oh my gosh. I sit on my sun porch with my laptop finally getting back to YOU because boy o boy , It has been busy. Now it is quiet. I am pleased to report two very important things , my followers ....1. I got a job , like a real big girl job at a middle school , Here in Maine , Teaching ART grades 4-8 . Which as you can imagine , I am very excited about.
The past couple weeks have been interviews, weekend plans and wrapping up things at my old school , which mostly involved overseeing 13 year olds eating too many cupcakes and pizza for a week , sugar crashes, signing year books , turning key cards in and blah blah blah ...but, I guess that my life now . Terrifying and exciting. I actually keep having dreams about like accidentally slapping kids in class while the principal is watching ... THE JITTERS are here ! Summer vacation is here too ! Hopefully I can get back into a routine with my rambling and recipe below thing again.
oh right, okay , so secondly ( the second important thing I had to tell you), Its strawberry season! I have a cake for you! I mean , I would not truly classify it as a cake but it does come in a square form, it is layered. However, its structured by homemade tangy whipped cream and crumbly, buttery , sweet/salty crackers and handpicked strawberries which of course can be substituted by store bought but, If you are like me and just went strawberry picking in the fields down the road ( Maine !) and brought home 10 quarts than, You're in luck ! As I mentioned above though, Store bought is totally an option. I would call it an Ice box cake in which I have fond memories of eating with one of my grandmothers , some could also classify it as a trifle without liquor and a little bit more homely looking.
Ingredients
Heavy whipping cream
zest off from 1 lemon
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 bar of cream cheese ( softened)
1 1/2qt strawberries cut into slivers
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
1 sleeve graham crackers
5 tablespoon butter
1. Place a bowl into freezer for your whipping cream . Begin to prep the strawberries , washing well , drying , trimming the stems and cutting them into small easy layering slivers in a bowl . set strawberries aside.
2. Grab a large zip lock baggie and empty your sleeve of ritz crackers and graham crackers into the bag ( if you would prefer to just use ritz or just use graham crackers rather than both and dependent on what you have in your cupboard, that is FINE . I just had both.) Along with crackers, melt your 5 tablespoons butter and put in bag , as well as 1/2 cup of brown or white granulated sugar . Seal bag tightly and smash mixture with a rolling pin or of sorts until crackers are crumbly but still in bigger pieces . Shake bag to make sure ingredients are well incorporated. Set aside.
3. Take your chilled bowl out of the freezer and pour in your 1/2 pint of heavy whipping cream and softened cream cheese , whip until stiff peaks form . Add in your vanilla extract , 1/2 your lemons zest ( save other half for garnish) , 1 cup of your sliced strawberries, and your granulated sugar. Mix well until everything is well incorporated , have a try and see if you need to add anything to your liking i.e more sugar , vanilla etc.
4. Grab out your dishware of choice something short and deep is best . add 2/3 cup of your your cracker mix down and spread evenly with slight pressure ( youre not really looking for a crust like texture though , Don't think pie , Think crunchy additive). Add a layer of your strawberries , a layer of whipped cream and repeat as many times until you've got nothing left ! Don't overthink the layering , do what feels best and add try to just keep it equal . Garnish with extra crumbs , strawberries, lemon zest and whatever else ! I grabbed some cute flowers from outside and placed on top.
5. Cover and let chill for at least 4 hours so things mold together, up to 24 !
Buon Appetito
xxx
Sarah
Comments