Strawberry Deliciousness

Strawberry deliciousness is the new dessert of Spring 2012.  Don't believe me?  Well it's got fresh berries, whipped cream, cream cheese and angel food cake.  Believe me now??   You should cause it's good people.  Really good.  Like push your Mom down to get the last slice good.  I know this because last weekend the Witch and family were at a dinner party at a good friends home and dessert was this:  Strawberry Deliciousness, and instantly, as soon as the 13x9 pan entered the house 6 adults and 3 children, all swarmed in on the bearer of said dessert, oohing and aahing and asking when dinner was done so we could eat the deliciousness.  After dining on our delicious meal everyone was ready for dessert.

As the Deliciousness was being doled out I got the recipe from my friend who brought it.  The original recipe used Cool Whip in lieu of whipping cream.  The Witch doesn't use Cool Whip normally and ok, I'll be honest, I forgot to get a tub while at the store.  Imagine my delight when I remembered that I had heavy whipping cream in the fridge.  Problem solved with out a return trip to the store.  Yay!  The original also calls for strawberry syrup or ice cream topping to be poured over the berries.  Well, again my brain forgot that at the store, so I decided to macerate my berries in sugar and allow them to make their own syrup.  Easy and no HFCS!  I did go with a store bought angel food cake, however if you have a favorite recipe feel free to use it.  Pound cake would be a great alternative to angel food cake, too.

The rest of the dessert is simple assembly, cake, cream cheese whipped cream and berries.  The flavor is that of a cheesecake topped with berries, but not as heavy.  This dessert is rich and yet light all at once.  It is dangerous, too, cause you really could eat the whole pan yourself, it's that good!!  Strawberry Deliciousness really IS the dessert of Spring 2012!  I hope you enjoy it!

Strawberry Deliciousness
makes 12 servings 
Source: Inspired by Gail
1 lb strawberries, cleaned, hulled and diced
1 1/4 c sugar, divided
2 (8 oz ea) packs cream cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 angel food cake

Begin by washing, hulling and slicing berries.  Put into a medium bowl and sprinkle 1/4 c sugar over berries.  Stir well and cover with plastic.  Allow berries to macerate (sit in the sugar) at room temperature for 1 hour.  This will draw out the berries juices and make it's own syrup.

Once the berries have sat for 1 hr you'll notice there's a lot more liquid in the bowl than you started with.  Using a potato masher smash berries.  You'll want to squish about half of the berries, releasing more of the juices, leaving some in larger chunks for texture as well as visual interest.

Using a mixer cream the cream cheese and remaining 1 cup of sugar.  Scrape down sides often and mix until cream cheese is lighter and fluffy.  Remove from mixer and reserve.

Whip the whipping cream with your mixer.  Once you have stiff peaks change to the blade beater (if using a stand mixer) and add the cream cheese mix to the whipped cream in thirds.

Get a 13x9 pan.  Cut the angel food cake into chunks about (1 inch) and put in the bottom of the 13x9 pan.  Using your hand press the cake into the bottom, compressing it somewhat.  Spread the cream cheese/whipped cream mix on top of the cake.  Pour berries and syrup over top of the cheese mix.  Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Nutrition Facts calculated at SparkPeople Recipe Calculator Amount Per Serving Calories 385.9 Total Fat 17.2 g Saturated Fat 10.6 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.8 g Monounsaturated Fat 4.8 g Cholesterol 55.2 mg Sodium 368.8 mg Potassium 182.7 mg Total Carbohydrate 53.9 g Dietary Fiber 1.0 g Sugars 38.0 g Protein 6.3 g

Vanilla Bean bundt cake with strawberry topping

Strawberry season is in full swing much to the delight of the little Witch and her Daddy. Those two LOVE strawberries! With pounds of strawberries on the counter, which have an especially short shelf life, whats a Witch to do? Make strawberry shortcake is the logical answer, but there's one big problem with that: the Witch doesn't like the shortbread part of the strawberry shortcake. That's why in the Witches' kitchen you'll find a vanilla bean bundt cake in lieu of shortcakes. Same idea, better flavor, who doesn't love that?

