I love summer, but I can easily get overheated when the high temperatures hit! Once this happens, the last thing I want to do is prepare a meal, and I lose my enthusiasm for grilling.
When the hottest part of summer comes around, salads are on the menu quite a bit. I often grill chicken or steak for salads early in the morning to avoid the afternoon heat, and use it later in the day, for lunch or dinner.
But today I decided on a Summer Fruit Salad! I included a few things you won't find in the traditional fruit salad, but I know you will love them.
All the ingredients I used are easy to find, easy to work with, and they taste delicious!
Summer Fruit Salad
(printable recipe at end of page)
1/2 cup Heavy Duty Whipping Cream
1 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Flavoring
Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Mango
Apple
Orange
Bananas
Strawberries
Peach
Light Vanilla Yoplait Yogurt
Sweet Hawaiian Mini Flour Tortillas
Choose any fruit you want to use. More colorful fruit will make the plate prettier and more appetizing.
Pour the heavy whipping cream into a medium sized bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla.
Mix together on medium until the cream thickens and becomes whipped cream.
Wash all of the fruit before cutting it. When cutting the fruit, the important thing to remember is to make it easy to eat. One way to do that is to cut it in small bite sized pieces. You can see that the strawberries and the blueberries were not cut, but you could cut the stems off the strawberries if you wanted to.
One of the small bowls contains the whipped cream and the other one has light vanilla yogurt in it. I also included a few mini tortillas, which are the perfect addition to this plate! They can be filled with your favorite fruit and topped with a bit of whipped cream or fill them with a little bit of each fruit and add a spoonful of yogurt for a fun and tasty treat! They are a favorite for kids!
There you have it! Simple, tasty and good for you!
Thank you for joining me today! Here is a list of more "Beat the Heat" recipes to enjoy! Don't they sound amazing?!!
As we continue to pay tribute to #FarmersMarketWeek I thought it might be fun to revisit an oldie but a goodie when it comes to summertime desserts~Peachy Blueberry Icebox Cake! If you haven't had the pleasure to enjoy a taste of this yummy iconic summer pleasure, give it a try!
This cake is very easy to put together. If you want to make it easier, you can use store bought whipped cream instead of making it from scratch. You can also use the regular size vanilla wafers to decorate the cake, if you don't have any mini's. Either way, it will be amazing!
Peachy Blueberry Icebox Cake (printable recipe at end of page) (Serves 4)
30-40 Nilla Wafers 5-6 Mini Nilla Wafers 3 cups Whipping Cream 3-4 teaspoons Sugar 1 teaspoon Vanilla 2-3 Fresh Peaches, yellow and white 1 cup Blueberries
Line pan with plastic, overlapping edges as shown. We are making this cake upside down. Cut a piece big enough to cover the bottom and the longer sides and hang over 6"-7" on each side. Cut the same size pieces for the shorter sides of the pan. Smooth the insides a little bit, then let the plastic hang to the sides.
Whip whipping cream on high until it thickens into cream. Add sugar 1
teaspoon at a time, mixing after each addition, tasting to make sure
another teaspoon is necessary. Add vanilla while mixing. Peel and cut your fruit. Cut the peaches into bite sized pieces.
Place your first layer of cookies in the pan. Cut one of the cookies in half to cover the entire bottom. Even though it is not pictured here, you will be placing the cookies on top of the plastic that we just cut and placed in the bottom of the pan.
On top of the cookies place a layer of whipped cream. Spread it evenly over the cookies. Mix together the yellow and white peach pieces. Place the cut peaches on top of the whipped cream. Add blueberries to the layer.
Add another layer of cookies, whipped cream, peaches and blueberries.
Add the final layer of cookies, whipped cream, peaches and blueberries. Fold the plastic over the pan and refrigerate overnight.
Remove from freezer and unfold the plastic from the top of the pan. Place the plate you want to put the cake on upside down on the cake. Carefully flip the cake over onto the plate. Remove your pan. Carefully remove the plastic from what is now the top of your cake.
Cover the top of the cake with whipped cream. Garnish with more blueberries and peaches. Stick some of the mini cookies into the whipped cream. You could also sprinkle the top with crushed vanilla wafers for a great taste too!
Slice and enjoy!
