White Chocolate Berry Trifle

Occasionally, I get so inspired, I come up with my own creations. I am particularly proud of this one that I created as a no bake, portable, Independence Day dessert.

It's light and easy and goes together quickly (took me about 30 minutes).

Ingredients:
8 oz marscapone cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups Cool Whip (divided)
48 ladyfingers
1 lb strawberries
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
2 cups blueberries
1 cup white chocolate morsels


To make the filing, in a medium sized bowl, beat the cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Add 2 cups of Cool Whip and beat until well blended. Set aside.

For the white chocolate ganache, in a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate and remaining 1/2 cup Cool Whip. Microwave for 40-60 seconds, stopping in 20 second intervals to stir.

To prepare the strawberries, wash and hull them, then cut into bite sized pieces. Add 2 Tbsp powdered sugar and mix until dissolved. This process is called macerating and brings out the juices in the berries. Those juices will soak into the ladyfingers.

Meanwhile, prepare a springform pan by lining the sided with plastic wrap and then snapping the bottom into place. Arrange ladyfingers around the sides and bottom, reserving enough for one more layer. Spread half of the prepared strawberries on the bottom, followed by half of the filling and the remaining ladyfingers. On top of the ladyfingers, spread the remaining strawberries and then drizzle the ganache over the berries. Spread the rest of the filling over the strawberries and then spread the cleaned and dried blueberries over the top in a single layer. For the final touch, drizzle more ganache over the blueberries. Chill for at least 3 hours to allow the filling to set and the juice from the berries to soak into the ladyfingers.




To serve, open the spring for pan and remove the plastic wrap. The ladyfingers become very moist and cake-like with the juices from the berries. And I think it looks pretty impressive with the ladyfingers all around it! Enjoy!









This post is linked to:
Sweets for a Saturday

Ukrainian Pirog with Cheese Filling

So, I've mentioned that I used to live in Ukraine. Well, when I lived there, one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things to eat is what they call pie (pirog/пирог). It's so good. And we had a little pirogovaya right around the corner. Very dangerous when you don't feel like cooking!

Since being back in the States, the Ukrainian pie is one thing I have missed SO much. I've wanted to attempt making one, but the dough is very specific and I couldn't find the right recipe. Well, for New Year's Eve, which we always celebrate with a Ukrainian flair, I decided that come Hell or high water, I was going to make one!

So I set to googling. And googling. And then I googled some more. And just when I thought I'd never find what I was looking for, there it was. It had a horrid looking filling in it, but I'd worry about that later. I'd FOUND the dough!

The dough in question is yeast based, light and flaky, and slightly sweet. But not too sweet, because sometimes it has savory fillings. I decided to make mine with a  traditional cheese filling.

I started with the dough, the recipe for which I found, here:

Dough:
2 tsp yeast
3 Tbsp cold water
pinch of sugar
3 3/4 cups flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
scant 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp cold milk
2 eggs
3 Tbsp sour cream
2 tsp lemon juice

Dissolve the pinch of sugar in 3 tbsp water in a small glass bowl Add the yeast and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand until foamy, about 10-15 minutes.

While the yeast gets foamy, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl of a stand mixer. With the paddle attachment on low, mix in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (of course, you can always use a regular mixer for this, but a stand mixer frees up your hands).

Whisk together the cold milk, eggs, sour cream, and lemon juice. Then whisk in the yeast. Add this mixture slowly and continuously to the flour-butter mixture with the mixer on low. Mix until well combined, about 2 minutes. Put a dough hook attachment on the mixer and knead the dough for 5 minutes (or you can knead by hand). Turn the dough onto a lightly floured working surface and fold it over several times to form a soft dough. Cover the dough with plastic and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

After the dough has been refrigerated, now comes the fun part! Forming it and making the filling!

For my pirog, I chose a round one with a lattice top. There are so many variations, though! You can do round, oval, square, rectangle. And for the top, you can do the lattice, or a braided look. Or you could cover the whole thing with a sheet of dough and do some decorative shaped either in dough on top, or cut out of it. I divided the dough in half and rolled on half into a circle the size of my stoneware pan (about 12 inches) with the edges overlapping a bit.

 Here's me working on the lattice, after I've put in the filling:

For my filling in this one, I chose what is called tvorog/творог. If you have a Russian grocery near you, you can find it there. Alternately, you could use farmer's cheese. Or even cream cheese. I added just a little sugar to my tvorog (It comes in a small container, about the size of half of a standard brick, and that is the perfect amount for the filling here) and then some raisins. I mixed it well and spread it in an even layer on the dough circle, leaving room around the sides to fold the dough up.

Once the filling is in, roll out the remaining dough and cut into strips (I use a pizza wheel for this) and then weave a lattice on the top. I like the lattice because it bakes up nice and golden and lets you see the filling.

Now for the egg wash. Whisk together 1 egg and 1 tsp water and spread it over the top of the pie. This will help it bake golden and flaky:

Once you've done the egg wash, place the pie in a 350 degree oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. When it is done, the dough should be golden and flaky looking:

These pies are best served warm, but they can easily be reheated. I don't have any pictures of a slice of the pie because it was gone too fast! 

Now that I have the dough recipe, I look forward to trying other fillings. I'd like to do one of my favorites from Ukraine, a spinach filling. I just have to remember what else was in it. Other favorite filling of mine are: lemon curd, apple, pomegranate, cranberry. I'm a sucker for the sweet fillings. Savory favorites include: spinach, egg, potato (mashed), and my husband loves ground meat.

Please let me know if you try making one and what kind of fillings you try!

Silver White Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

So it's been awhile.  Life gets busy, you know.  School, the holidays, traveling.  Constant housework.  Oh, so much housework.

But I thought I'd share a cake I made a few months ago, just because.  It's a silver white cake with a chocolate buttercream frosting.  It came out soooo good.  Luckily, we had company to help eat it, otherwise I could have eaten the whole thing myself.

The recipes  both come from one of my favorite cookbooks: The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. It's an OLD cookbook.  I think my mom gave it to me.  But I love it because it has a picture for EVERY. SINGLE. RECIPE.  You can get a new copy on Amazon: http://goo.gl/e24A1

Silver White Cake
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans (I used my heart shaped ones, for no particular reason.) Line the pans with wax paper.

2. In a medium bowl, at high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in 1/2 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp at a time.  Beat until sugar is dissolved and whites stand in stiff peaks and then set aside.                                                                                3.  In another bowl, beat one cup sugar and remaining ingredients, starting at low speed until combined.  Beat for 3 more minutes at medium speed.  At low speed, beat in the whites.                                   4.  Pour into pans and bake 25 minutes.  Cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1 lb confectionary sugar                                          

8 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened

3-4 Tbsp milk or half and half

3 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted then cooled

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

 1. At medium speed in a large bowl, beat all ingredients until very smooth.  You may need to add a little more milk to get the consistency that you want.

Now to frost that cake!

I added some mini chocolate chips in the middle for a surprise :)

And then I added some to the outside, too :)