Strawberry Cream Crepes with Chocolate Drizzle

These are absolutely delectable and make a gorgeous presentation! The best part? They're easier to make than pancakes. No, really! These would make a perfect Valentine's night dessert for your little ones or your significant other... or for girls night! Because really, what's better than chocolate and strawberries with a light-as-the-clouds cream cheese filling? That's what I thought. 

What You'll Need:
serves 2-3
for the crepes:
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup whole milk 
1 tbsp sugar 
1/4 tsp salt 
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
for the filling:
1/2 lb strawberries
1 tbsp sugar
4 oz cream cheese
4 oz mascarpone cheese 
1 cup powdered sugar 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream 
for the drizzle:
1/2 cup chocolate chips 
4 tbsp heavy whipping cream 

What To Do:
To prepare the crepe batter, combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth, about thirty seconds. Cover and refrigerate the batter for an hour. 

Meanwhile, Rinse and chop the strawberries, storing in a bowl. Sprinkle with sugar and stir to fully incorporate. Cover the strawberries with a paper towel and allow to sit at room temperature until ready to use. 

Heat a nonstick skillet to medium  heat and spray with cooking spray. Pour batter into the skillet (will be runny) and swirl to ensure it's evenly distributed. Allow to cook through and then flip it over with a spatula. Remove and all to cool on a plate. 

To prepare the cream filling, beat together cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla on medium speed until fully combined and fluffy. While mixing, slowly add the heavy whipping cream. Continue to beat until you reach the desired fluffiness. 

To prepare the chocolate drizzle, place chocolate chips and heavy cream together in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds and then in 10 second intervals until fully melted, stirring each time. Add more cream for a thinner consistency if desired and stir well. 

In the middle of each crepe, spread a generous amount of cream filling. Layer strawberries on top of that, and roll together carefully with the seams down. Drizzle chocolate over each crepe and garnish with extra strawberries. 

crepe recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Leftover Cake Shots

This isn't really a recipe but look how cute!

I got to put my new kitchen shot glasses to good use with this leftover cake. You see, when I made this strawberry cake that I've already talked about a bit... I had to level each layer so that it would sit evenly. It left me with some perfectly delicious cake crumbles that I could not bring myself to throw out. 

So for our youth Bible study, I layered leftover cake crumbles, leftover vanilla swiss meringue buttercream frosting, sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

The students loved it! 

These would be perfect for showers and parties

or even just as an afternoon treat

It's a great way to use up crumbly cake

but I'd totally create cake just for this purpose as well.

And isn't everything better in a Mason jar?

I'd say so!

Inspired by Oh, Sweet Joy

Fresh Strawberry Cake

One of the best things about spring and summer is fresh strawberries. I made this delicious cake for a dessert auction, and although its appearance was what caught peoples' attention- the taste was just as impressive!


I love that it is made with real strawberries- no artificial flavors or coloring- and is still very pink and strawberry-ish (yep, that's now a word). The cake is moist and firm enough to handle layers or fondant. 


I spread remaining strawberry puree and cream cheese frosting between the layers, and used cream cheese frosting as a crumb layer. I then used a vanilla swiss meringue buttercream for the roses. Stick around for the frosting recipes and an easy as 1-2-3 tutorial on those gorgeous roses! 

What You'll Need:

• For the strawberry puree:
• 24 oz very ripe strawberries, hulled 
• 1-2 tsp sugar (optional)
• For the cake:
• 1/4-1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
• 6 large egg whites, room temperature (4 whole eggs can be substituted)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cup cake flour, sifted
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temp

What To Do: 

1. Hull, slice and toss the strawberries with a teaspoon or two of sugar and cover. Let them sit at room temperature for a couple of hours, until nice and juicy.
2. Place strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree.
3. Reserve 3/4 cup puree for the cake. 
4. Use leftover puree to fill the cake or fold into the frosting, if desired. It's also fabulous spooned over ice cream... and eaten straight with a spoon.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two 8- or 9-inch pans: spray inside with baking spray with flour (or use some sort of grease/flour combination).
6. In small bowl, combine puree, milk, egg, vanilla and mix with fork until well blended. In bowl of stand mixer, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine. Continue beating at slow speed and add butter. Mix until combined and resembling moist crumbs.
7. Add wet ingredients and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute or until full and evenly combined. Stop mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl and hand beat for 30 more seconds.
8. Note: The batter will not get any pinker in the oven so if you're disappointed in the color from your berries, maybe consider adding a drop or two of pink or red food coloring.
9. Divide the batter evenly among the pans and smooth tops.
10. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (time will vary). Let cakes rest in pan for about 10 minutes and turn out onto wire racks. Let cakes cool completely (about 2 hours).

