Sweets and Treats Forever

Fourth of July is another holiday where expectations are high for our festive desserts. Our town throws a spectacular Fourth of July celebration each year with a parade, fireworks, and lots of fun parties where we are always asked to bring a festive sweet treat! We love our tried and true classic desserts but also like to spice it up each year with something new. This year, trying something new came to the tune of making not just a handful of treats for two or three parties, but making a whopping 126 cupcakes and a beautiful berry trifle!

Mary and I were so excited when we saw that one of our favorite baking accessory companies, Meri Meri, had fun and festive cupcake kits perfect for the Fourth of July! We were lucky to find them at two stores nearby—Sur La Table and Paper Source (on sale here)— so snatched them up before the big day. The cupcake kits came with cupcake liners and the cutest silver sparkly star cupcake toppers, and we found another fun and patriotic cupcake kit from Wilton. Once we picked out the liners and toppers we wanted to be sure the cupcakes themselves were just as festive, and of course great tasting. 

As you can see from the photo, we decided to go with a red, white and blue swirl buttercream icing. You might be wondering how we created the perfect color swirl without the colors running together making a light purple mess. The past few years when we have made similar cupcakes we have made the frosting the hard way—trying to somehow place the individual colors in the same piping bag without having them touch and mix (in short, a very messy and difficult process!). This year, thanks to a new and very useful tool made by Wilton, we piped the colored frostings into individual bags and used the Wilton color coupler to make the swirl. This tool makes swirled cupcakes just as easy as cupcakes frosted with one color! 

After being asked to supply the dessert for a family friends party, we knew we had to make our third annual Patriotic Berry Trifle from Food Network. A combination of fresh summer berries (that happen to be the perfect colors!), airy angel food cake and creamy whipped cream make for a light yet decadent treat. 

Before assembling the trifle, we whipped together a homemade Angel Food Cake made with real vanilla bean for an incredible flavor (though you can always purchase one store-bought if you are in need of a time-saving solution!). We then sliced up the beautiful cake into thick pieces and brushed them with a light lemon almond syrup for an added hint of sweetness. Next, we piled on fresh berries (blue and blackberries first), and later scooped a cream cheese whipped cream over the top. We repeated these three layers a second time, only using sliced strawberries and raspberries for a beautiful red color. On top, we arranged the berries into a flower for an elegant touch. 

We hope you enjoy this berry patriotic recipe! We only pull out our adorable trifle dish a few times a year, and always anticipate using it for this festive treat!

Patriotic Berry Trifle

Recipe by Sunny Anderson via Food Network

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup plus 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 angel food cake (recipe we used linked here and in post)
• 1 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 cups heavy cream, at room temperature
• 2 pints blueberries
• 2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced

Cooking Directions

1. Heat 1/4 cup sugar, the lemon juice and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract.
2. Brush both sides of each slice of cake with the syrup. Cut the slices into 1-inch cubes.
3. Beat the remaining 2/3 cup sugar and the cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and light. Add the cream and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.
4. Arrange half of the cake cubes in the bottom of a 13-cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Dollop half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread. Top with a layer of strawberries. Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries, then sprinkle with more blueberries and top with the remaining cream mixture. Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a decorative pattern. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

We hope you had a Happy Fourth and enjoyed some delicious patriotic treats!

Enjoy,