Summer Fruit Salad

Posted on by peachpearplumcafe

Such a great summer fruit salad!  Packed with juicy flavors to enjoy on a hot summer day.  And great colors for a fourth of July event.  Trust me you’ll have enough for a nice size party.  It’s so simple and yet so delicious.

 

Ingredients

Salad:

1 Seedless Watermelon (cut into small cubes)

2 pints of Strawberries (diced)

2 pints of Blueberries

1 pint of Blackberries

1 pint of Raspberries

-Optional- 1 pint of pitted cherries and small star cut outs of honey dew

summer fruit salad without cherries
summer fruit salad with cherries
star shaped honey dew melon

Dressing:

½ cup of chopped fresh mint

1 cup honey

½ cup of lime juice (5 to 6 limes squeezed)

-Optional – instead of mint you can use poppy seeds

 

Directions

  1. Rinse and clean all fruit (you can rinse with water, vinegar and even baking soda to make sure it’s clean).
  2. Slice and dice the watermelon into small cubes (approximately ½ inch in size) and place in a large dish that can be sealed.
  3. Cut the leafy ends off of the strawberries and dice them into small bite size pieces.  Add them to the large dish.
  4. Sprinkle in blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.  Stir/mix until there is a nice mix of the colors of fruit.
  5. Slice and squeeze the limes into a small bowl.
  6. Either chop fresh mint or sprinkle poppy-seeds into the lime juice.
  7. Whisk in the honey and continue whisking until everything is blended nicely.
  8. Add the dressing last and mix well (I usually do it a few hours before serving so there is good flavor).
Mint and Honey Lime Dressing
My favorite fruit dressing 🙂

 

fruit salad 1

Thanks for viewing and hope you can enjoy this festive treat this July 4th!

Katie

Blueberry and Cream Cheese Scones

Posted on by peachpearplumcafe

This recipe was an unexpected treat this weekend.  My husband was craving some of my scones but the only fresh fruit we had left was blueberries.  I also had the leftover cream cheese filling from my red velvet macaron recipe (those are delicious as well).  That’s when a great idea came to my mind… Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones.  Doesn’t it sound oh so delicious?  I always see these bread recipes with a cream cheese filling, so I thought why not do it in a scone.  So here is a simple yet perfectly tasteful scone recipe for you and your family to enjoy.

Ingredients:

Scones

2  and 1/4 cups flour

⅓ cup packed brown sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 stick of butter (frozen and grated)

1 egg

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup blueberry greek yogurt or sour cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup blueberry jam

½ cup fresh blueberries

3 tbsp cream cheese filling

 Cream Cheese Filling

2 tbsp butter (room temp)

3 oz cream cheese (room temp)

¼ tsp vanilla extract

¾ cups powdered sugar

 

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400’
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. In a large bowl, sift the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.  If the brown sugar doesn’t go through the sifter you just dump it in just make sure its mixed well.
  4. Using a cheese grater (large holes) grate one stick of butter and blend until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, heavy cream, yogurt,  vanilla extract and blueberry jam.
  6. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  7. Gently fold in the fresh blueberries (it’s fine if some get smushed).
  8. Carefully add in the cream cheese filling. Don’t over blend it but make sure you don’t have large sections of it. IMG_1288
  9. Pat the dough out into a rectangular shape (like a flat log) that is about 1 inch thick.  Cut into 6 – 8 equal wedges (you can use a pizza cutter). 
  10. Arrange the wedges on your baking sheet or scone pan.  Using a basting brush, brush some heavy whipping cream over the tops of the scones. 
  11. Bake scones for 12 – 14 minutes or until light golden brown.
  12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before enjoying.

 

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!

Katie

 

 

Red Velvet Macarons

Posted on by peachpearplumcafe

Just looking for a small bite or two of a delicious red velvet cake flavor?  Well look no farther, these macarons will hit the spot.  With a rich, buttery, cream cheese filling your sure to want more than just one.

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Red Velvet Macarons

Macaron Shells

1 cup powdered sugar

½ cup almond flour

1 and ½ tablespoons cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

2 large egg whites (room temp)

4 tbsp gran. Sugar

¼ tsp cream of tartar

½ tsp of vanilla extract

¾ tsp liquid red food coloring

 

Buttercream Filling

4 tbsp butter (room temp)

6 oz cream cheese

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 to 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (depends on how sweet and thick you want the filling)

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Macaron Instructions:

  1. Prepare pans with sheet liners as well as a cup with piping bag ready.
  2. Sift powdered sugar, almond flour, cocoa powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl.
  3. Whip 2 egg whites (room temp)  until they begin to foam; add in the cream of tartar.
  4. Continue whipping; when it begins to hold its shape and thicken, pour in 4 tbsp of sugar one at a time.
  5. When mixed, turn off mixer and add in vanilla extract and whip again.
  6. Stop the mixer again and add in the red food coloring (keep in mind it will get lighter when you mix with the dry ingredients) and mix until unity in color.
  7. Sprinkle in half of the dry ingredients and begin folding it with a spatula, add in the rest of the dry ingredients and carefully fold it with the spatula again.  Make sure not to over mix it.
  8. Scoop batter into the piping bag and pipe out ½ inch circles onto the baking sheets.
  9. Bang the pans a few times on the table to help get out air bubbles.
  10. Preheat oven to 320 degrees.
  11. Let macaron shells sit for 20 to 30 minutes before placing into the oven (if you gently touch the top of a macaron and no batter sticks to you then they are ready to bake).
  12. Bake in the oven for 12 to 14 minutes depending on the oven (one pan at a time).
  13. Let the macaron shells cool completely before peeling them off the baking sheets.
  14. Begin matching like sized shells and lay them out for the filling.

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Buttercream Filling Instructions:

  1. Mix or blend butter and cream cheese together.
  2. Add in vanilla extract and continue to mix.
  3. Sprinkle in the powdered sugar and mix until well blended.  
  4. Place into a piping bag and pipe small amounts onto macaron shells that have been prepped.
  5. Gently press together to make macaron sandwiches.
  6. Macarons will last in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days if placed in a sealed tight container.

Short cut awesomeness!!!!

If you don’t want to make your own filling, buy a container of cream cheese icing.  It’s a bit more sweet than the homemade filling but still tasty.

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