This is one of those recipes that I've had for so long, that I don't remember where it came from. I've had it all this time so it must be good, right? Right!! Anything lemon is always a hit with IT Guy and anything with berries, I love. It's a win/win!!

Lemon Berry Pastry



1 sheet of puff pastry - thawed
1 egg white
1 teaspoon water
sugar for sprinkling
lemon curd (recipe follows)
2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups fresh blackberries
1/4 cup toasted, sliced almonds
honey for drizzling
powdered sugar

On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry out to a 15 x 18 inch rectangle. Cut strips 1 inch wide off the long sides then repeat on the short ends. Set aside.

Place pastry on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Combine egg white and water and brush onto rectangle.

Place the four cut strips on the edges of the rectangle, trimming to fit. Brush with egg mixture.

Sprinkle with some sugar...about 3 - 4 tablespoons.

Prick the bottom of the pastry (not the edges) with a fork and place in the fridge to chill while preparing the lemon curd.

While lemon curd is cooling, bake pastry at 370 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

If pastry rises in the middle while baking, just prick it with a fork to release the air from inside.

Cool to room temp.

Fill cooled pastry with lemon curd. Sprinkle with berries and almonds. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

All the stuff...

Roll out the pastry...

..then cut off the edges.

Brush the edges with the egg wash, then lay the cut edges on top of the large pastry sheet.

Sprinkle with sugar and prick the bottom all over with a fork..but don't prick the edges.

Then bake!

Lemon Curd

1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

 In a medium saucepan, whisk together the lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, eggs, and salt.

Add the butter cubes and set the pan over low heat, whisking constantly until the butter is melted.

Increase the heat and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens.

Cool mixture to room temp.

Combine the lemon juice, eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt.

Then add the butter.

Cook until nice and thick.

Cool to room temp. I sit my pan in a sink of ice cold water.

Then add the sour cream, ginger and vanilla.

Spread the curd on top of the cooked pastry.

Sprinkle with berries and almonds and drizzle with honey. Add some powdered sugar, too.

Cut into squares and enjoy!

So, so good! That's all I have to say about these. If you're not into messing with puff pastry...you can use thin slices of pound cake and that would taste great, too! The custard in this recipe doesn't have eggs in it, so if you have issues with eggs, 
this pastry cream is for you!

Two Fruit Napoleons

Here's what you'll need for these napoleons.



Berries

1 ½ cups strawberries - crushed
1 ½ cups berries - crushed
½ cup sugar

Mix berries and sugar together in a bowl and chill.



I used frozen berries and put about 
3 - 4 cups whole berries in a bowl.



Then I mashed them up, but did not pulverize them. 
I wanted some of the juice to come out and to have 
some chunks of fruit. Then I put in about 1/2 cup 
sugarand allowed it to chill in the fridge.


Pastry Cream

1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 1/4 cup powdered sugar

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt.

Pour in the milk and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wire whisk until mixture thickens and boils.

Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.

Pour into a medium sized bowl. Press plastic wrap onto the top of the pastry cream and chill.

When mixture is completely cooled, fold in sweetened whipped cream.

Combine the milk, cornstarch, sugar and salt. 
Cook until thick and bubbly. 
Remove from heat and add the vanilla. 
Place in a bowl and cover with plastic 
wrap and allow it to chill in the fridge.



Then whip 1 cup of heavy cream and f
old that into the chilled pastry cream.



Napoleons

2 sheets (1 package) of puff pastry

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Roll out puff pastry a little larger than it comes out of the box.

Using a cookie cutter, cut out rounds. Using a cookie cutter smaller than the first one, press it into the center of each round, but not all the way through. Prick centers with a fork. Transfer to a cookie sheet. (I was able to get 12 rounds out of one sheet.)

Brush the edges of the round with a beaten egg then sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake rounds for about 10 minutes until lightly golden brown.

While rounds are still hot, press the centers down with a fork. Allow to cool.

Fill one round with pastry cream, top with another round and fill with more pastry cream. Ladle a scoop of berries over the top. Top

I realize that this is really just a trifle...but what I like about it is that instead of having a deep bowl of the same ingredients that you have to scoop down into, it's in a casserole dish and you can cut it into nice neat squares. Like I've mentioned on here before..anything with cream or pudding or a filling is right up my alley. Actually, the whole family loved this. I'm a pudding fan...#1 son is a fruit fan...and IT Guy is just a dessert fan! Score!



Fast Berry Casserole



1 1-pound pound cake (I used Recipe #75 in the recipe box and made it in two loaf pans instead of a bundt pan. A store-bought one is just fine, though.)
3 cups mixed berries - fresh or frozen
1 large box vanilla instant pudding
2 cups whole milk
1 8-ounce container Cool Whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk

In a large bowl, mix whole milk and pudding. Stir to combine. Stir in the Cool Whip and the sweetened condensed milk.

Slice pound cake into 1/2 inch slices.

In a 9x13 casserole dish, put down one layer of pound cake on the bottom. Top with some of the fruit then add some of the pudding mixture. Repeat with ingredients to add another layer ending with pudding on top. Smooth.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill for several hours or overnight. You want the juice from the berries to soak down into the pound cake.

 
The stuff you'll need.


 
Mix the milk and pudding then add 
the sweetened condensed milk and the Cool Whip.


 
Slice your pound cake. You CAN use store-bought. 
I love Sara Lee!


 
Start layering the ingredients starting with the pound cake.


 
Add the berries. 
No need to sweeten them...
the cake and pudding give off enough sweetness.


 
Then add a layer of the pudding mixture.


 
Repeat with all ingredients one more time, 
ending with the pudding on top. 
Then smooth it. It's okay if the berries peek through. 
You can add whipping cream on 
top if you're feeling extra decadent.





Oooo..pretty!