Thank you for joining me for #FarmersMarketWeek! I hope you enjoyed my recipes and found something you might like to try! Here are more #FarmersMarketWeek recipes from fellow bloggers:
Line pan with plastic, overlapping edges as shown. We are making this cake upside down. Cut a piece big enough to cover the bottom and the longer sides and hang over 6"-7" on each side. Cut the same size pieces for the shorter sides of the pan. Smooth the insides a little bit, then let the plastic hang to the sides.
Whip the whipping cream on high until it thickens into cream. Add the sugar 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing after each addition, and tasting to make sure another teaspoon is necessary. Add vanilla while mixing also.
Peel and cut your fruit. Cut the peaches into bite sized pieces.
Place your first layer of cookies in the pan. Cut one of the cookies in half to cover the entire bottom. Even though it is not pictured here, you will be placing the cookies on top of the plastic that we just cut and placed in the bottom of the pan.
On top of the cookies place a layer of whipped cream. Spread it evenly over the cookies. Mix together the yellow and white peach pieces. Place the cut peaches on top of the whipped cream. Add blueberries to the layer.
Add another layer of cookies, whipped cream, peaches and blueberries.
Add the final layer of cookies, whipped cream, peaches and blueberries.
Fold the plastic over the top of the cake and refrigerate overnight.
Remove from freezer and unfold the plastic from the top of the pan. Place the plate you want to put the cake on upside down on the cake. Carefully flip the cake over onto the plate. Remove your pan. Carefully remove the plastic from what is now the top of your cake.
Cover the top of the cake with whipped cream. Garnish with more blueberries and peaches. Stick some of the mini cookies into the whipped cream. You could also sprinkle the top with crushed vanilla wafers for a great taste too!
Today is the last day of #BerryWeek! It has been such fun with so many berry recipes to share. My list of ones I want to try has gotten longer with each day! If you missed any of them, you might want to check out the recipe I shared Monday, Summer Berry Salsa. This recipe is a great way to enjoy several berries at a time, in one recipe! If you are a fan of easy to make pastry, you will want to bake up some of my Blueberry Breakfast Pastries, which I shared on Wednesday. The pastry cream is homemade and the pastry is store bought dough, cutting down on the time it takes to put it all together, but not the taste.
With the fun and tasty #BerryWeek coming to an end, I want to share my Summer Berry Charcuterie Board with you. If you have ever made a charcuterie board, you know how much fun it is to put them together. It takes thought and creativity to design the perfect board, and it also takes time to collect the items you need for the board, but it is all worth it. In the end, the board looks like an art project, too pretty to eat, but that won't last long! The main objective is to have fun and create something your family and friends will enjoy!
Start by placing fruit on your tray. You want it to look visibly appealing to the eye. When it is fruit you are dealing with, it seems like all the colors go together quite well. Stack your fruit up a bit, as if they are in piles. By stacking them you are creating height, making them visually appealing. You are basically creating a pretty picture that your guests can not resist!
Add different textures to your canvas. The nuts are perfect because they are such an opposite to the softness of the fruit. Your guests will love both textures. The chocolate brittle adds double chocolate flavor, which most guests love! Let's face it. It is difficult to walk past chocolate and not want to grab a bite! The chocolate brittle also adds a hard texture against the fruit.
Red and blue go so well together that I had to put them side by side. The blueberries are soft and juicy and the fresh strawberries with their green stems just create it's own little picture. I used the chocolate cookies as a border to contrast the softness of the fruit.
These rolled wafers are a great addition to the board because they create height. They direct our gaze to move up from the plate, resulting in your guests taking in the entire picture.
Every board needs a dip or two. Because this board is on the small side, I thought one would be enough. This dip is super easy to make with only three ready made ingredients. Soften the cream cheese, mix in the frozen dessert topping and add the vanilla! Refrigerate before serving!
This is one way to put together a charcuterie tray. It can be difficult to take the first step in designing your tray. Once you decide on a theme or a certain item you are serving, it will fall into place. I will admit, I spent a lot of time walking around a couple stores trying to buy the items for this board, but after I did, the ideas came rushing into my mind, making a clear path for my end result. This will happen to you also. Besides, there is no wrong way to create a Summer Berry Charcuterie Board. If you are happy with it, then it is right. Have fun with it!
Check out these Summer Berry Recipes from some blogging friends:
Start by placing fruit on your tray. You want it to look visibly appealing to the eye. When it is fruit you are dealing with, it seems like all the colors go together quite well. Stack your fruit up a bit, as if they are in piles. By stacking them you are creating height, making them visually appealing. You are basically creating a pretty picture that your guests can not resist!
