Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

I love this dessert. The balance between the fruit, sweet, and salty it perfect. This is a great recipe to make year round and for some reason the only time my family ever makes this is for Christmas Eve! Doesn't it make a pretty 4th of July dessert?

When my family makes this we buy the frozen sugared strawberries in a carton. You can find the frozen strawberries in the frozen dessert section of your local grocery store. They come in a 24 ounce container so a little more than you need for the recipe. Sometimes I add a little extra or I eat the rest because they are so yummy. :)

This recipe is really easy but you need to plan ahead so you have enough time for each layer to cool before you add the next layer.

This recipe is from the Illinois Mennonite Relief Sale Cookbook, 1984.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert Recipe

First Layer:

1 1/2 sticks butter

2 2/3 cups pretzels

3 Tbsp. sugar

Second Layer: 

1 - 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 sm. carton cool whip

Third Layer:

1 lg. box strawberry jello

1 cup boiling water

1 cup cold water

1 - 20 oz. pkg. strawberries, fresh or frozen

Roll pretzels with rolling pin until you have 2 2/3 cup crushed pretzels. Do not make too powdery. Melt butter and add sugar and pretzels. Press into a 9x13 pan and bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Prepare middle layer by creaming together cream cheese and sugar. Add cool whip. Spread over cooled pretzel layer. Let set in refrigerator until firm.

Mix strawberry jello with water. When the mixture starts to congeal, add strawberries. Pour over the cream cheese mixture and place in fridge until firm.

This is such a sweet, decorative dessert. No matter who you make it for they're sure to love it!

What's your favorite 13x9 summer dessert?
Comment below!

Megan

Chocolate Strawberry Layer Cake

I enjoyed making this smooth chocolate cake with a mixture of frostings and fillings! This summer-y chocolate cake is perfect for any of your summer gatherings. Chocolate, fresh fruit, and cool whip for a light, cool summer treat.

I did make a few different layers. First, I iced the bottom cake with chocolate icing and layered it with strawberries topping with a layer of cool whip. I added another layer of strawberries and cool whip so the top layer would have something to stick to.

I used the chocolate frosting to ice the top and then used the rest of my thinly sliced strawberries to decorate the top.

I used almost 2 pounds of fresh strawberries for this cake!

Thanks to NellieBellie.com for the chocolate cake recipe!

Chocolate Cake Recipe 

3/4 cup soft butter

3 eggs at room temp.

2 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa 

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder 

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups milk

Grease pans (either 2 round 9 inch pans or one 13x9) and either flour or coat with cocoa. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Beat butter for 30 seconds or so. Slowly add sugar.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Beat in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients beating after each addition.

Add half of the milk, beat, and then add the other half. Beat just until everything is nicely combined.

Spread batter evenly into pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes for round pans, 5 minutes or so longer for a 13x9 pan. Watch them! A toothpick inserted in the middle that comes out clean means it is done! 

Let cool completely before icing. 

Chocolate Frosting Recipe

1/2 cup soft butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. milk

Beat ingredients together. Add additional cocoa, sugar, and milk to taste.

Note: I did not ice my whole cake, I left my sides bare. If you are making this to ice the whole cake I would double or triple this recipe to make sure you have enough frosting.

What's your favorite cake/fruit combination?
Comment below!

Megan

Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Nate and I went the entire month of April with no sugar!! We avoided sweets and most refined sugars (we still ate fruit). It was a long 30 days.

The first thing I made was this beauty.

  I love making angel food cake because the mixer does all of the work! The key is to beat the eggs, beat 'em again, and beat 'em some more! You want those egg whites to stand up by themselves! This gives you that light, fluffy, and sponge-like cake.

This was my first time making an angel food cake with a chocolate frosting. It was so simple! A light, fluffy cake with a light, fluffy frosting. Perfect. 

Nate grated semi-sweet baking chocolate squares on my box grater into fine shavings. He did such a good job. :)

Okay let's get to the recipe! This recipe is from the 4-H Baking Project Book. 

Angel Food Cake Recipe

1 cup cake flour

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

1 2/3 cup egg whites, about 12 large eggs

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust oven rack to lowest position.

In a small bowl, whisk flour with 3/4 cup sugar. Place egg whites in the electric mixer's bowl and beat at a low speed until beginning to froth. Add cream of tartar and salt. Beat on medium speed until egg whites form soft mounds. Add remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until all sugar is added and whites are shiny and form soft peaks. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and almond; beat until just blended. 

Sift flour over egg whites about 3 Tbsp. at a time, and gently fold in. Gently scrape batter into a 10-inch tube pan and smooth the top. Give the pan a couple raps on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake until the cake is golden brown and the top springs back when pressed, about 50-60 minutes.

If the cake pan has prongs around the rim, invert pan on prongs over a cooling rack. If no prongs, invert pan over a bottle or funnel so air can circulate. Let cake cool completely, 2-3 hours.

Remove the cake by running a metal knife around the edges of the pan, being careful not to separate the crust from the cake. Slide out of the pan and cut the same way around removable bottom to release. Place the cake, bottom side up on a plate. Cut slices by gently sawing with a serrated knife. 

Chocolate Frosting Recipe

1 small container cool whip, 8 oz.

3 oz. semi sweet baking chocolate, extra for garnish

berries for decoration

In a small bowl mix chocolate into cool whip. Using a serrated knife slice the cake in half longways. Spread some of the frosting on the bottom layer and put the top layer back on. Ice the top and sides. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings and top with fruit. 

Keep in refrigerator. 

A lovely light treat that everyone is sure to love!

What's your favorite angel food topping?

Megan