I was making this dessert for a dinner party for adults I decided to add a splash of white wine to the berries while they macerated. I really liked the way the wine flavored the berries, it added sweetness, acidity and a nice balance that really elevated this from a simple strawberry sauce to something special. The syrup that resulted from the wine, lemon, sugar and juices from the berries was awesome with the vanilla cake. Now if wine's not your thing you can of course leave it out. But I highly recommend trying it. It really made the berries shine!

The vanilla bean in this cake and strawberry sauce come from my latest acquisition from Savory Spice Shoppe, vanilla bean paste. Now I feel this name is a misnomer, when I think of a paste I envisioned a thick paste that was all vanilla beans. What it is however is vanilla beans in a thick syrup. Delicious still but not what I had envisioned. As a result you need to use a LOT of this product to get the vanilla rich results. I started out with a teaspoon and soon ended up with about 1 TABLESPOON in the batter. Honestly it could have used another tablespoon - but I wimped out (mostly due to costs!) and added some vanilla extract as well to emphasize the vanilla flavor. If you don't have vanilla bean paste fear not, you can use vanilla beans split and scraped or just use vanilla extract. It won't be 100% the same but when the cake is being slathered with berries, who cares!

One last thing, when I served this dessert I made a vanilla bean whipped cream too. It was really good, but I forgot to take a photo of it, and it was all gone by the time I got around to actually taking pictures. Which is a shame, it was the crowning touch to this already delicious dessert. I'll include the recipe for the vanilla bean whipped cream, but you'll have to use your imagination on how it looks. Here's a hit: white, whipped and fluffy with black specks of vanilla in it. Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake with strawberry topping
makes 12 servings
2 c ap flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 T vanilla bean paste
1 t vanilla extract
1 c sugar
1/2 c oil
3/4 c milk

Strawberry topping
1 lb strawberries, hulled, washed and sliced thin
1/4 c sugar
2 T white wine
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 t vanilla bean paste OR 1 t vanilla extract

Vanilla bean whipped cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
1 t vanilla bean paste

Slice berries, place into a bowl and toss with sugar. Add the vanilla, wine and lemon juice, stir well. Allow berries to macerate at room temperature for 3-4 hours. If desired you can crush berries with a potato masher.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract and paste and mix well. Add the eggs, mixing well. Finally add the milk, mix until smooth.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Mix until batter is smooth. Pour into a sprayed bundt cake pan.

Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 40-50 minutes or until cake tests clean and top is browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with berries and whipped cream.

Whip cream by combining all the ingredients in a work bowl and mix on HI until thick and whipped. Don't let it go too long or you'll end up with vanilla bean butter.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
12 Servings with berries, juices and whipped cream
Amount Per Serving
Calories 357.9
Total Fat 17.6 g
Saturated Fat 5.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 7.8 g
Cholesterol 43.8 mg
Sodium 208.3 mg
Potassium 159.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate 45.4 g
Dietary Fiber 1.9 g
Sugars 27.5 g
Protein 4.8 g

Vanilla bean cheesecake take deux

Have you ever indulged in the joy that is a silky cheesecake enhanced simply with pure vanilla, specks of black vanilla beans scattered through out its creamy interior? No? Well then my dear readers, its time that you get your taste buds ready for a serious trip! Vanilla bean cheesecake is one of the few things that can make this die hard chocoholic say "chocolate what? Who cares if there's chocolate, unless you want to put it on this cheesecake!"

Its amazing to me that we use the term 'vanilla' to describe something boring and plain. Real vanilla is anything BUT that! There are over 170 different flavor compounds in vanilla. Its harvested from the seed pod of an orchid originating from Mexico. Vanilla is very difficult to grow - the flowers must be pollinated by hand - and they only grow in certain areas of the world, something that you see translated into their cost.