Add different textures to your canvas. The nuts are perfect because they are such an opposite to the softness of the fruit. Your guests will love both textures. The chocolate brittle adds double chocolate flavor, which most guests love! Let's face it. It is difficult to walk past chocolate and not want to grab a bite! The chocolate brittle also adds a hard texture against the fruit.
Red and blue go so well together that I had to put them side by side. The blueberries are soft and juicy and the fresh strawberries with their green stems just create it's own little picture. I used the chocolate cookies as a border to contrast the softness of the fruit.
These rolled wafers are a great addition to the board because they create height. They direct our gaze to move up from the plate, resulting in your guests taking in the entire picture.
Every board needs a dip or two. Because this board is on the small side, I thought one would be enough. This dip is super easy to make with only three ready made ingredients. Soften the cream cheese, mix in the frozen dessert topping and add the vanilla! Refrigerate before serving!
I hope you are enjoying #BerryWeek, and finding a lot of "must try" recipes! Monday I shared a recipe that is the perfect topper for a bowl of ice cream on a warm summer evening, Very Berry Salsa! I hope you will give it a try. It is super easy and very refreshing!
Today's recipe is a little different. Blueberry and Cream Breakfast Pastry! Using fresh blueberries and homemade pastry cream, I decided to go with a pre-made crescent dough to make this recipe easier, allowing you more time to enjoy the incredible flavors and tastes that are the Blueberry and Cream Breakfast Pastry. You will want to make this over and over once you see how easy it is! Let's get started!
Blueberry Breakfast Pastry (printable recipe at end of page) (makes 4-5 pastries)
Stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar using a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil using medium heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg.
In a separate bowl stir together the cornstarch and 1/3 cup of sugar. Then pour the mix into the egg and whisk until smooth. Your milk should be at boil about now. Take the milk from the heat and slowly drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream. Drizzling it slowly will keep the eggs liquid. If you pour too quickly, the eggs will begin to cook. You don't want that!
Pour the mix back into the saucepan. Slowly bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Stirring constantly will prevent the eggs from curdling and/or the sauce burning on the bottom. As the mix boils it thickens. Once it is thick, remove it from the heat. You will know when it is thick enough. It will have a pudding consistency. Add butter and vanilla, stirring until it is completely melted and blended.
Pour the cream into a heat proof container.
Place a piece of plastic wrap on the top of the pastry cream to prevent skin forming. Refrigerate until cold.
When you are ready to make your pastry, unroll the dough on a cutting board.
Cut the dough into any size you want. I cut them to about a 3"x4" piece. Spread pastry cream over the pieces of dough.
Top the pastry cream with some blueberries. Starting at the bottom, roll the dough strips as shown on the left. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes, but all ovens are different, so watch your pastries closely.
Melt the semi sweet chocolate in a double boiler. Drizzle over the pastry before serving. Enjoy! Thank you for joining me for #BerryWeek! I hope you enjoyed this recipe and please let me know what you think if you try it! Don't forget to check out all my fellow bakers and their amazingly delicious recipes they are sharing today! Here is the lip smacking list:
Stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar using a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil using medium heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg.
In a separate bowl stir together the cornstarch and 1/3 cup of sugar. Then pour the mix into the egg and whisk until smooth. Your milk should be at boil about now. Take the milk from the heat and slowly drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream. Drizzling it slowly will keep the eggs liquid. If you pour too quickly, the eggs will begin to cook. You don't want that!
Pour the mix back into the saucepan. Slowly bring it to a boil, stirring constantly. Stirring constantly will prevent the eggs from curdling and/or the sauce burning on the bottom.
As the mix boils it thickens. Once it is thick, remove it from the heat. You will know when it is thick enough. It will have a pudding consistency. Add butter and vanilla, stirring until it is completely melted and blended.
Pour the cream into a heat proof container.
Place a piece of plastic wrap on the top of the pastry cream to prevent skin forming. Refrigerate until cold.
When you are ready to make your pastry, unroll the dough on a cutting board.
Cut the dough into any size you want. I cut them to about a 3x4" piece. Spread pastry cream over the pieces of dough.
Top the pastry cream with some blueberries. Starting at the bottom, roll the dough strips as shown on the left. Bake at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes, but all ovens are different, so watch your pastries closely.
Melt the semi sweet chocolate in a double boiler. Drizzle over the pastry before serving.
