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.

The Unphotographables: Blackberry Coffee Cake

It's such a long, crazy story as to how I wound up with this... item. Started at Baking Bites, for a blackberry pound cake. That got scratched when I saw that there was no buttermilk. Alright, so we move from there. Long evolution story short, I wound up piecing together a recipe or two. Which isn't always a bad thing, as we all know. :)

So I mix it together, gently fold in the blackberries, pour into the pan, etc. I'm cleaning up the mixer bowl when I realize there's a faint scent of... burning popcorn from behind me. What the duck? Well, despite using the the proper size pan and everything, we had leakage.

Leakage, of course, meaning a blob reminiscent of something out of '50s sci-fi movie. Entertaining, but not what you want all over the bottom of the oven. Especially when it smells like burnt popcorn. Which then wafts its way across the house, like it does, and wakes up your mother, who had surgery the day before. Doh!

Anyways, despite how it sounds, The Day the Blackberry Coffee Cake Oozed, doesn't taste bad. It just looks all kinds of hideous. Hence a new category in the blogdom... The Unphotographables. Not that I have the best picture taken skills in the world, but this guy, ooh. I think I'd need a studio with fancy lights to make him look good.

I'll post the recipe, but do keep the Blob in mind if you decide to make it. Maybe a different size pan would help, too. :)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
1 pint blackberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch round pan.

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

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Spread into prepared pan. Top with as many blackberries as you'd like.

Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a bit before serving.