Quick and Easy Cream Cheesy and Chocolaty Desserts

Need a dessert or treat in a hurry?  Here are two easy desserts that turned out to be a big hit!

Here’s what you need for the first one:

•          2 lbs fresh strawberries

•          Pre-made cheese cake filling*

•          Graham crackers crumbs

•          Chocolate chips

Here’s what you do:

1.  Wash the berries and remove the tops with a huller, leaving a cavity in the berry.

2. Put the cheesecake filling in a dessert filler and squeeze filling into each berry to just past the top.  If you don’t have a dessert filler, you should get one; they’re awesome.  But in the mean time, just put the filling in a zip lock bag and snip off the corner.

3.  After all the berries are filled, pour about 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs into a bowl.  Dip the filled end of each berry in the crumbs and set aside on a parchment covered baking sheet.

4.  Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave with a teaspoon or so of shortening.  I usually do it 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between until they’re just melted.  Don’t overheat!

5.  Using a fork, drizzle chocolate over the berries until they look fancy.

6.  Chill in the refrigerator until filling and chocolate are firm.

Ta Da!  Strawberry Cheesecake Bites!

*If you can’t find this, or would rather make the filling from scratch, whip together the following:

3 Cups confectioners’ sugar, ½ cup softened butter, 8 oz softened cream cheese, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.

After admiring the beauty of the stuffed berries, and the speed with which they were done, we noticed there was a lot of leftover melted chocolate.  What to do?  Make a second dessert!

I looked in the pantry thinking maybe there were some pretzels or cookies we could dip, but all I found was a half full bag of marshmallows that were on the verge of getting hard.  Marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate…..The light bulb went on! 

Here’s what you need:

•          Marshmallows (They don’t have to be stale, but it’s ok if they are!)

•          Chocolate chips (or leftover chocolate from above)

•          Graham Cracker Crumbs (also leftover from above)

•          Cute sprinkles

Here’s what you do:

1.  Take a short skewer or sucker stick and jam a marshmallow onto it.

2.  Dip each one in chocolate (melted as described above) about three quarters of the way up.

3.  Dip the bottom (now covered in chocolate) in the bowl of graham cracker crumbs about ¼ of the way up and place on a parchment or wax paper covered baking sheet.

4.  Sprinkle the remaining chocolate covered sides with nonpareils (aka cute sprinkles).

S’more Pops!  A lot of people at our little dinner party liked these better than the strawberries.  My aunt said she liked them because they tasted like a Charleston Chew.

I love happy accidents!

Cherries!

What have I been doing for the past month rather than blogging?  I can't think of anything significant.  I took a break to finish some kitchens I've been working on, and I made another rag rug for a friend, but you've all seen that stuff before.  And while I've had a few culinary adventures, I think I just lost my momentum.  Not to mention, I kept forgetting to take pictures, and we all know we don't really read the blogs!  We just look at the pictures!

So this weekend, I got up early on Saturday and took my boys to the local pick-your-own farm to pick cherries.  This was my first experience picking cherries, and it was pretty coo.  The cherry orchard at this farm is enclosed with a big net structure to keep out the birds, so the cherries were abundant and nibble-free.

I intended to come home with 5 or 6 pounds, but the boys lost interest pretty quickly, and we had to move on before I had all I wanted.  We ended up with just under 2 pounds.

I had intended to make cherry preserves, but with only 2 pounds that wasn't happening.  A wonderful facebook friend recommended a recipe for cherry sorbet, so that's what I did.

But first, I decided to pour some vodka in a jar with a handful of cherries and see how cherry infused vodka would come out.  (Good).

Sorbet, it turns out, is really simple.  Give it a try!

Sour Cherry Sorbet
Here's what you need:
2 lbs of cherries
2/3 cup of sugar or agave nectar
2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice

1.  Wash and pit the cherries.  If you don't have a cherry pitter, get one.

2.  In a pan, bring to a boil the cherries, about a cup of water, 2/3 to 1 cup of sugar or agave nectar (I did the nectar), and a Tbsp or two of lemon or lime juice.

3.  After it's boiling, cut the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

4.  Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.  After that, pour it in a container and chill in the fridge for a few hours.

5.  Put the chilled mixture in the food processor or blender and puree.  If you like a smooth sorbet, put it through a fine sieve.  I didn't have a sieve, so I decided chunky sorbet was preferable to going to the store.

6.  Freeze the mixture in your ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

I let it freeze hard over night, and served it up to the neighbors the next night.  It was tart, but had a nice flavor.  It was a gorgeous color, and everyone ate it, but nobody was over the moon about it, except for my two boys, who have a perverse love of all things sour.

If I did this again, I might use strawberries or some other fruit.  Whatever, the method will be the same.

But now I'm reminded that I've been experimenting with my ice cream maker, and have had some delicious results.  I will share those another day.