Christmas Gingerbread Town Square

It's not Martha Stewart's, but it looked great for my skill level and tasted yum! I made the cake for the Stuy Family Christmas party. I really liked the gingerbread cookie recipes I used. There were two different recipes I made to achieve the dark molasses colored houses and the honey colored houses. I halved the recipe of both because it makes a lot of dough. I cut shape of the homes based off of dutch row houses I looked up on the web. The molasses houses had honey windows and vise-versa to give it a bit of a 3D effect. I made royal icing to make the detail on the house. I made Ben some gingerbread men that he got to help decorate after the houses were all made.

Since the cookies were so time consuming, I used a spiced cake mix. The frosting I used was made with whipped cream and cream cheese. The combination is light and fluffy and keeps the frosting from melting if it's going to be a while before it gets served. I sprinkled edible glitter on the top to give is a shimmering snow effect.

Below is detail of all the houses I decorated.

Simple Apple Cake

Here is a simple apple cake recipe when you want to throw something together quick.

Apple Cake

3 apples, pealed and sliced
3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c flour
cinnamon and sugar mixture (1/4 c sugar plus 1 tsp cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350° and grease and flour round pan. Beat eggs until fluffy, add sugar and then flour. Pour into pan. Then layer apple slices on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 35-40 minutes and check to see if it is done. Serve warm or chilled with whipped cream.

Peanut Butter Salted Caramel Tart

This is the first complicated recipe I tried while pregnant with Levi. I took it from Martha Stewart, but changed up a few things in the caramel sauce. If you love peanut butter and peanuts, this will tantalize the taste buds. It was a perfect mixture of peanuts, rich chocolate and salted caramel. I made this dessert for the Stuy Christmas party.

For the Chocolate Crust:

• 2 1/3 cup Oreo boxed crumbs
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted

For the Caramel Sauce:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoon butter 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup roasted salted peanuts

For the Peanut Butter Mousse:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup power sugar
• Salt
• 1 1/4 cups smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup heavy cream

For the Chocolate Ganache:

• 7 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the chocolate crust: Combine cookie crumbs, granulated sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Stir in butter. Press mixture into bottom and 2 1/2 inches up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Bake until dry and firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool.
2. Make the caramel sauce: Heat brown sugar, butter and heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, and add vanilla. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in creme fraiche. Refrigerate until cool but still pourable, about 45 minutes. Fold in peanuts.
3. Meanwhile, make the peanut butter mousse: Beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add peanut butter and vanilla, and beat until combined. Whisk heavy cream in a separate bowl until medium-stiff peaks form. Fold one-third of the whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream in 2 additions.
4. Assemble the tart: Pour caramel sauce into cooled chocolate crust. Gently spread peanut butter mousse over caramel in an even layer, making sure they don't blend together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Make the chocolate ganache: Place chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour cream over chocolate, and let stand for 1 minute. Whisk to combine. (Use immediately.)
6. Remove tart from refrigerator, and pour in ganache to cover surface. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Zucchini Bread

I'm not afraid of zucchini bread any more, or zucchini. I didn't like the stuff growing up, but I finally developed a taste for it. Well, here's my first zucchini bread and I think it turned out pretty yum.

Zucchini Bread

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 C canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

2 C grated zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together dry ingredients in medium bowl and set aside. In large bowl, blend together wet ingredients. Blend the zucchini in well. Scrape into greased loaf pan. Bake for about 45-50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

This recipe also called for 1 1/2 cup ground pecans or walnuts. I omitted them because occasionally I share treats with those that have nut allergies. Since the nuts were ground, I imagine the purpose is to soak up some of the excess moisture from the zucchini. However, even though I love adding nuts to my food, I found that I like how it turned out without the nuts.

Also, I was on my way out the door after the bread finished baking so I had to remove the loaf from the pan without letting it cool properly. As a result, the bottom stuck to the pan. I scraped it in to a bowl and Benjamin and I enjoyed the little treat as we drove to our destination.

Peach Strudel

 What to do with all those left over peaches and you want something a little different then peach cobbler again? I found this simple, yet fancy-looking peach strudel recipe. It was a great dessert after an evening of eating out with friends. I liked that it wasn't too sweet.

