Spring Time Rainbow Cookies

Rainbow Cookies have always been a favorite of my family.  I wanted to make them with a Spring Twist so here are my version of Rainbow Cookies in pretty Spring colors!  Really anything goes!  For Valentine's Day it would look so pretty in shades of Pink and Red, 4th of July - Red, White and Blue!  Here for Springtime I choose, Pink, Teal and Lime Green.  This recipe is a little labor intensive but I promise you, it's worth it!  It' a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients:

8 ounces almond paste
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/4 cup apricot preserves
3/4 Cup chocolate chips

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Preparation:

Preheat the over to 350 degrees F.   Spray three 13" x 9" x 2"  pans with cooking spray. Line each pan with parchment paper and coat the paper with cooking spray.

In a large bowl add almond paste. Use a fork to break it up into small crumbs.  Using a hand mixer  combine almond paste, butter and sugar and mix until fluffy.  Next, add the egg yokes and beat until incorporated.  Now add the flour and use a wooden spoon to stir until well combined. 

In separate bowl beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the almond batter until thoroughly blended.

Separate the cookie batter into 3 small bowls and a different food color to each bowl and mix until desired color is achieved. 

Add each of the three colored batters into one of the prepared pans, using the spatula to spread the batter to the edges. Bake at 350 degree F and rotate pans halfway through the bake time so that they bake evenly. until the edges are golden, about 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then invert onto cooling racks and allow to cool completely.

To Assemble:

Place one layer on a large cutting board or a large inverted baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Spread the raspberry jam evenly over the top. Place the 2nd layer on top and spread with the apricot preserves. . Top with the last cake layer. Cover with plastic wrap and place a heavy cutting board on top to weight it down. If you don't have a large heavy cutting board you can put another sheet pan on top an weight down with cans. Refrigerate overnight.

The next day, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil together in a microwaveable bowl. Spread the chocolate on top of the cooled cake and let it dry slightly. Trim the rim of the cake with a serrated knife to make clean edges. Cut the cake into strips and then cut each strip into squares. 

Raspberry- Blackberry Crisp

 My son Jack loves when I make apple or berry anything. This past weekend he requested a raspberry-blackberry crisp. He even went to the grocery store to pick out the fresh berries himself. $20 later (he's not much of a bargain hunter) I was making him dessert. I'm not a fan of using oats in my crisps, so this recipe is a simple flour, butter, sugar topping. The filling is the perfect amount of sweet and tangy and the fresh berries are so much more flavorful than using the frozen kind. 

Ingredients:

Filling: 
3 C. Raspberries
2 C. Blackberries
1/3 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Flour
1 T. Cornstarch
1 T. Lemon Juice

Crisp Topping: 
1 C. Flour
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 T. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 Stick of Butter, softened

Preparation: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss berries with sugar, flour, cornstarch and lemon juice. Place mixture in a greased 9x9 baking dish. Make the crisp topping next by cutting softened butter into the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. I like to use my hands to combine the crumb topping ingredients. Combine until mixture is moist and crumbly. Place crumb topping on top of fruit mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. let cool for 20 minutes before serving.

WHAT’S FOR SUNDAY BRUNCH? Raspberry Stuffed French Toast w/ Frosted Cereal Crust

I made this as a trial recipe yesterday thinking I would have to tweak it a few times. My husband ate my trial in about 1 minute and left nothing over.  I guess no tweaking needed.  Super delicious!  Sweet, tart, creamy and crunchy all in one bite!  This recipe is a little time consuming but really yummy for a special breakfast treat!  I hope you’ll give it a try. 

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Milk

Frosted Cereal, crushed

Sliced Bread (any type)

1/2 Cup Frozen Raspberries, thawed and mashed (plus a few whole for garnish)

1/2 Cup Cream Cheese

1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar (plus extra for dusting)

3-4 Tablespoons Butter for frying

Preparation:

In a flat. shallow bowl whisk eggs and milk, set aside.  Place Frosted Cereal in a Ziplock bag, seal and crush using a rolling pin.  Pour crushed cereal into another flat, shallow bowl, set aside.

Combine mashed raspberries, cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Mix until fully incorporated.

Spread raspberry mixture on one slice of bread and top with second slice of bread.  Take "sandwich" and soak in egg mixture, turning to get both sides wet.  Then place in crush cereal to coat completely.  Flip and coat 2nd side in crushed cereal.

