Mixed Berry Shortcake Layer Cake with Fresh Berries, Lemon Soaking Syrup, & Whipped Mascarpone Frosting

Mixed Berry Shortcake Layer Cake with Fresh Berries, Lemon Soaking Syrup, & Whipped Mascarpone Frosting

I know that the Fourth of July has come and passed us now, but I still have one more festive recipe to post. For our meal on the 4th, we enjoyed jello shots & fried chicken and this cake for dessert. This cake is so simple, yet so flavorful. Sometimes you don't want a cake with a bunch of crazy components... you just want a vanilla cake with a bunch of fresh berries and a killer frosting. I mean the frosting was divine. I used  this frosting as the base, but I added in a whole bunch of mascarpone, so it's like ten times better than before. We were literally eating it with a spoon. And it might seem like there's a lot of the frosting on the cake, but trust me, you want it there. I love the balance of flavors in this cake. And hey, it's patriotic to boot! I know I'm a little late, but it'd be a great cake for next year's celebration!! Enjoy :)

For the Vanilla Cake:

5 Large Egg Whites, Room Temperature

¾C Whole Milk, Room Temperature

1 Lemon, Zested

2 ¼t Vanilla

2 ¾C Cake Flour, Sifted

1 ¾C Sugar

1T + 1t Baking Powder

¾t Salt

12T Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature & Cut into Cubes

For the Lemon Soaking Syrup:

¼C Sugar

3T Fresh Lemon Juice

For the Whipped Mascarpone Frosting:

10T AP Flour

2C Milk

2t Vanilla

4 Sticks of Salted Butter (or you can use unsalted and just add salt to taste)

2C Sugar

16oz Mascarpone

For the Mixed Berry Shortcake:

Prepared Three Layers of Vanilla Cake

Prepared Whipped Mascarpone Frosting

Lemon Soaking Syrup

Fresh Blueberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, & Raspberries, For Garnishing

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 3 round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with Pam and set aside.
2. For the Cake: In a medium bowl, combine and stir the egg whites, ¼C of milk, lemon zest, and the vanilla. Set it aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients together on low speed for 30 second. Add the butter and remaining ½C of milk, and mix on low speed until just moistened. Increase to medium speed and mix for 1½ minutes. Scrape the side of the bowl and begin to add in the egg mixture in 3 separate batches; beat on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition. Divide the batter evenly into the three prepared cake pans. Bake each cake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center (do not over-bake). Let the cakes cool on racks for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a knife, and invert onto greased wire racks.
3. For the Lemon Soaking Syrup: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon juice, stir with a fork until the sugar dissolves. Set it aside until ready to use.
4. For the Whipped Mascarpone Frosting: In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla. While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream. Once it has reached the consistency you liked, gently adding in the mascarpone and beating to combine. It should be fluffy and light, but smooth.

source: fluffy vanilla cake. 

Mac n' Cheese Stuffed Burgers with Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions & Weaved Bacon Patties

Mac n' Cheese Stuffed Burgers with Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions & Weaved Bacon Patties

I've been lazy about blogging this week, sorry charlie. But no worries, I finally have a recipe to post today!! And its a doozy, lemme tell you. A couple months ago, we made these All-American Bacon-Crusted Burger with Thousand Island Mayo, and they were delish. I couldn't stop thinking about them and how I wanted to make them even crazier and more over-the-top than it already was. Well, I was thinking maybe I should stuff the burgers with some cheese, so it would get nice & ooey-gooey when you bite into it. But no, that wasn't crazy enough for us. Then bam, I was hit by a bus. No I'm just kidding... no bus incident here, but bam, a great idea had just popped into my head. Why not stuff a burger with a mac n' cheese patty. Holy Paula Deen... I couldn't wait to try it. So, we made some mac n' cheese and pressed inside of two burger patties and grilled them up. When you bite into these burgers (I mean that's if you can because they are so large, you practically have to un-hinge your jaw in order to do so), the mac n' cheese just oozes out and the cheesy-pasta-goodness just comforts your fatty Southern soul. The burgers are also loaded with Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions (um, what the what) that are sweet, soft, and perfectly caramelized. It's practically like a jam when you spread it on the burger buns. But one of our favorite components was the Weaved Bacon Patty. This patty ensures bacon in every bite, which is so genius. And you know what, next time I make a BLT, I making these patties for sure. They would be so perfect. We finished the burgers with my favorite thousand island mayo, tomato, and lettuce. But feel free to add anything else you would like... I mean it's your burger now isn't it? Yes. I also included a bunch of step-by-step pictures to show you how to make these stuffed burgers because it's hard to visualize the process. I hope it helps!! Enjoy :)