Peach Strudel

1 egg 

1 T water

6 medium ripe peaches, sliced thin or diced

1/3 C brown sugar

1 T flour 

1/4 C chopped pecans (optional)

1 tsp vanilla 

Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but still chilled 

2 T raw sugar

Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork. Stir the peaches, brown sugar, flour, pecans, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg  in a large bowl.

Unfold the pastry sheet on parchment paper. Roll the pastry sheet into a 14x12-inch rectangle. Spoon the peach mixture lengthwise down the center of the pastry. You may have extra peaches. Cut slits 1 inch apart from the 2 sides of the pastry rectangle to within 1/2 inch of the peach mixture. Starting at one end, fold the pastry strips over the peach mixture, alternating sides, to cover the peach mixture. Brush the pastry with the egg mixture. Sprinkle with the raw sugar. Place the pastry onto a baking sheet (if you unfolded the pastry on the parchment paper, the transfer to the baking sheet will be easier). 

Bake for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let the pastry cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

 

I had left over peaches from the strudel, so the next day I made up some of my mom's apple crisp topping and added it to the peaches. I baked it for 25 minutes and had a yummy snack to share with the hubby.

Simple Yellow Cake With Chocolate Frosting

 

I asked Mike what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday and he answered yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I opted to make everything from scratch. I liked the way the cake turned out. It's more dense than a box cake. Usually, cake from scratch also turns out a bit drier, but this cake was moist for my taste. Also, I found an amazing chocolate frosting recipe. I found these recipes on allrecipes.com.

Yellow Cake

1 c butter
2 c sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 c self-rising flour
1 c milk
1 T vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a bunt cake pan. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine the milk and vanilla, add alternately to the creamed mixture with the flour, ending with the flour. Mix only as much as necessary. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting

1 cup semisweet chocolate chip 

4 tablespoons butter 

1/2 cup sour cream 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/4 teaspoon salt  

2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

Melt chocolate chips and butter in small sauce pan. Beat into sour cream and vanilla. Add salt and gradually mix in sugar.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

 

I bought some fresh cranberries and thought I'd try something new with my pie pumpkin. This combination of pumpkin and cranberries is tastey.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

2 1/4 c flour
1 Tbs pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking power
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 c sugar
1 pie pumpkin, baked and pureed
1/2 c canola oil
1 overflowing cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1 c walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 2-9x5 loaf pans. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking power and salt in large bowl, set aside. In small bowl combine eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until well mixed. Add to flour mixture using wooden spoon. Gently fold in cranberries and nuts. Spoon into loaf pans and bake 50-60 minutes until done. Cool before slicing.



Make sure to chop up the cranberries. I learned that if you microwave the cranberries first, then they will be easier to chop. I microwaved mine for two 30-second intervals. If you leave the cranberries whole, they will expand and pop when baking, leaving holes. Also, I added a bit of flour to the cranberries so they wouldn't stick together. It is important to gently fold them into the batter as they may turn the batter red/pink.

Oatmeal Date Cookie Bars

I love cooking with oats and here's a recipe I found on allrecipes.com for some cookie bars. There are a couple of changes/additions I made. I like to think they're healthy since I'm using whole grain oats.

Oatmeal Date Cookie Bars

Filling:

2 1/2 c chopped dates

2 T lemon juice 

3/4 c white sugar 

2/3 c water 

corn starch, as needed

Pastry:

1 1/2 c sifted all-purpose flour 

1 c packed brown sugar 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 1/2 c quick cooking oats 

3/4 c shortening 

chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a 9x13 inch pan. To make Filling: In a saucepan over low heat, combine dates, water, white sugar, and lemon juice. Heat for about 8 minutes, or until thick. You may want to add a little corn starch to make sure it thickens up. Set aside to let cool. To make Pastry: In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, oats and salt. Mix until well blended. Add in shortening with pastry cutter until mixture forms into coarse crumbs. Press half of pastry mix into pan. Cover with date mixture and spread remaining pastry mix over the top. If desired, sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on wire rack before cutting.

As you can see below, I put chocolate chips over half of the cookie bars. I like the bars both ways, with and without the chocolate chips. It depends on your preference. I would like to try making this with apricots or even raspberries next time. Enjoy!

Toffee Cake

This is an easy cake to make, but I made it difficult. Why? The original recipe uses Cool Whip, but I wanted to make a fresh whipped cream frosting. That's not all, I wanted the toffee to be nut-free, so I made a batch of homemade toffee. The first batch of toffee I tried was a disaster. The butter and sugar separated, but I tried a different recipe that worked out great for me. I made the toffee a couple of days before I made the cake so I didn't have to bake everything on the same day. I at least used a packaged cake mix and kept that simple.

