Blueberry Marshmallow No-Bake Torte...Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day is just around the corner, and with all the BBQ's planned hopefully all of you will have a beautiful and sunny day as we always have, here in South Florida. With all the preparations going on for this event, why would you want to spend hours in the kitchen baking pies, and cakes, when you can just whip up an "easy-breezy" spring/summer dessert, that will chill in 2 hours, and ready to enjoy!

Now, unless it's your mother's treasured recipes that were marked down in a handwritten book as in Claudia's @What's Cookin' Italian Style Cuisine from her dear departed mom's... you have got to mention that it's your own creation, or adapted from some source. As for your own creation, that really means you have memorized a recipe and are putting together by your own creativity and jotting the the instructions, and the step-by-step method, just as I have done in my last post about the Roasted peppers, which is a tried and true method from all the other failed ones I have used.

As in my case, I must confess, I steal ideas from glancing at pictures of recipes...being in the culinary profession for so many years have thought me just that...especially with request from my Private Chef experience when I literally had to plan, shop, prep, and throw together a quick gourmet meal from soup to dessert, and presented beautifully to serve for 2-4 persons (hopefully the same main course)...so, when I see a pretty photo of a dessert, I may not follow which is in most cases, the same exact recipe and will also re-name it, and will add to the ingredients, as well. Also, I do feel that most recipes require to be adapted with different spices, or ingredients to make it your way, and you should mention that when you are posting a recipe, that is copied. Adapted-literally means that you have modified, changed, and altered it for new use.

Before I take you to the step-by-step method, and recipe, I must remember to mention, that my granddaughter Gabby, age 9...decorated the entire Torte top, with the fresh blueberries, and the freshly picked mints from their next door neighbor Dr. Eric's yard....notice the bougainvillea in the background at my daughter's house, and the cute decoration by Gabby...also the sweet mint flower, and a tiny sprig of rosemary which also had purple little flowers. The flower on the platter came from Eric's yard of 2 beautiful blooming trees. Happy, Memorial Day weekend, to all!....just don't leave yet!  ...more to come. Click on read more...

Blueberrry  Marshmallow No-Bake Torte
Totally adapted from another recipe called
Blueberry Squares by TASTEOFHOME.COM

2 cups crushed vanilla wafers (see photo on right)
5 Tablespoons (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, melted
1 Tablespoon sugar

In a food processor, crush the vanilla wafers until they resemble fine crumbs. In a medium bowl, add the crumbs and melted butter, and sugar to incorporate using  a fork, until all the butter is mixed in. In a non-stick 9 inch spring form cake pan, press evenly on the bottom. It's not necessary to have it come up on the sides...just on the bottom.
In a preheated 325 degree F. oven, bake for 12-15 minutes. Set aside, and cool.

For the Blueberry Filling:

3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 - 3/4 cup water (start with 1/2 cup first)
4 cups fresh blueberries, divided
(I used a big container from Costco)
grated lemon peel from 1 lemon
juice of the same lemon, after grating it

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually add water, stirring, or whisking it until smooth .(see photo on right)
Add the grated lemon peel, and lemon juice and stir to combine.

Stir in the divided half 2 cups of blueberries...bring to a boil, and stir until thickened, adding the extra 1/4 cup of water if it gets too thick. You can see the thickness of consistency by seeing how the sauce coats the wooden spoon...show in the photo on the right.

Now, you are ready to fold in the remaining 2 cups of blueberries, and give it a good careful stir, and set aside to cool completely, before layering it with the whipped cream and marshmallows.

This is the consistency of the sauce, that will thicken even more as it cools in the fridge, for about 45 minutes before filling, and layering with the marshmallow cream.

For the marshmallow cream filling, and topping:

2 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows (Kraft is the best)
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken.
Add the confectioners' sugar, and beat until soft peaks form. (do not over beat, or you will end up with whipped butter...LOL)
Fold in marshmallows.