I was asked to make this cheesecake for my nephew Ben's 9th birthday. It was only when we were almost done that I realized that D'oh! I don't have a good picture of the cheesecake yet!! Sorry folks, the power of the vanilla took over and photography was my last concern :) The texture of this cheesecake was light and fluffy, not dense. After being outside in the park for a few hours the cake's texture softened a lot and it was very difficult to cut, which contributed to photography issues as well. All in all, the cake was delicious, the birthday boy enjoyed it and had a fun day and since there was only 1/2 a slice left, I'd have to say it was a success!



Vanilla Bean cheesecake
makes about 16 servings
5 blocks cream cheese
1 c sour cream
4 eggs
1 c sugar
3 T flour
3 vanilla beans OR 2 T vanilla bean paste
Crust:
1 T good vanilla extract
1 sleeve graham crackers, crushed to crumbs
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup), melted
1/4 c sugar

Allow cream cheese and eggs to come to room temp. first. Leave them on the counter top for a few hours.

preheat oven to 325.

Make crust:
Combine the graham crumbs, 1/4 c sugar and butter together until it resembles wet sand. Press into a springform pan thats been lines with parchment on the sides. Tamp crust with the bottom of a glass. Bake crust at 325F for 10 minutes while you assemble the filling.

Make the batter:
In the work bowl of a stand mixer cream the cheese until its smooth. Scrap down the sides often. Add the sugar, lemon, flour, vanilla beans scraped from pod and vanialla extract. Beat until smooth.

~*~To scrape vanilla bean pod cut a slit in the bean across the length. Spread it open and you'll see glossy black stuff. That's the vanilla beans. Take the back of your knife and firmly run it along the length of the pod, scraping out the seeds.~*~

Wrap bottom of a spring form pan in aluminium foil. Put the spring form pan on a sheet tray, then pour the batter into the spring form pan. Place the sheet tray with the cake in the oven and then add boiling water to the sheet tray making a water bath. The water will only come up about 1 inch on the springform pan but it's enough to provide the gentle heat and moisture for the cake to bake with out cracking.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: Water baths are a great way of cooking a dense custard like cheesecake. A water bath and it will insure that your cheesecake bakes evenly and slowly and doesn't crack. You can skip the water bath step - however cracked dried out cheesecake may result.~*~

Cook cheesecake in the water bath for 60 minutes. The center of the cake will be very jiggly still, that's OK it will set up as it cools.

Allow the cheesecake to cool in the oven with the heat off and the door closed for at least 8 hours. After 8 hours remove the cake, cover with plastic on top and chill in the fridge for another 8 hours.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: After 2 hours you can gently remove the cake from the oven and pour off the water from the water bath. Replace the sheet pan and the cheesecake in the still warm oven and allow it to cool for 6 hours more IN THE OVEN with the door closed. The warmth and slow cool down process allow the cake to finish cooking (its very dense!) and cool slowly so cracks don't happen.~*~

Before serving remove spring ring from pan and slice cake. Wipe the knife clean between slices for best appearance.

Simple Strawberry sauce
1 lb strawberries
1/3 c sugar
blend together in a blender until very smooth.


Nutrition Facts provided by Spark People recipe calculator
12 Servings, including strawberry sauce
Amount Per Serving
Calories 617.0
Total Fat 47.4 g
Saturated Fat 28.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 13.7 g
Cholesterol 203.9 mg
Sodium 355.2 mg
Potassium 321.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate 40.3 g
Dietary Fiber 2.4 g
Sugars 31.9 g
Protein 10.9 g

Strawberry Chicken

The year was 1991, it was late in May, and we were celebrating my husbands (then boyfriend) graduation from high school. His aunt Ruth made dinner that night, strawberry chicken - it was awesome!! Aunt Ruth was the first person I had seen to combine fruit and meat together and instantly I was hooked, both on the dish as well as the Aunt.

From what I remember Aunt Ruth's chicken was pretty basic (but delicious!), soy sauce and ginger as the marinade, it was the fresh ruby red strawberries on top of the chicken that stuck out in my memory. Being the budding foodie that I was I got the recipe for the chicken that night and made it for my own family the following evening.

I haven't made Strawberry chicken in a LONG time. Probably close to 5 years or more. However when strawberries were on sale this week (BOGO 2/$5, not too bad!) I decided it was time to dust off the old strawberry chicken recipe and give it a Kitchen Witch make over, just in time for spring.

