The Unphotographables: Strawberry Cream Bars

See, I've been bad about posting again. So now I'm making myself do this now, because I can't have breakfast until I finally get my butt in gear and post about these. :)

Last Saturday, I really had no clue what to make. But I knew it would be fruity. It was the first really good day out of the entire month of June. (Yeah, June missed the memo that traditionally the weather should be sunny and a bit warmer. We had rain and grey for like 24 days of the month.) Saturday was beautiful. I even wore shorts and successfully blinded some people, I'm sure. I take after the English/Irish side of my family and am very fair-skinned. Besides, skin cancer is ugly.

Anyways, beautiful day. I always wear sunscreen on my face, else I get a bajillion freckles. I wore a tank top for the first time all year. This is one of those moments where if you had just a little inkling of what the afternoon had in store, it would've been fabulous. You can see where this is going, right? Dave and I went to play miniature golf. He won, as usual. But this time there was a consolation prize of sorts: the first sunburn of the year. Across the shoulds, back of the neck, top of the back. But good news - the legs have kept their traditional white color. :)

(Maybe I shouldn't post before breakfast. Obviously more chatty.)

I wanted something with minimal oven time and nothing was appealing. Somewhere in my head, a lightbulb flashed on. A bar, reminiscent of my Strawberry Kiwi Cream Tart. But only with strawberries and no vanilla pudding. Thus, this recipe was born.

I've found in the past that Martha Stewart's graham cracker crust doesn't always hold well together. So I upped the butter to 4 tablespoons, versus her 3. Yet this time, it was like sand. Thus, no picture because every time I try cut a nice slice out, it's a big mess.

But the taste? Vanilla cream cheese with strawberry slices? Oh, yum. I'm almost kinda glad they don't travel well. That means more for me. Just go to the fridge with a spoon and I'm a happy girl. Maybe I should have that for breakfast. :)

Ingredients:
(your favorite graham cracker crust for an 8-inch baking pan)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup strawberry slices

Directions:
Once graham cracker crust of your choice is cooled and ready to be filled....

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Spread over cooled crust. Top with strawberry slices. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Strawberry Lime Bars

Last week, when Johanna told me it was in the 90s in the San Jose area, I told her to send me some. Because, frankly, spring really hadn't felt like it arrived yet. Yeah, some low 60s here and there, but that's it.

Until she sent me some warm weather. It hit 87F here, folks. Probably about 84F by the water where I am. It's about freakin' time. :D

So, having seen the forecast, I knew I wanted something summery. And I'm sure you can imagine where this is going. The Lime Monster snuck in the back door when I let the dog out. ;)

These are pretty much the exact same thing as last year's Strawberry Lemon Bars, which tasted just like strawberry lemonade. And, hey, amazingly enough, these taste like strawberry limeaid. (Hmm... wonder if I could do this with cherries? Mmmm, cherry limemade...)

Usually I bring a good portion of the baked goodies to work to share with my friends. I don't know if these are going to make it there. LOL Can you tell sometimes that I'm an only child? ;)



Ingredients:
Crust:
7/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Lime Filling:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1½ Tbsp. flour
¼ cup lime juice
2 tsp lime zest, from 2 limes
2 Tbsp milk
Pinch of salt

Strawberry Puree:
1 cup chopped strawberries
1–2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, depending on how sweet the berries are

Directions:
Mix the chopped strawberries with sugar and set aside to macerate for about 30 minutes.

Mix flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add the pieces of butter and, using a pastry blender or your hands, mix until it's a pale yellow and looks like coarse cornmeal. Line an 8x8 baking pan with a sheet of parchment. Press crust mixture into an even ¼-inch thick layer and about ½-inch up the sides. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Blend the strawberries in a food processor (for a few seconds) or mash with a fork until there are no large chunks. Cook over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until thickened. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F and bake crust for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

For filling: Whisk the eggs, sugar, flour and salt in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Then whisk in the lime juice, zest, and milk.

Reduce the oven temp to 325F.

Pour the filling into the crust. Drop spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture on the surface. Use spoon or knife to swirl the strawberries through the filling.