Spread half the amount of the cream with the folded marshmallows into the prepared crust.

Top with the entire prepared and cooled blueberry mixture. At this point, you can leave it with the blueberry topping to cool, an set completely in the fridge, or add the last layer of marshmallow cream for the last topping, chill for 2 hours either way, with the blueberry topping, or the final marshmallow cream topping, and decorate as you wish...or as Gabby decorated it.
note: if you don't use the last layer of marshmallow cream for the topping, and wish to leave the blueberry topping...you can use the marshmallow cream to spoon extra cream when you cut the slices.

At any rate, I want to share this with you to enjoy with your family, friends, and party guests as an easy, breezy special dessert!

Angel Food Cake and an Award for Angels

While I realize this is not Spring or Summer...but after all, this is South Florida, and we cannot deny how blessed we are, not to be trying to dig ourselves out of the snow, being stuck in our homes, or even worse, stranded on the highway because of the impossible driving conditions. I feel for all of you, who are in this situation. Almost hate to say..."been there, done that"...when our last snow storm in the seventies while still a very young couple, me still in my early twenties... with a tiny toddler, less than 2yrs old... visiting my aunt and uncle for the Christmas holidays, glorious Florida sunshine, and 75 degrees in December...pure heaven! Returning back to Cleveland to the snowstorms...at that point, we decided...
Florida, "here we come!"...and made the big move!...so, the rest is history!...over 35 years in the tropical climate, and would not change 1 minute of it, except for a "White Christmas."

This is all you do...1 ready made angel food cake, 1 container of sliced sweetened, frozen strawberries, 1 container of Cool Whip...we all know what Cool Whip is, sorry-but it may sound terrible, and unhealthy, but my children have grown up, and love...we all love the frozen whipped topping, that is oh, so good, and you can concoct it into so many dessert. I actually heavy whipping cream but saved it to use for another dessert, which is totally home made. I am not going to lie to you, but you will not regret making this wonderful light dessert, that will disappear within minutes. Cut the angel food cake in half, scoop out some chunks from the middle, and mix it with half of the frozen whipped topping (get the large size Cool Whip) mine is a med. size, did not have enough to spread the entire cake, but it's not too bad. Fold in the thawed out strawberries, and spread it on the bottom part of the cake.

This is the finished result...just add some fresh beautiful ripe whole strawberries...would be even nicer dipped into chocolate, which in this case does not require; like I mentioned, the cake will disappear...within minutes! Enjoy!


Note:

Cool Whip

Cool Whip created the frozen, whipped "non dairy"
 whipped topping... category in the supermarket and many Americans can't imagine a holiday without it. While pumpkin pie wouldn't be the same without a dollop, Cool Whip is very versatile and consumers use it in desserts, sweet dips and salads.

I happened to click over to Sandra's blog, from Sandra's Easy Cooking  a few days ago, and to my surprise, I noticed the beautiful widget, Called...Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. I said to myself..."hmm, I've never seen an award like that"...so I scrolled down to the meticulous alphabetical list, and my heart just skipped a beat! Wow, my name was on it! I really did get a bit emotional, because I saw all this list of talented food blogger ladies, and I am so honored to be a part of the list from around the world, but mostly so proud to have been chosen by Sandra, because she has such an amazingly beautiful blog, she is so, so talented, such a beautiful "SISTER" of the food blogs, that whatever she creates, makes you drool, her recipes are so clearly defined with beautiful photos, that you cannot miss, and do want to make all the fabulous dishes, and over the top yummy desserts she posts.


Thank you so very much, Sandra ...you certainly made my day, and I am so thrilled to pay the award forward to my favorite food blogger SISTERS around the globe, whom I would love to meet in person, to sit down...chit, chat, over a nice cup of tea, or coffee with a wonderful dessert, and just talk about whatever comes to mind, and share stories...sigh...this is such a nice dream, that could come true!