I'm a sucker for custard. Anything creamy, smooth and sweet is a weakness. When I see fruit or berry tarts with custard on a menu or in a pastry shop, I will always cave in and get one. We went to dinner at some friend's house (remember the pork loin?) and I got to bring dessert. Of course I can't just stop at one dessert, so besides the Candied Pecan Caramel Swirl Ice Cream, I took berry tarts. So yummy! And so easy! I used my cream brulee dishes with this but you can use the store bought foil cups if you want and they would work just as well.

Vanilla Custard Berry Tarts



1 recipe Christie’s Pie Dough or purchased pie dough
6 – 8 tart ramekins

Divide dough into 6 – 8 pieces.

Roll out a piece of dough a little larger than the ramekin then place it into the dish. After dough is in the dish, allow the excess dough to fall over the edges. Run your rolling pin over the edge of the dish to cut off the overhang. Repeat with the rest of the dough and ramekins. Chill for 15 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until light golden brown.

Vanilla Custard

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 egg yolks
3 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat (about 20 minutes), whisking constantly; boil, whisking constantly or until thickened.
Remove from heat.

Stir in butter and vanilla.

Ladle custard into baked tart shells.

Place heavy duty plastic wrap directly on surface of custard to keep "skin" from forming.

Chill 2 hours.

Arrange washed and cut berries on top of custard. Brush fruit with warmed preserves.

You'll need this.....

...and these.

Make your pie dough and roll it out big enough to fit into your tart pan.

Tuck the dough into the tart pan all nice and tidy.

Let the edges hang over then roll your rolling pin over the edge of the tart pan.

Look!! See how clean? Nice, huh? Prick the pie dough.

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks and milk and cook until bubbly.

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla and butter.

These are the BAKED tart shells. You want them a nice golden brown.

Ladle the custard into the baked tart shells then lay a piece of plastic directly over the custard. Chill the filled tarts for a few hours.

Arrange your berries on top of the chilled custard.

Then paint the berries with some jam. I used raspberry, but you can use almost anything.

See how pretty??

Irresistible!!!

Honey Strawberry Jam

With the good prices on strawberries around here, I decided to make jam the other day. I had the jars and the rest of the ingredients...just needed the berries. So IT Guy and I trotted off to the store and I bought a few baskets. I came home and got to work. I think the last time I made Strawberry jam was.....well, I don't remember when it was so it must have been a long time ago. I threw caution to the wind and added honey to the recipe and it turned out so good. I have never added honey to a jam recipe before but I likee!! Our little 3 year old granddaughter even made herself TWO peanut butter and jam sandwiches  with it....and I have NEVER known her to eat a pb&j  before. Will wonders never cease!!??

Honey Strawberry Jam



8 cups crushed strawberries – about 5 16-ounce containers
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2/3 cup Pectin
2 cups honey
1 ½ cups sugar
8  8-ounce canning jars

Combine crushed berries and lemon juice in a large pot.

Stir in Pectin and bring to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.

Add honey and sugar and continue to boil and stir slowly about 12 – 15 minutes until foam has subsided and jam feels sticky.

Ladle into clean jars. Seal with lids and rings and turn jars upside down immediately. Allow to cool then store in the refrigerator.


Here's what you need. You can 
use all honey or you can use part
 honey and part sugar...which is what I did.


I crushed my berries in my food 
processor. You can use a potato 
masher if that's more your style 
and want it more chunky. Using 
the food processor resulted in 
more of a spread consistency.


Add the lemon juice, honey (and sugar, 
if you're using that) and the pectin.


Stir and cook until it's nice
and thick and gooey. Yum!


Ladle into jars and seal!

Cheesecake is a weakness for me.  I love cheesecake. I could sit in cheesecake. I have a plethora of cheesecake recipes. Let's shout it from the rooftops: VIVA LA CHEESECAKE!!! Creamy, dreamy, smooth and delicious. There's just nothing like it. I don't have words for this one. Well, I have one word. OHMYSTARSANDGARTERS!!! Make it. Make it today. Make it today and become a hero in your family's eyes.

White Chocolate 
Raspberry Cheesecake

 

Crust:

1 ½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter
½ cup finely chopped macadamia nuts – toasted
4 1-ounce squares white baking chocolate – grated
1 egg – beaten

Combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the nuts, chocolate and egg. Mix well then press onto the bottom and up the sides (about 1 inch or so) of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Chill.


Filling:

8 1-ounce squares white baking chocolate – chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese – softened
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
Raspberries – fresh or frozen

Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Do not boil. Add chopped chocolate and allow to set for about 10 minutes. Stir to melt chocolate and combine. Add vanilla. Keep warm.

Combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk, mixing at medium speed until well blended. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in chocolate mixture. Mix well.

Sprinkle raspberries over chilled crust to cover. Pour cheesecake mixture over raspberries. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until no longer “jiggly” in the middle. Loosen cake from rim of pan. Cool before removing rim. Chill and garnish with more raspberries.

Here's EVERYTHING you need 

for the cheesecake AND the crust.

 

Cut the butter into the sugar and flour.

 

Work it until it looks like coarse crumbs.

 

Then add the toasted nuts, chopped 

chocolate and the egg.

 

Mix it well....

 

...then press it into a springform pan.

 

Heat the cream then add the chopped chocolate.

 

Stir in the vanilla and keep warm.

 

Combine the cream cheese and 

sweetened condensed milk.

 

Add the eggs.

 

Pour the warm cream/chocolate 

mixture into the cream cheese mixture.

 

Fold together.

 

Sprinkle raspberries over the crust.

 

Then pour the filling over the raspberries.

 

This step is optional. I warmed some 

raspberry sauce and drizzled it over the filling.

 

Then swirled it through.

 

Bake it up!! Enjoy!!