Toffee Cake

1 package devil's food cake mix
Whipped Cream Frosting (recipe below)
1 1/2 - 2 cups Toffee broken up into small pieces, prepared before hand (recipe below)

Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Prepare and bake cake according to package directions. Cool on wire rack completely. Cut each layer in half horizontally. Fold about 1 1/2 cups of the toffee into the whip cream frosting. Place one layer on serving dish and spread with about 1 cup frosting mixture. Repeat with remaining layers. Use remaining frosting mixture to cover top and sides of cake. Sprinkle top of cake with remaining toffee. As decoration, top cake with big wedges of toffee.

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 c heavy whipping cream

Beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Slowly pour whipping cream into mixture, scraping sides and bottom often. Mix until soft peaks form.

Toffee

1 lb butter
1/2 c water
1/4 c light corn syrup
2 1/2 c sugar
2 c chocolate chips

Butter a 12"x18" baking sheet, set aside. In heavy saucepan, combine butter, water, corn syrup and sugar. Place over high heat and stir with wooden spoon until mixture begins to thicken. Reduce heat to low and remove wooden spoon. Clip on a candy thermometer and cook syrup to 290F. Remove from heat and carefully pour in buttered baking sheet. Cool for 1 hour. Melt chocolate chips and spread over toffee. Allow to set for 24 hours. Break into pieces and store in airtight container.

Successful Peach Cobbler

Last year I made a peach cobbler that turned out a bit sad. I figured I would give it another try with some fresh peaches that one of my neighbors gave me. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com but made a couple of changes. The peaches I had were fairly large, so I only used 6 peaches. It was great because it was perfect with the amount of topping. If I had used any more peaches, I think that the peach to topping ratio would have been off. Also, I diced my peaches rather than thinly slice them. There were some comments under the recipe that indicated that the cinnamon sugar mixture was too much, but I liked it as the recipe called for. Once the cobbler is cooled enough, top it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoyed the yummy dessert.

Peach Cobbler

Fresh Peach Mixture

6 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and diced

1/4 c white sugar 

1/4 c brown sugar 

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg  

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tsps cornstarch 

Topping

1 c flour 

1/4 c white sugar 

1/4 c brown sugar 

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

6 T unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1/4 c boiling water 

Cinnamon Sugar Topping 

3 T white sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

Oreo Pretzel Truffles

My brother-in-law gave this recipe to me to try out and I finally got around to doing it. I halved the recipe since it makes a lot. They're very easy to make and I think would be fun activity for kids to get involved. I like the combination of sweet and salty. They're small and bite sized.

Oreo Pretzel Truffles

2/3 package of Oreos
4 oz cream cheese, softened
package of square pretzels (or other shape to sandwich it in)
8-10 oz chocolate chips, melted
nonpareils (optional)

Crush the Oreos and mix into the cream cheese. Shape into 1-inch balls. Sandwich the mixture in between two pretzels. Dip top in melted chocolate chips and sprinkle with the nonpareils.

Everyone has there way of melting chocolate. I have a small dipping crock-pot (it's miniature crock-pot) that I like to use. It's an easy alternative to messing with a double boiler (which I don't have), or using a pot on the stove (which may burn the chocolate and I have done), or microwaving (which cools and then you have to keep reheating). So, my little crock-pot keeps the chocolate melted and at a consistent heat. If I wanted to step it up a notch, I would probably buy the specialty chocolate that is made for melting because I think it has a better consistency. Also, another trick I have from a different recipe, is to add a bit of paraffin wax. Somehow, this allows the chocolate to get hotter, without burning (at least it never burned for me), a smooth consistency and gives the chocolate a nice gloss. The ratio is 1/3 stick paraffin wax to 1-12 oz package of chocolate chips. Let me know what your trick is for dipping chocolate.

Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

What do you do with leftover lemon filling? Make lemon cookies. So, after the cupcakes I made these cookies last week. Lemon lovers like a lot!

