Strawberries & Cream Bars

Well... Today has been, I guess, interesting. That's probably the simplest way to put it.  So instead of getting the story of my time in London, you're getting a recipe for these sweet treats. Naturally, I found these bars on Pinterest. They make for a great summertime dessert! They're pretty delicious. Four layers of sweet goodness. They don't last long. 

The recipe came from Lil' Luna. It's a sugar cookie base topped with a cream cheese & Velata white chocolate mixture, a strawberry mixture, and whipped topping. I think it'd be fun to try it with a dark chocolatey-brownie base sometime...yum. 

Strawberries & Cream Bars

Ingredients for the sugar cookie layer:

1/3 cup shortening

1/3 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Ingredients for the cream layer:

8 oz cream cheese, softened 

6 oz bag Velata premium white chocolate, melted

Ingredients for the strawberry layer:

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

2 TBSP cornstarch 

8 oz whipped topping 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan.
• Cream together the shortening, butter, and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond until well mixed.
• Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add to the creamed mixture until well blended. 
• Spread into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Let cool.
• Melt the white chocolate as directed on the bag. Mix with cream cheese until well blended. Spread over cooled cookie layer and pop it in the fridge.
• In a small sauce pan, mix together sugar and cornstarch. Add chopped strawberries and water. Heat on medium-high until it comes to a boil. Once it's boiling, remove from heat and let it cool for 10 minutes. Pour over cream cheese/white chocolate layer and refrigerate for 1-2 hours. 
• Top with your whipped topping of choice. I didn't use the whole tub. Just enough to make it look good. Keep it in the fridge until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

The Messiest French Chocolate Cake

We flew back from Seattle last Saturday, which happened to also be my brother's 17th birthday, and then that very Sunday was Father's Day.  Obviously a cake was necessary.  My first problem might have been that I was baking this cake around midnight to 1.  I mean, it turned out totally delicious, but I would hate to have to guess the number of toothpicks that held this thing together.  And, with regard to the Oklahoma heat, I probably should have waited until I was ready to serve the cake before I put the Cool Whip on.  So, this was by far the messiest chocolate cake I've ever made.  Not at all pretty, but SO good.  I found the recipe in a "Taste of Home" magazine from summer '07.  It looks much prettier in there too.  I picked this one out to try because it has buttermilk and coffee in the cake.  That fact automatically makes it good.  Then, when it comes out of the oven, you pour a rum glaze over the top.  Between the two layers of cake, is chocolate goodness.  Are you following me?  While you will probably laugh at my picture, just know that it tasted amazing.  

The Messiest French Chocolate Cake

(aka French Chocolate Cake on pg. 53 of June/July 2007 "Taste of Home" magazine)

For the cake:

1/2 c butter, softened

2    c packed brown sugar

2    egg yolks

2   tsp vanilla extract

6   squares (1 oz each) semisweet chocolate, melted & cooled

1   c cold strong brewed coffee

3   c all-purpose flour

1 1/2  tsp salt

1 1/2  tsp baking soda

1  c buttermilk

For the glaze:

2/3  c sugar

1/2  c milk

1/4  c butter, cubed

1     tsp rum extract

For the filling:

1     c (6 oz) semisweet or dark chocolate chips (I like dark, personally)

1/4  c milk

For the topping:

1  carton frozen whipped topping (i.e. Cool Whip), thawed 

Throw on some chocolate curls, sliced strawberries, or rainbow sprinkles!

Directions:

Line 2 greased 9" round baking pans with waxed paper (also grease the paper); set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until crumbly.  Beat in egg yolks & vanilla.  Stir in chocolate and coffee (or else it goes EVERYWHERE).  Combine flour, salt & baking soda; add to chocolate mixture alternately with the buttermilk (batter should be thick).  Pour into prepared pans and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring sugar, milk and butter to a gentle boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat & stir in rum extract.

Invert cakes onto wire racks; drizzle with glaze (or just dump it on!).  Cool completely.  In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips with milk; stir until smooth.  Let cool until the mixture is spreadable, stirring occasionally.  

Place one cake on a serving plate; spread with filling.  Top with remaining cake, using toothpicks to secure.  Spread whipped topping over the whole thing.  Store in the fridge & garnish with the topping of your choice.  Eat up!