Bake at 325F for about 20-22 minutes, or until the filling feels firm when touched lightly. Cool to room temperature, and dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Strawberry-Kiwi Cream Tart

This is one of my favorite recipes. Not only because it's so super-duper easy, but it's also one of the first recipes that I ever put together myself. And it's versatile. I prefer the strawberry/kiwi combination, but you could do whatever the season calls for. A few years ago I made an apple variant, with cinnamon and nutmeg, and mmm! Just as good.

Another plus? Only 6-8 minutes in the oven, and that's it. Perfect for the warmer weather.

Do make sure to grease the tart pan (I forgot this time). It still came out easily enough, but it wasn't the prettiest slice at first. :)

(Oh, and Dave gets credit for this picture) :D



Ingredients:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup sugar
8 Tbsp. butter, melted

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. almond extract
1 4-oz. package vanilla pudding

1 or 2 kiwis, sliced
1 cup strawberry slices

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch tart pan.

Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter; press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract until smooth and combined. Spread over cooled crust.

Make pudding according to package instructions. Pour over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate for at least 10-15 minutes. Decorate with fruit as desired.

Strawberry-Filled Lime Cupcakes

So I kinda forgot that I had another package of strawberries in the fridge when I bought two more. They were on sale and I'm a sucker for strawberries, what can I say? I started thinking and somehow the Lime Monster came in my mind and decided upon these cupcakes.

But then the Lime Monster started getting greedy. He didn't want strawberries in HIS cupcakes. He convinced two of the berries to off themselves by rolling off the cutting board and onto the floor of despair. Worry not, dear readers, I fought the good fight and assigned both the Lime Monster and the berries to some joint counseling, where they worked out their differences and now live together, peacefully, in cupcakey bliss. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. :)

I used the margarita cupcake recipe, minus the tequila, since those had more of a lime taste, and used the icing from the original lime cupcakes. They came out good. Dave even ate two, shockingly enough. The lime taste is subtle on the outer rim, but overpowered by the berry in the center. So it's like two cupcake flavors in one. I tried to get a picture of the cupcake split in half, so that the strawberry would be visible by it didn't come out well. The berry made the icing get runny and it just wasn't a pretty picture.



Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
¼ cup lime juice
1½ tsp. lime zest
1 cup milk
¼ cup oil
½ tsp. vanilla
12 strawberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat sugar, lime juice, zest, milk, oil, and vanilla until combined. Add in flour mixture, beating until incorporated. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4s full, then place berry in center of each one.

Bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted along the outer edge of the cupcake comes out clean. Let cool completely on wire rack before icing.

Lime Icing:
¼ cup butter, softened
1 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. lime juice
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Mix butter, milk, and lime juice until combined. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth.

Balsamic Strawberries

Last year's Cooking to Combat Cancer was my very first blog event, and I'm really glad that I'm able to take part in this one as well. I worked with berries last year... after all, they are my favorite fruit and they're just so loaded with antioxidants and vitamins and good stuff. Plus, they're versatile.

A few weeks ago, I discovered the joy that is Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar. It's made and sold by a local farmers market, Sigona's, and it's just delicious. They have a whole room just for sampling vinegars, and when this one hit my tongue, it was as if the flavors were dancing. Sweet and tart at the same time, I splurged and bought a bottle. And then had no idea what to do with it.

Hey, how 'bout that? The Mayo Clinic website has a recipe for Berries in Balsamic! I did mine very differently, very simply. Even my dad could put this one together, and he's the connoisseur of cheese sandwiches. ;)

As an added 'healthiness', I used vanilla soy ice cream. Because I know soy is good for you. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup strawberries, chopped
¼ cup balsamic vinegar (whichever flavor you prefer)
Ice cream or frozen yogurt of choice (again, your flavor)

Directions:
Combine strawberries and vinegar in a bowl. Let marinate in fridge for a few hours. Pour over ice cream/frozen yogurt. And enjoy. Makes two servings.

Strawberry Lemon Bars : A Taste of Yellow

Last year, when I had heard of Winos and Foodie's A Taste of Yellow in honor of LiveStrong day, I missed the deadline. I'm happy to say that I made it in the nick of time for this years. :)

Like most people, cancer has affected my life. My grandmother died of breast cancer in 1994. My childhood best friend's mom, Sue, who was my "second mom", died of breast cancer during my junior year of high school. My dad has now gone through three separate rounds of chemo for various spots of cancer. That's the hard one for me, as I'm absolutely Daddy's little girl.