Lemon Thumbprints

2 sticks butter, softened 
1/2 c sugar 
2 large egg yolks 
1 Tbs grated lemon zest 
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice 
1/2 tsp salt 
2 1/2 c flour 
1 cup lemon curd or filling

Heat oven to 350°. Beat butter and sugar with mixer until well blended. Beat in yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt. With mixer on low, beat in flour just until moist clumps form. Gather dough together in bowl to bind. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls on prepared sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart. Using a floured finger, make a deep indentation in center of each ball. Bake cookies until firm and lightly golden on bottom, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and immediately fill indentations with curd. Return to oven and bake 2 minutes longer to set curd. Bake remaining cookies. Lightly dust edges with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Blueberry Muffin Options

I make these blueberry muffins all the time and posted this recipe back in 2008. Since I've been trying to bake a little healthier I made two optional changes to the recipe that worked very well. I switched out the sour cream for some light sour cream. Then I replaced 1/2 cup of flour for whole wheat flour. Also, I used the 1/2 cup sugar instead of the 3/4 cup like I usually do. The only difference in the taste is that you can tell there is whole wheat flour. The other difference is that it doesn't rise as high, but I thought that the consistency of it was the same. It didn't feel or taste heavy. Mike liked them and couldn't tell the differenct. Let me know what you think if you give it a try and enjoy!

Chicken Burrito with Fresh Pico de Gallo

Here's a yummy chicken burrito. It doesn't appear as anything out of the ordinary, but I did a couple things to make it extra tasty. I made my own salsa (or in this case it's really pico de gallo since it wasn't cooked in any way) and I marinated the chicken in it before grilling.

Chicken Burrito

Tortillas, white or wheat
Refried beans
Green or red leaf lettuce
Grilled chicken, marinated in Pico de Gallo
Pico de Gallo (see recipe below)
Cheese, shredded
Sour cream (optional)
Guacamole (optional)

I marinated the chicken with one cup of salsa for a few hours before grilling it. Depending on the amount of people you are serving, you can increase or decrease the amount of salsa. Layer as desired and enjoy. I would have added sour cream and guacamole, but i didn't have any on hand.

Pico de Gallo

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
5 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
Cilantro, approximately 3 T after chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Coarsely chop all the ingredients above and blend on a pulse setting till you get your desired consistency.

The Pico de Gallo works great for the marinade, but I will add a bit of lime to the next batch I make. The fresh ingredients are always the best way to make a dish taste and look great.

A Healthier Pizza

Who doesn't love pizza?! Well, once upon a time I remember I didn't, but I've amended my ways. I'm a classic pepperoni lover and rarely care to try different toppings. However, I have made an effort to eat a bit healthier.

Pizza Baguette

French baguette, cut in half lengthwise
Pizza or marinara sauce
Italian pork sausage, crumbled
Turkey pepperoni
Onion, diced
Green bell pepper, diced
Mushrooms, sliced thin
Mozzarella cheese, shredded (can be reduced or low fat cheese)

Assemble pizza baguette layering with sauce, cheese and toppings. Bake at 400° for 6-8 minutes. This may vary depending on your oven.

I used my own marinara sauce that already had Italian pork sausage. It saves time when you have it on hand. I was really surprised how well the turkey pepperoni tasted. Don't be afraid and give it a try. Enjoy!

Banana Cream Pie

I wasn't planning on making dessert for dinner tonight, but my sweet-tooth got the better of me. I threw together this pie in 5 minutes (okay maybe it took a few extra minutes). All you need is:

graham cracker crust
1 banana, thinly sliced
chocolate syrup
vanilla pudding
whipped cream
toasted coconut
mini-chocolate chips

I layered the graham cracker crust with a drizzle of chocolate syrup (to satisfy the chocolate craving part of my sweet-tooth) and then arranged the banana slices on the bottom. Next I prepared the pudding according to the package for pies and poured that in. Top it off with the whipped cream, toasted coconut and mini-chocolate chips. Supper easy!

You may notice that only half of the pie has coconut, so it is optional to leave it off to appeal to those who are not fans of the coconut.

Fun Day With Abuelo

Abuelo (Dad) was here for Donna's wedding and spent the day with us today. We took a day trip to Eureka and visited the museum up there. There's a good piece of Utah history in that town. Mike and I knew Dad would enjoy the trip out there because of all the mining and rocks. The first time Mike and I were there Lyman was our tour guide, but he was sick today, so June and Collette were our guides. The people in Eureka are very nice.

For dinner, we met up with Andy's family (some weren't able to come). We ate at El Azteca and had fun visiting.

