No Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds fresh strawberries, washed
3 1/4 cups whipping cream, divided
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 sleeves (about 19 ounces, or 24 to 28 whole crackers) graham crackers
2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Take out a few of the best-looking strawberries and set them aside for the garnish. Hull the remainder of the strawberries and slice each berry into thin slices.

With a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, whip 3 cups of cream until it just holds stiff peaks. Add the confectioners sugar, vanilla and whip to combine.

Spread a small spoonful of whipped cream on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan, or a similarly-sized platter. Lay down six graham crackers. Lightly cover the top of the graham crackers with more whipped cream, and then a single layer of strawberries. Repeat three times, until you have four layers of graham crackers. Spread the last of the whipped cream over the top and swirl it lightly with a spoon. Add a few more strawberries.

To make the ganache, heat the cream until bubbles form around the edges, then pour over the chopped chocolate. Let it stand for a few minutes, then whisk until the mixture is thick and glossy. Drizzle this over the layered dessert with a spoon, or transfer to a squeeze bottle and use that to drizzle.

Refrigerate for at least four hours, or until the crackers have softened completely. Garnish with additional berries.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

My new guilty pleasure! These are so delicious!!!

Ingredients:

1 lb large strawberries
-8 oz. cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat)
-3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife, if necessary (some may already be hollow inside). Prep all strawberries and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.

Strawberry Banana Crepes

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• ½ cup whole milk
• ½ cup flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups sliced strawberries
• 2 bananas, sliced
• powdered sugar or whipped cream

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, beat eggs until fluffy. Add in milk, flour, salt and melted butter and mix until smooth.
2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour about ¼ cup of batter into the hot pan and tilt the pan in a circular motion so that the batter coats the pan evenly. When the bottom of the crepe is turning golden brown, and the top is just cooked through, remove from the heat and transfer to a plate to cool.
3. Repeat with the remaining batter.
4. Fill crepes with fruit and roll the edges together. Top with powdered sugar or whipped cream.

From Julie at Lovely Little Kitchen

Mini Berry Tarts

Ingredients

• 1 (16.5 ounce) package Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 quart of strawberries chopped into small pieces, or whole raspberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a mini muffin pan generously with cooking spray.
2. Fill each section with a 1 inch ball of sugar cookie dough trying to make sure that the dough is distributed evenly. Try not to let the dough go over the edge of the pan to prevent sticking.
3. Bake the tarts for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Let them cool for about a minute. Gently press the center of the tart to make space for the cream cheese filling. You can use anything you want here to do this. I used the handle of my whisk.
5. Allow the tarts to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then gently twist to loosen the edges and remove from the pan to a cooling rack or use a knife to loosen the edges. I found that placing them in the fridge allows them to cool faster and makes removing easy. If yours are difficult to remove, try filling them with less dough, greasing more thoroughly, or allowing them to cool longer.
6. For the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and heavy cream with an electric mixer until fluffy and smooth.
7. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a little at a time until smooth and creamy. Feel free to add more powdered sugar if you like the filling a bit firmer.
8. Beat in the vanilla extract.
9. Fill a piping bag or ziplock bag with the filling mixture and pipe into each tart.
10. Top with small pieces of strawberry, or a whole raspberry.
11. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
12. Tarts will soften as they are stored in the refrigerator so serve the same day.

From Julie at http://lovelylittlekitchen.com/