Category Archives: Desserts

Tasty Doesn’t Have To Take Hours

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14

 

Neither does it have to be expensive. Sure, it can be and some extremely tasty desserts can cost a bit to make but then are the times that you want something that tastes expensive but you don’t have the time to fuss. Or you have a two year old who wants you to hold his hands while he runs in circles around you… for an hour. Or maybe you forgot the time and the promise you made to make dessert. Not that I’ve ever done that… but I’m sure it’s happened to someone…somewhere *innocent look*

When any of the above happen and your world is no longer spinning and the nausea has passed if the reason was of the two year old variety, this dessert is a great one to try. I had some Mascarpone cheese I had been wanting to use and after seeing a post made by one of my favorite bloggers-

SweetsTiramisuFrenchToast

 

she got me inspired to make up a quick dessert using the Mascarpone. She’s a good one for that. 🙂

So here it is. I hope you enjoy.

Mascarpone Mousse And Raspberry Parfait

  1. 8 ounce container mascarpone cheese, softened
  2. 8 ounce package cream cheese , softened
  3. 1/2 cup sour cream
  4. 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, divided
  5. 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  6. 1 teaspoon almond extract
  7. 2 cups heavy cream
  8. 2 20 ounce cans raspberry pie filling
  • In a medium bowl, whip the heavy cream and 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is incorporated. You could do it on high speed but if you do, I want pictures because you will be covered in powdered sugar hehe. When the sugar is mixed in, turn the speed up to high and continue beating until stiff peaks form, about 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside while you make the mousse.
  • In a large bowl, beat together the Mascarpone, cream cheese and sour cream. When thoroughly mixed, add 1 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar. On low speed, beat until sugar is incorporated, then turn the speed up to high and beat for 2 minutes.  Stir in a large spoonful (about 1/4 cup or so) of the whipped cream to lighten up the mousse mixture.
  • Fold in the rest of the whipped cream until there are no streaks of cream left.
  • Eat this by the spoonful and don’t save any for anyone else
  • Layer the mousse mixture in pretty glass bowls with the raspberry filling, ending with a dollop of the mousse on top.. Alternately, you could layer it in a huge glass bowl if you’re serving this to a large group.

I guess they didn't like it. There are still a few smears left in the dish.

 

 

 

 

My Kind Of Blackberry

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25

Blackberry’s are all the rage right now along with iphones. I on the other hand am still in the stone age from what I’m told because I only have a phone from Cricket.  My daughter has an iphone with all the bells and whistles and was showing it to me the other day and bragging on it. I am pretty sure that that thing probably has an app on it that would find you a mail order bride. But hey, I’ve moved up in the world with my cricket. A mere three years ago, I still had a Tracfone…. with an antennae I had to pull up to be able use the phone. It was made from stone. I also have a car that requires me to stick my feet through a hole in the floor and make it go by foot power. Fred Flintstone is my hero. But I digress (you’ll get used to that with me.)
Since I can’t have a blackberry that I can use to access the internet, I decided to make my own blackberry. It’s not in the shape of a phone though; sorry. You also can’t use it to get a mail order bride but I can guarantee mine tastes better. At least I hope it does. There’s no app to make your phone yummy is there?

These cupcakes were fun to make. They were pretty fun to eat too if the purple stains on my shirt and the slight bloated feeling in my belly are any indication 😀 It uses a white cake mix that I doctored up (I told you; I like cake mixes. They’re easy & they taste pretty damn good; especially when you add all sorts of different things to them. This has a homemade blackberry/lemon butter cream frosting that is good enough to eat from the bowl with a spoon. I should know; I ate enough of it.

BlackBerry Cupcakes with a Blackberry/Lemon Buttercream

  1. 1(18.25 ounce) package white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
  2. 1(3.4 ounce) package french vanilla instant pudding mix
  3. 1 cup sour cream
  4. 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  5. 4 large eggs
  6. 1/2 cup warm water
  7. 1 12 ounce container fresh blackberries
  8. 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  9. 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
  10. 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  11. 2 tablespoons blackberry jam
  12. zest from one lemon
  • Preheat your oven to 350 (175 Celsius) and line your cupcake pans with liners (you don’t have to do this, you could just spray them with a non stick spray like Pam but personally , anything that saves me from major dish washing is heaven.).
  • Gently wash the berries then pat them dry with a paper towel. Put all but 20 of  them into a blender or a food processor bowl with the 3 tablespoons sugar and process/blend into a puree. Set the 20 aside to use as garnish. You can then strain the puree through a sieve if the idea of the seeds bugs you, but I didn’t bother.
  • In a large bowl, mix together ingredients. 1-6. Beat on low until everything is thoroughly mixed then turn it up to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Don’t skimp on that; it makes your cupcakes lighter.
  • Fill your lined cups about half full with batter. Add a tablespoon of the blackberry puree on top of each cupcake then top that with another spoonful of batter. Don’t fill your cups over about 3/4 full or you’ll end up with cupcakes that spread onto the side of your pan and besides not looking as pretty, they are a pain to get out of the pan. Using a butter knife, gently swirl the jam and batter together, making sure to leave streaks.
  • Bake for 16 to 22 minutes (It will vary depending on your oven. Mine were done at 20 minutes) or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean.
  • Let them sit in the pan for about 1 minute then use a spoon to get under the liners & put them on a rack to finish coo0ling. Eat one of them before you frost the rest because you’re the cook and you can.
  • Mix together the 1 cup butter, the remaining blackberry puree (you should have about 1/2 a cup)  and the blackberry jam. Mix well for about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low until all the sugar is incorporated then turn it up to high and beat until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. It should be thick enough to stand up on your spoon w/out flopping over. If not (you may need more depending on how juicy your berries were), add powdered sugar 1/4 cup at time until it is thick enough to spread. If too thick, add heavy cream (or milk) a few drops at time until it thins out to where you want it.
  • Pipe or spread your frosting on the cupcakes, then garnish with one of the reserved blackberries. Then eat one with frosting because again, you’re the cook.
  • This makes 20 cupcakes or at least it did for me. It might have made 21 but some of the batter jumped in my mouth. What!? Salmonella is our friend.

I don't know what happened to this one. Someone *cough cough* must have gotten to it while I was turned away.