Benjamin learned a new trick of blowing bubbles from his mouth. He entertained us all.

 

We also had an early celebration for Dad's birthday, which is later this month. I made truffle stuffed cupcakes. I got the recipe from Sweet as Sugar Cookies. The recipe Lisa uses calls for the Lindt truffles. However, I bought my truffles as See's Candy. Dad loves the penuche (butterscotch squares) from See's. I also used marzipan, dark chocolate truffles, and mint patties; all from See's. Instead of making the orange cream frosting from the recipe, I made a chocolate ganache and dipped them twice in the frosting. I used different sprinkles to identify which truffles I used in the cupcakes.

I didn't bake the mint patties into the cupcakes. I thought that the mint might over power the other cupcakes and end up seeping into the other cupcakes during baking. So, I inserted them after baking and frosting the cupcakes, shown at the bottom.

The chocolate is very rich, so you may want to have a glass of cold milk near by to wash it down. It also would be nice to share with someone. I love this recipe and will use it again.

Pavlova

I did not forget to mention that we had pavlova for dessert at the dinner group I attended. It was not included in my previous post because it was not a recipe from the cookbook for that dinner. The pavlova we ate at the dinner group was topped with black berries, where as I used strawberries.

I couldn't wait to make my own when I got the chance, which happened to be today. I used the recipe from allrecipes.com. It was a nice surprise that they aren't as difficult to make as I thought they would. I think that the dinner group was much better, but I still enjoyed making and eating mine.

Zuppa Toscana

I'm not the biggest fan of soup. However, there are a few soups out there that are quite exceptional for me. One of those is Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. After the dinner party I ended up with left over kale that I wanted to use. The only other time I've ever had kale is in the Zuppa Toscana. I used the recipe found here: copycat zuppa. I think it turned out amazing!

A word of warning though, I found the instructions for the soup to be a little confusing. I felt like something was missing and had to muddle my way through it. The instructions indicate to cook the sausage in the pot. I would then remove the sausage and drain the grease. Then saute the garlic and onions add the potatoes and cook them for a while before adding the broth and water. After that you should be able to follow the rest of the instructions. However, there may other recipes out there with better instructions. I'll have to experiment a bit next time to make sure I can get it to an order I like.

Berry Trifle

I had the girls over tonight and made a trifle for our treat. I used the Raspberry Trifle recipe from allrecipes.com and added a few strawberries and blueberries. I wanted to get some fresh raspberries, but they're not available at this time of year. However, I did include them in the recipe. It has been very cold out (below freezing for quite some time) and I've been making a lot of heavy foods, so it was nice to have a light and refreshing dessert.

Berry Trifle

1 1/2 cups heavy cream  

1/4 cup white sugar

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened 

2 tsps lemon juice

1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

1/2 cup white sugar   

1 pkg prepared pound cake (like Sara Lee)

1 pkg frozen raspberries, thawed

1 pkg frozen blueberries, thawed

1 carton fresh strawberries, chopped (reserve some for garnishing)

1 carton fresh blueberries (reserve some for garnish)

1 carton fresh raspberries (reserve some for garnish)

2 T unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

In a medium bowl, beat cream with 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, cream together cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar. Fold 2 cups of whipped cream into cream cheese mixture. Reserve remaining whipped cream. 

Slice pound cake into 18 - 1/2 inch slices. Drain thawed raspberries and blueberries, reserving juice. Line the bottom of a 3 quart glass bowl or trifle bowl with one-third of the cake slices. Drizzle with some raspberry, blueberry and strawberry juice. Spread one-fourth of the cream cheese mixture over cake. Sift one-fourth of the cocoa over that. Sprinkle with one-third of the raspberries. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture, whipped cream and sifted cocoa. Cover and refrigerate 4-8 hours before serving.

Here are a few notes on the instructions. I chopped up the strawberries the night before adding a bit of water, vanilla and sugar. Doing this will get you some of the strawberry juice that you can add to the raspberry and blueberry juice. I also squeezed the raspberries and blueberries to drain as much of the juice as possible. The more liquid that the pound cake absorbs, the better. You could probably use a package of frozen strawberries as well to get more of the juice, but I did without since I had fresh ones to work with. Lastly, I sliced my pound cake into cubes. I don't know why, but I prefer the smaller bite size pieces. I don't think it matters when you dish it out though.