The Witch decided that the berries needed to be more of a salsa than just sliced on top, so I used some lime juice and agave nectar, the lime plays nicely with the berries, adding acidity and the agave nectar helps balance that acid with sweetness. Next time I'll add some fresh mint too, I think it would be really good - it needs an herbal flair. The chicken needed some sprucing up too, so I added lime to the marinade along with garlic and green onions, just for kicks.

The results? Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. The chicken has an Asian flair, something that I rarely turn down, slightly spicy from the garlic and ginger and the strawberries add their sweet tang, think sweet and sour chicken for grown ups. The kids will enjoy it too, the little Witch ate half of my chicken!!

Strawberry Chicken
serves 2
2 chicken breasts
1 T soy sauce
juice and zest of 1 lime, divided
2 green onions
1 inch ginger finely minced (can use dried ground, 1 t)
2 cloves garlic
2 pinches kosher salt
few grinds black pepper
1/2 lb strawberries (about 4-5 per person)
1 t agave nectar (can substitute honey)

Make marinade:
Mix lime 1/2 the zest and juice, soy, salt, pepper, onions, garlic and ginger together. Pour over chicken and allow to marinate for 1 hour.

Hull strawberries and dice berries into 1/2 in pieces. Make a dressing for berries out of remaining lime zest and juice and a drizzle of agave nectar (about 1/2 t). Pour dressing over diced berries, stir well to coat. Allow fruit to mascerate (fancy word for marinating fruit) while chicken cooks.



Cook chicken in a heavy bottom pan (guess what, I used my cast iron! I know, you're shocked LOL) for about 5-7 minutes on 1st side or until deeply golden browned and edges are opaque. Flip chicken, cook on 2nd side until internal temp is 160*. Remove chicken. Serve with rice, or quinoa and fresh vegetables.

Blueberry & strawberry compote

What the heck is a compote anyway?? We've all seen it on menus and thought "Oh, it comes with a compote. What is that? Is it like compost? I don't think I want to eat compost" and then ordered the eggs, right?

Wikipedia says "Compote is a dessert...made of whole or pieces of fruit in sugar syrup. Whole fruits are immersed in water and with sugar and spices added to the dish, over gentle heat." The Kitchen Witch says its an awesome topper to pancakes, french toast and crepes!

Trying to decide on a dinner that everyone in the house will like and won't take much time or require a store run, is sometimes difficult. Pancakes are something that I know everyone, even the preschooler, will love. But what do you do about the syrup when you're a no high fructose corn syrup type of household?

Sure, there's pure maple syrup, but man, that stuff is expensive! And frankly, the stuff that my local grocery stocks isn't that great, either. Its way too sweet and doesn't have much maple flavor. That's when I remembered that I had berries galore in the fridge. Thank you BOGO sales! A blueberry and strawberry fruit compote with pancakes, just what the Witch ordered!

This pancake topper is super simple to make - I'm not just saying that, it really is! It cooks in the same amount of time that my sausage and pancakes cooked in, which is fantastic. And since I'm standing at the stove already, really there's no additional effort put forth other than dumping some ingredients into a pan & stirring every now & then! Pure Kitchen Witchcraft :-)

Blueberry and Strawberry fruit compote
serves 3-4
1 pint blueberries
1/2 lb strawberries
1/4 c sugar
1 t lemon juice
zest from lemon (optional)
1/4 c water

Dump everything into a heavy bottomed pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium high and boil for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping down the sides of the pan.

Compote is done when bubbles get large (this means the sugars are concentrating) and the syrup is nice & thick. It will thicken additionally as it cools.

Serve over pancakes, French toast or anything that needs a yummy berry touch. Cheesecake would be incredible!


As you can see she liked the compote, too

Nutrition Facts
3 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 162.3
Total Fat 0.3 g
Saturated Fat 0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 8.8 mg
Potassium 245.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 40.9 g
Dietary Fiber 5.4 g
Sugars 30.5 g
Protein 1.4 g