoop" ice cream girl --- but not with this ice cream. :)

I'm thinking graham cracker sprinkles might be a good finishing touch if you want to carry the cheesecake theme, but absolutely not necessary.

I hope you'll give it a go.  And if you try it with another pureed fruit, please let me know!

To get a printable copy of the recipe click HERE to go to my recipe page.

Thanks for stopping by, and for any comments you would like to share.

Have a delicious day!
~Mari


I'm sharing on Foodie Friday
and 
Pink Saturday !
http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Lavender Week with the Novel Bakers

There are hundreds of delicious, savory recipes using culinary  lavender which tempted me this week ~
But because they are at their peak now I gravitated towards recipes using berries . . .
such as this one, which I slightly adapted from one of the Trader Joe's cookbooks.





These are very easy to make; the method is to roll puff pastry  out with a rolling pin (the work surface and the top of the raw pastry is  sprinkled generously with Turbinado sugar prior to rolling.)





The pastry is cut into squares, (or whatever shape you like) and baked off in a hot oven.   After cooling on a rack the squares are  sliced in half horizontally. 
You can use a variety of fillings ~ pudding, whipped cream, lemon curd, mascarpone, etc.  I used a creamy plain yogurt, blended  with a little raspberry jam and lavender honey to sweeten the mix.


Arrange berries, or any fruit that you like on the  filling, then top with the remaining puff pastry half and enjoy!
So good!

~*~*~*~*~*~

And, as I mentioned, MORE berries . . .

This recipe is inspired from one I found on the internet and served at a lavender farm in the UK.
It is called a fruit cup but I think we, on this side of the pond, would consider it a really refreshing drink with a lot of fruit in it. :)




No matter the name it is really delicious, not too sweet and doesn't contain much of  an alcohol kick. The strawberries from the garden are slowing in production now, but I found just enough to make the recipe. 
I believe other fruit would work equally well (I'm thinking another kind of berry, sliced peaches, nectarines, plums, or pitted cherries.)




I would describe it as a twist on Sangria ~ delightful! I serve it with a spoon to get every piece of fruit ~ a straw would make it easier to sip the liquid, too.


  (Please note: I'm not endorsing any particular brand of ginger ale --  I attempted to block the logo, but it looked like a train wreck. And I love my good neighbors to the north in Canada!)

These are the ingredients: 
Fresh orange juice, lemon juice, ginger ale and a splash of dry vermouth. Lots of sliced strawberries. Muddled lavender. For garnish: lemon balm (or lemon verbena) and a stem or two of  lavender. Serve well chilled!




I'll have the recipes and links to them up on Friday.



Thank you for coming by for a visit ~ I appreciate your comments if you care to leave one!






I know you'll enjoy stopping by each of the Novel Bakers blogs to see their magical creations today ~
(To visit click on the links below.)

Home is Where the Boat Is 

Rattlebridge Farm

Sidewalk Shoes

a quiet life blog

Fresh Lemon Cake with Berry Glaze

A redux post from a couple of years ago . . . It was a special tea party.
I decided to share it again as it is a favorite dessert around here, and I am making this same cake today. 


You can choose almost any fruit topping, (or leave it off entirely), I like the combination of the lemon cake with strawberry topping and that's the way I usually make it.



My mom began making it back in the 1970's, when it was originally called "French Lemon Cake" ~ I'm not sure why "French"... perhaps because it is only one layer?



It's one of those that you can put together VERY quickly as it is mixed in the food processor.



After it is baked sweetened lemon juice is drizzled over the top, intensifying the luscious lemon flavor.



It can be served plain, and it's very good that way ~ but I usually dress it up a bit by adding a thick Strawberry glaze, made with melted Strawberry jam, and then I pipe on, or serve the cake slices with slightly sweetened whipped cream.



So simple to make, but so good!






If you'd like the recipe, a printable copy is available  HERE on my recipe blog.



Click the link below to see all the wonderful recipes for this weeks Foodie Friday hosted by Rattlebridge Farm!

Click HERE.


~*~*~*~*~








Thank you for stopping by for a visit today.
xo~mari

Quick and Easy Italian Plum Cake (You can use other fruit, too.)

This just proves, once again that delicious recipes need not be complicated! I believe the original recipe may have been from Martha Stewart but I found this one, said to be an adaptation by a reader, on chowhound.chow.com  where it was first published in 2005, and has been  popular ever since.

;
No need to arrange the fruit, unless you want to. :) The sugar sprinkle adds a pretty sparkle and a delicate  crispy crunch.
You mix the simple batter in one bowl with a spatula, pour into a greased & floured cake pan, press the fruit slightly into the batter, sprinkle the top with 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and bake.


We just harvested the last of the Italian Plums from our tree, so that was my fruit of choice. The good news is that you can use other fruits too:
Plums, Apricots, Berries, Peaches, Nectarines, Pears,  Cherries, or a combination would all work in this recipe. You can use frozen berries as well, don't thaw.
The sugar sprinkle adds a pretty sparkle and a delicate  crispy crunch.
We've eaten it for breakfast, as a snack, and dessert ~ it doesn't last long around here!


So easy to put together that I made two one afternoon one to keep and one to give.

If you would like a printable copy of the recipe, it's over on my recipe blog ~ click here.

Thank you for stopping by!  Blessings ~ mari

Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins

Proclaimed delicious! Another great recipe from Donna Hay.
I have one issue with the recipe though ~ I think the name is misleading. I think of these as little cakes rather than muffins; very decadent, indeed.  Too rich for breakfast or mid-morning snack (in my humble opinion.) 
And without a doubt I would file this in the dessert category!
There is no butter involved, if that is important to you. The fat  in the recipe come from sour cream and vegetable oil.
The recipe suggests using frozen raspberries, but I had fresh on hand, so naturally that's what I used. Probably the raspberries would have held their shape better with frozen,  but I kind of like the smeary effect of the berries. :)

No matter, the combination of the tart berries and sweet white chocolate is sublime! The recipe makes 6 large "muffins" (cakes) ~ so it is ideal for smaller families.
If you would like a printable copy of the recipe click here.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today!
Blessings, ~mari xo   

Foodie Friday with Designs by Gollum

I'm so happy to be a part of darling mlw's Gollum Design's very first

FOODIE FRIDAY!

I decided to bring fresh Raspberry mini (bite-size) cheesecakes to the party. They have a cinnamon-graham, buttery crust with a smooth, creamy vanilla cream cheese filling and a sour cream topping. Each are finished with a sweet raspberry and served with a seedless raspberry sauce. :)

Single subject for me today...

Grab a fork and plate, and please help yourself!

Here are the photos ~

But my personal favorite is still Valentine's Day dessert ~

so I made several individual Baked Alaskas for those of you who would prefer these.

Have fun!

I can't wait to see what everybody else is serving up.

Thank you Michael for hosting Foodie Friday!