...and now; to my Award...SISTERHOOD OF THE WORLD BLOGGERS AWARD

Doesn't this sound beautiful?...I really wanted to call it the ANGELS AWARD...so, in my book, it is the
SISTERHOOD, (angels) OF THE WORLD!

"What a treasured gift to have a friend who knows how to empathize. She laughs with you when you're happy and cries with you when you're sad. A friend like this is a rare jewel indeed" 

Only one catch:...I'm compiling my list, so I'm really not ready with it yet, because there will be numerous SISTERS on it from all over the United States, Canada, England, Romania, Malaysia, India, Hungary, Bulgaria, Australia, Italy, France, Dominican Republic, Thailand, and several other countries (I think)...just please bear with me, and in the next two days, I will present the award, on a separate post!
Have a wonderful day my sisters, my friends!...try to stay warm...sending Florida sunshine, your way!
Hugs! 

Angel Food Cake with Fresh Berries

So, here we are, celebrating birthdays, and Labor Day weekend in South Beach  I call my family, "the skinny family." Everybody exercises, even the two little Chihuahuas, that has to be walked everyday, due to the "weight gain" that I am guilty of, watching them for a month, while they were vacationingng in Italy...and still didn't gain weight...and here I am, reading an interesting book called, WOMEN FOOD AND GOD by Geneen Roth, that can really inspire you. Getting back to the cake. I didn't have a plan, but I did have a lot of fresh berries, about to make a mixed berry sorbet, but instead, made an Angel Food Cake, knowing that it's light, low in calories, and cholesterol, and this is the kind of cake my daughter would love. I consulted with my "bible" the 1986The New Good Housekeeping cookbook that has everything from A-Z recipes, that are simple, and gourmet, you can dress it up, jazz it up, any way you like it, no funky ingredients, but if you are creative, you can make it your own. I did adapted it my way, the spiked flavor of the Limoncello was just the right touch, but, I think I will stick with the original recipe next time. No substitute, no gimmick. The cake turned out wonderful, the "birthday girl" was happy, and so was everyone else...and so ends, another Birthday Celebration!

Angel Food Cake-(original recipe

11/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup cake flour

1 2/3 cups egg white (12-14 egg whites, at room temp.)

1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/4 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In small bowl, stir confectioners' sugar and the cake flour, set aside. In large bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites. cream of tartar, and salt until soft peaks form: beat in extracts. Beating at high speed, sprinkle in sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time. beating until sugar is completely dissolved, and whites stand in stiff peaks. Fold in flour mixture just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into ungreased 10-inch tube pan.Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until cake springs back when lightly touched. Invert cake in pan on funnel, or bottle ; cool completely in pan. With metal spatula, carefully loosen cake from pan.; Place on cake plate.

Note: This recipe is from the New Housekeeping Book, first edition, copyright 1986. I love my no-nonsense book that has great basic recipes, and with a little imagination, can be updated, and adapted from the original.

I adapted the recipe, which I am happy with, but next time will add 2 extra egg whites, and be more careful about folding the flour in. Also I reduced the baking temperature, which worked fine. Here's the adapted version which I used.

Angel Food Cake-(adapted from the original recipe)

1 3/4 cup sugar 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cake flour

12 egg whites at room temperature

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup Limoncello, or fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a food processor, spin sugar till superfine. Sift half the sugar with the flour. Set the rest, aside. In a large metal bow, combine egg whites, Limoncello, (or lemon juice) salt, and cream of tartar. Beat with hand mixer on high. When halfway done, but still creamy, (not stiff) slowly add sugar, lemon zest and vanilla. Keep beating until stiff. Follow the above recipe's instruction for baking, and cooling.

Glaze for berries

1 jar of fruit spread; strawberry, or seedless raspberry. Heat in small saucepan, and add juice of 1 lemon. Heat until it comes to a boil, and sieve through a fine sieve. Brush on berries, either separately, and place on powder sugar topped cake, or you can directly brush on top of the berries already assembled on cake. It is a light cake that is always a welcome dessert.