Yields: ~12-16 servings

From Confections of a Foodie Bride,

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Classic White Cake and Good Things Catered

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

You might have read about my first attempt at Swiss meringue buttercream.

It did not end well.

This attempt turned out SO much better!

It is time consuming because of all of the steps and the very necessary mixing time, but it is amazing what a stand mixer and a food thermometer can help you accomplish! This frosting tastes light, not too sweet and has the perfect strawberry consistency. Some students just licked this frosting off of the cake. It was described as tasting like strawberry ice cream. So yeah. It was good. I topped some basic white cake with the strawberry goodness, but it would be just as delicious on yellow, strawberry or chocolate cake as well.

This recipe makes quite a large batch- perfect for frosting a cake! But I think I'm going to use the leftover as fruit dip (and completely minimize all nutritional value of fruit)

(are you lovin this tacky cupcake tower too?!)

What You'll Need:

1½ cups fresh strawberries (8 oz.), rinsed, hulled and coarsely chopped
4 large egg whites
1¼ cups sugar
3 sticks (1½ cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature

What To Do:

Place the strawberries in a food processor or blender.  Puree until completely smooth.  Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.  Heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture reaches 160° F and the sugar has dissolved.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 8 minutes.  (The bowl should be cool to the touch.)

Reduce the speed to medium and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, adding more once each addition has been incorporated.  If the frosting looks soupy or curdled, continue to beat on medium-high speed until thick and smooth again, about 3-5 minutes more (or longer – don’t worry, it will come together!)  Blend in the strawberry puree until smooth and completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip with the frosting.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired, and garnish with fresh berries or berry slices.

Source: Annie's Eats, originally from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes

Tuxedo Cake

This was the finale to our Christmas dinner.

Isn't it pretty?

The best part about this cake it that the components are simple

I put this together over two days 

(which further simplified the process)

It's a basic, but very moist, chocolate cake 

whipped cream filling and frosting

and a chocolate ganache

I garnished with chocolate covered strawberries

but I've seen all kinds of cool things you can do on Pinterest! 

I also cut the recipe to 2/3 its original proportions

and made it a two layer cake. 

It was still HUGE. 

What You'll Need: 

For the cake:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups water
1 cup canola oil
4 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

For the frosting:
4 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

For the chocolate topping:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract

What To Do:

To make the cake layers, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line three 9-inch round cake pans (or two 10-inch round cake pans) with parchment paper.  Butter and flour the inside edges of the pan, shaking out the excess flour.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, water and canola oil; heat until the butter is melted.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa powder, and flour; whisk to blend.  Pour the melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then whisk in the buttermilk.  Add the baking soda, salt and vanilla to the bowl and whisk just until incorporated.  Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of each cake layer and invert onto a wire cooling rack.  Allow the cake layers to cool completely before frosting, at least 2 hours.

To make the frosting, add the heavy cream to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.  Whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.  Add the powdered sugar and continue to whip until thoroughly combined and stiff peaks form.  Be careful not to over-beat!

To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on a cake platter and spread a layer of the whipped cream frosting over the top.  Top with a second cake layer, more frosting (and the third cake layer, if using).  Frost the top and sides of the assembled cake.  Refrigerate until the frosting has stabilized, at least 1 hour.

To make the chocolate glaze, place the chocolate in a medium bowl.  Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit 1-2 minutes.  Whisk until the mixture is smooth and homogenous.  Blend in the corn syrup and vanilla.  Pour the glaze into a pitcher or measuring cup and let cool for 10 minutes.  (Do not let the glaze cool longer or it may become difficult to pour over the cake.)  Slowly pour the glaze over the cake, ensuring that the top is covered and the glaze drips over the sides.

Refrigerate the cake until the glaze is set and the whipped cream frosting is firm, at least 1 hour.  Slice with a long, sharp knife, wiping the blade clean between slices.

adapted from Annie's Eats