In a large frying pan over medium heat melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter.  Add stuffed french toast and fry for about 2 minutes making sure to brown but not burn your french toast.  This will go very quickly and the frosted cereal can burn easily so do not walk away.  Once browned on one side, add a little more butter and flip to brown 2nd side of bread.

Transfer to plate, sprinkle with a few whole raspberries and a dusting of powered sugar and serve immediately.

Cream Cheese Fruit Pie

I wanted to find a quick and easy dessert to bring to a friend's block party and a friend of mine suggested this.  It was super easy to make, pretty and it set up very quickly which was great since I made it last minute.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz tub Fat Free cream cheese, softened

1 tub light cool whip

1/2 cup sugar

1 low fat graham cracker crust

strawberries sliced

kiwi sliced in half moons

blueberries

raspberries

Preparation:

With a hand mixer beat together softened cream cheese and sugar until completely combined.  Fold in cool whip to cream cheese mixture and spread evenly into prepared pie crust.  Place in refrigerator to set for at last 30 minutes before you add fruit.  Add fruit in any decorative way you would like and place back in refrigerator for another 3-4 hours(overnight would be best) before slicing a serving.  

Linked to Sweets for Saturday

Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays #4

This week theme for Sharing Sundays is BERRIES!  The perfect theme for summer time.  I love also how you can use berries in all recipes, sweet, savory, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.  Please link up your favorite BERRY recipes.  I hope to get lots of new ideas of how to use; strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and more!!

Our Rules:
1.  Please become a follower of our blog.
2.  Please share a link back to your actual recipe post, not to your main blog page.
3.  Please link back to our blog so others can join in the fun.
4.  Leave us a comment about what recipe you are linking up.
5. Have fun!

Now for the Featured Chocolate recipes from last week!  The following recipes got the most page views this past week!  Thank you to everyone for linking up Everyday Sisters Sharing Sundays.  We really love this addition to our weekly blog posts.  It's been so much fun getting to know you all better.

Rolo Brownie Bites with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting by Cook Lisa Cook


Chocolate Cinnamon Cobbler by Lark's Country Heart


Rocky Road Bars by Mostly Food and Crafts


Toasted Marshmallow and Chocolate Malt Layer Cake by Baking Me

Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies by
The Weekend Gourmet


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes by The Farm Girl


Now your BERRY recipes are next........

Raspberry Buckle

This is a really easy dessert. The recipe calls for rasberries but I think it would be equally good with blueberries or a combination of both. It is also very light and not too sweet. I made it for our Father's Day BBQ but I also think it would be perfect for the Fourth of July with rasberries and blueberries for a perfect red, white, and blue dessert!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 containers(1/2 pint each) rasberries

confectioners sugar for dusting

whipped cream (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter or spray a 2 quart oval or square baking dish. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to combine. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder; with mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture until incorporated.

Spread batter in baking dish. Scatter rasberries on top. bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean and top is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes;dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. With a large spoon, scoop out onto serving plates; serve with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.

Linked to Sweet Treats Thursday

Linked to Sweets for Saturday

Raspberry- Lemon Trifle

I am definitely on a trifle kick lately. It is fun to create different flavor combinations and make a delicious dessert that is a crowd pleaser. This one looks really pretty and the flavors of lemon curd and whipped cream remind me of lemon meringue pie (one of my favorite desserts). Trifles are great to make for a party since it serves a lot of people and does not require any actually baking. If you want you can certainly bake your own cake and make lemon curd from scratch but they make perfectly good pre-made ingredients that you can find in your local market. This particular trifle was made in a small trifle bowl. If you have a large bowl you will need to double your ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 Entemann's lemon pound cake, cubed
1- 1 1/2 cups of strawberry or raspberry preserves
1- 1 1/2 cups of lemon curd or lemon pie filling
2 pints of raspberries
1 tub of cool whip

Preparation:

Place a layer of cake cubes at the bottom of a trifle bowl. Spread strawberry jam over cake layer. Then a layer of raspberries. Next a layer of cool whip. Then more cake, lemon curd, raspberries and cool whip!!