Being in CA for all three rounds, I've been somewhat "removed", for lack of a better word. I've taken on the stubborn cheerleader role. Because my dad's still young, he just turned 63 this year. Because he survived a stroke when he was 42 years old. On his last doctor's visit, in March, he got the "mostly-all-clear"... there's one spot on the base of his lung that they're pretty sure is just scar tissue, but they want him back in June for another scan. No matter what, he WILL get through it, because I said so. He has entirely way too much to do still. And now I need to post the recipe or talk about something else, because I'm getting teary.

I started out last night looking for "yellow"... pineapple, mango, etc. Then I gave up. And then I found Nook & Pantry's Strawberry Lemon Bars. I was a bit hesitant at first, but I persevered, and am SO very glad that I did.

They taste just like strawberry lemonade. Summer time. Ocean breezes. Green grass. Everything you associate with summer. All in one bar. And I'm so happy that the crust came out decently, too. :D



Ingredients:
Crust:
7/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Lemon Filling:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1½ Tbsp. flour
¼ cup lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest, from 2 lemons
2 Tbsp milk
Pinch of salt

Strawberry Puree:
1 cup chopped strawberries
1–2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, depending on how sweet the berries are

Directions:
Mix the chopped strawberries with sugar and set aside to macerate for about 30 minutes.

Mix flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add the pieces of butter and, using a pastry blender or your hands, mix until it's a pale yellow and looks like coarse cornmeal. Line an 8x8 baking pan with a sheet of parchment. Press crust mixture into an even ¼-inch thick layer and about ½-inch up the sides. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Blend the strawberries in a food processor (for a few seconds) or mash with a fork until there are no large chunks. Cook over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until thickened. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F and bake crust for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

For filling: Whisk the eggs, sugar, flour and salt in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Then whisk in the lemon juice, zest, and milk.

Reduce the oven temp to 325F.

Pour the filling into the crust. Drop spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture on the surface. Use spoon or knife to swirl the strawberries through the filling.

Bake at 325F for about 20-22 minutes, or until the filling feels firm when touched lightly. Cool to room temperature, and dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Strawberry-Filled Lemon Cupcakes

When I first saw these over at Coconut & Lime, I knew I simply HAD to try them. The first attempt last week... well, we won't talk about those.

But THIS batch! Oh wow. I really wish my camera batteries hadn't died. By the time it's charged, they could very well be gone. My guinea pigs taste-testers at work (Henelyne, Johanna, Greg, Ella) loved them. And ya know what? Dave's even eaten a few. I'm down to three of them left in the fridge, from the original dozen I made on Wednesday night. So I guess that's a good sign. :D

Again, no picture because the camera batteries pooped out. Next time because I WILL be making these again.


Ingredients:
7 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1½ cups flour
12 small to medium strawberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, cream butter, zest, and sugar. Add juice and eggs. The mixture may look curdled. Mix in buttermilk. Slowly add flour, beating for an additional 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Fill muffin cups 3/4s full. Insert berry into the center of the cup.

Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, or until a tootpick inserted outside of the strawberry comes out clean. Let cool before frosting.

I used a basic cream cheese recipe (as much as I hate making my own frosting), but you could easily do buttercream or something lemony. (Oh, yes, I did often find myself going, "Lemony Snickett!" while making these. *shrug* /ends geekiness)

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese
3 Tbsp. butter
3/4 tsp. vanilla
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla, beating well. Gradually add sugar. Let sit in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to thicken.

Strawberry-Kiwi Cream Tart

Alright, this is it. This is the recipe that first got me published in a cookbook. It's a great summertime dessert, as it only uses the oven for about 10 minutes, just for the crust. And the combination of the pudding, cream cheese, and fruit is very refreshing on a hot day.


Ingredients:
Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup sugar
8 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
Filling:
12-ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. almond extract
1 4-oz. package instant vanilla pudding
Topping:
1-2 kiwis, sliced
1 cup strawberry slices

Directions:
Crust:
Preheat oven to 375F. Combine all ingredients, mixing well. Press firmly onto bottom of 9- or 10-inch tart pan. Bake at 375F for 6-8 minutes, or until edges are browned. Cool.

Filling/Topping:
Combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and almond extract, mixing well. Spread along cooled graham cracker crust. Make pudding according to package directions. Carefully pour over cream cheese. Put into fridge for 5-15 minutes. Arrange fruit as desired.