MIxed berry crumb cake

 

I couldn't find my camera while I was making this so the pictures were taken by my phone which isn't the best quality, so I apologize for the pictures.  I've been wanting to make up some sort of berry cake for a while and now that berries are about to be in season I couldn't wait.  In my garden I have four raspberry bushes and one black berry bush.  They haven't produced berries yet but when they do I will have a bunch so many berry recipes to follow after this one!  For this cake I bought the berries, but since they are in season the berries were inexpensive.  You can also use frozen berries which are cheaper but taste just as good as the store bought fresh ones, of course berries from your garden will always taste the best!

Streusel:

1 1/2 cup crushed Nilla wafers

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup chopped almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cardamon

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter

Cake:

2 cups unbleached flour

1 cup sugar

2 1/3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temp)

2 eggs (room temp)

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup milk

Berries:

6 oz raspberries

6 oz black berries

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp sugar

Mix all of the streusel ingredients in a medium bowl.  First I mixed all of the ingredients together except for the melted butter.  Then I added the butter and mixed everything with a wooden spoon until the butter was evenly distributed.  For the cake there will be three layers of streusel.  Set the streusel aside and make the batter for the cake.  In a medium mixing bowl add the sugar and butter together, mix until creamy then add the vanilla, milk, and 2 eggs.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth.  For the berries place both in a small bowl with the sugar and lemon juice.  Gently toss until evenly coated, make sure you don't break the berries.

For the construction of the cake, spray a 9 inch spring for pan and press a 1/3 of the streusel evenly on the bottom.  

Pour half of the batter over the bottom layer and spread it so it is an even layer.  Add half of the berries, I placed them in one by one to make sure they were evenly distributed.  Gently press down on the berries so they are in the cake batter.  Sprinkle half of the remaining streusel evenly over the batter and then pour the rest of the batter into the pan.  Place the remaining berries into the second layer of batter and then sprinkle the rest of the streusel evenly over the top of your cake.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 60 minutes, test by poking the center with a toothpick.  Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing it.

Yummy moist berry cake tastes best with coffee or hot tea in the morning.  This is a tasty alternative to coffee cake.

Easy cheese cake dessert

 

This dessert is so tasty and it is perfect for a summer bbq.  I made this for my dad hence the huge 'D' made out of black berries.  The recipe comes from my mothers archive, passed to her from an old friend.

Raspberry cream cheese dessert

1 1/2 cup crushed grahm cracker (approx 8-10 full crackers)

1/2 cup melted butter

8 oz cream cheese

1 can of sweet and condensed milk (14 oz)

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 package Dream Whip (you will need cold milk and vanilla to prepare this)

Package of Danish dessert (strawberry)

Package of frozen raspberries (12 oz)

First, mix your Grahm crumbs with butter.  Pour all of it in a 9x13 pan and press down making an even layer.  I didn't have a 9x13 pan so I used a slightly smaller one.  Because my pan was smaller I had extra crumbs to press up against the side making a yummy grahm shell.

Next using an electrical mixer, beat together the cream cheese, sweet and condensed milk, and lemon juice.  In a smaller bowl prepare one package of Dream Whip according to the directions on the back.  I found that Dream Whip is more structurally sound than regular whipped cream so I don't suggest substituting the Dream Whip with the real thing, it might mess with the structure of your dessert.  Gently fold the Dream Whip into your cream cheese mixture and pour over your Grahm crumbs.  Even out the top and allow it to sit on the counter for about one hour.

When the cheese cake has set start making the Danish dessert according to the package.  If you are wondering where to find Dream Whip and Danish dessert you will find both of them in the baking section near the jello and gelatin.  When the Danish dessert is done cooking add in all of the frozen raspberries and gently fold them in.

Spread the Danish dessert over your cheese cake.  I also decided to decorate my cake with blackberries but this is completely optional.  Place the cheese cake in the refrigerator and allow it to cool.  I made mine the night before so it could sit in the refrigerator all night but if you don't have that much time a couple of hours should be fine.  I found with cheesecake, a whole night in the refrigerator is always the best route to go.