Linked to This Chick Cooks
Linked to Made it on Monday
Linked to Melt in your Mouth Monday
Linked to Cast Party Wednesday
Linked to Sweet Treats Thursday
Linked to Foodie Friday
Linked to Sweets for Saturday

French Meringue Macarons with Raspberry Cream

This is a recipe that Karen made recently and brought to Brunch. 

OMG D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!! 

She was inspired when her husband took her to Paris for the 15th wedding anniversary and she tried many of these macaroons.  When she got home she took a cooking class solely on making French Macarons and Viola! We all get to enjoy.  This is in no way an easy recipe...it has many ingredients and it's multi stepped but for anyone who wants to give it a shot the final result is totally worth it.  I promise!

Aren't they pretty?

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups almond flour

2 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup egg whites (from 7 or 8 eggs) at room temperature

pinch of salt

2 teaspoons powdered egg whites, if weather is humid

3/4 cup superfine granulated sugar

5 to 7 drops gel paste food coloring (optional)

Preparation:

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Blend the almond flour with the powdered sugar in teh food processor to make a fine powder.  The sift the mixture through a small strainer until it's as fine as you can get it.  This keeps crumbs from forming on the macaron tops as they bake.  With  the wire whip attachment on the electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the salt and the powdered egg whites (if you're using them), starting slowly and then increasing speed as the whites start to rise.  Add the granulated sugar and the food coloring.  Beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks and your meringue is firm and shiny.   Pour the beaten egg whites onto your almond flour mixture and gently fold them in, using a rubber spatula.  When you can't see any crumbs of almond flour and the mixture is shiny and flowing, you're ready to start piping.

Fit your pastry bag with a number-8 tip and fill with batter.  Start by squeezing out a small amount of mix onto a parchment-lined baking sheet to form a 2 1/2-inch circle.  Be sure to leave 1 inch of space between macarons so they will not touch each other while they bake.  If peaks form on top of the circles, tap the baking sheet on the tabletop, making sure to hold the parchment paper in place with your thumbs.  Let hte piped macarons rest of 15 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (325 degrees for a non-convection oven)  Bake for 14 minutes.  After the first 5 minutes, open the oven door briefly to let the steam out.  Let hte macarons cool completely on a rack before taking them off the parchment paper.  Press the bottom of a cooled baked macaron shell iwht your finger, it should be soft. If the bottom of the shell is hard, reduce the baking time for the resto of your macarons from 14 minutes to 13 minutes.

Raspberry Jam Cream

Ingredients:

4 ounces of unsalted butter, softened

9 ounces of powdered sugar, sifted

3-4 ounces of raspberry jam (seedless)

Preparation:

IN the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth and fluffy.  Gradually add sifted powdered sugar.  Add raspberry jam.  Beat just until blended.  Pipe between two macarons.  If the cream is too soft or runny to pipe, beat in more sifted powdered sugar.

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Cups

Happy Valentines Day!

I saw this delicious idea on a great blog that I follow....Purple Chocolat Home  What a great, simple idea.  As Jacqueline suggested I used Ghiradelli chocolate which really worked beautifully with the fruit.  Also I learned something new.  If you put a little vegetable oil in the chocolate while melting that it helps to avoid white spots and/or streaks in the chocolate if it isn't tempered correctly.  I think it also gives the chocolate a nice sheen.  Try it next time you are melting chocolate for dipping or drizzling.

Raspberries with Milk Chocolate

Strawberries with Dark Chocolate

Bananas with Milk Chocolate

Ingredients:

1 cup chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet)

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 container of fresh raspberries

or

6 large strawberries (sliced into eigths)

or

1 large banana sliced 1/4-1/2 inch thick slices

Preparation:

Place the chips and the oil in a microwave safe bowl.  Melt in the microwave for one minute - stir even though it doesn't look like it needs it - or it will scorch!!!  Melt another 20-30 seconds.  Stir again and keep stirring until all of the chips are melted.  Place chocolate in a disposable frosting bag (or a ziploc bag) and cut the tip (or corner) off with a scissors.  Squeeze a little chocolate into the bottom of the cup.  Place 3 fresh raspberries in each cup (2 if they are huge, but 3 is prettier), pressing down slightly into chocolate. If using strawberries stand up 4-1/8 slices pressing into chocolate to make a teepee shape and for bananas press one slice into chocolate. Drizzle chocolate onto the tops of the fruit.  Place in fridge to set the chocolate.