Press a portion of the ground beef into a large, round cookie cutter...

Then place a piece of American cheese inside...

Add in the mac n' cheese... 

And top with another slice of cheese and slide it out of the cookie cutter...

Press another portion of ground beef into the same cookie cutter, slide it out of the mold,
and place it on top of the mac n' cheese stuffed burger. Seal the edges to make sure
it's all covered and the mac n' cheese won't spill out.

Here are the cooked & crispy weaved bacon patties... yum 

Place a cooked burger patty on a bun...

Top the burger with a weaved bacon patty...

Load her up with all those delicious toppings & coca-cola caramelized onions... 

See the mac n' cheese stuffing? Heaven. on. earth. yep.  

Just let go & devour it..

For the Mac n’ Cheese Stuffed Burgers:

1lb Ground Chuck (80/20)

4 Slices of American cheese

Your Favorite Mac n’ Cheese Recipe

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions:

4 Vidalia Onions, Sliced

Butter & Olive Oil, For Cooking

Salt, To Taste

12oz Coca Cola

For the Thousand Island Sauce:

2T + 2t Mayo

1T Ketchup

2t Sweet Pickle Relish

½t Sugar & White Vinegar

¼t Paprika & Garlic Powder 

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Mac n’ Cheese Stuffed Burgers:

Prepared Mac n’ Cheese Stuffed Burger Patties, Cooked

Prepared Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions

Crispy Weaved Bacon Patties

2 Gourmet Hamburger Buns, Buttered & Toasted

Prepared Thousand Island Sauce

Homemade Pickle Chips

Heirloom Tomatoes, Sliced & Sprinkled Lightly with Salt and Pepper

Fresh Iceberg Lettuce, Ribs Removed & Torn into Bun-Sized Pieces

Directions:

1. For the Mac n’ Cheese Stuffed Burgers: Prepare your favorite mac n’ cheese recipe, pour it into a baking dish, and then refrigerate until cold and set. Split the ground chuck into 4 equal portions. Spray a large 4inch round cookie cutter with Pam and place it on top of a piece of parchment paper, press 1 of the portions of ground beef into the cutter, pressing it in to compact it and slightly pushing it up the sides, so there’s a deep indentation. Place 1 slices of American cheese on top of the pressed meat. Next, using a 3inch round rookie cutter, cut the chilled mac n’ cheese into small rounds. Place the mac n’ cheese round into the indentation of the beef, on top of the American cheese slice. Gently push the compacted mac n’ cheese-ground meat out of the cookie cutter, making sure it stays together. Repeat the process with another portion of the ground beef, compacting it in and pushing it up the sides (this patty portion will not be filled, but will be used to seal the burger completely). Place this formed patty on top of the other mac n’ cheese filled patty and seal the meat on the sides, so it’s completely formed. Repeat with the other two portions of ground beef. You should have two huge stuffed burger patties. Season all sides with salt & pepper. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and melt some butter in it until very hot. Fry the each burger and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the outsides are brown and crispy. Place them onto a baking sheet and bake them in a preheated 400-degree oven for 5-10 minutes until your preferred doneness. Let them rest slightly before you assemble the burgers.

2. For the Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions: In a large pan on medium heat sauté the onions in half the butter for 10 minutes. Stirring occasionally but not too much. Over stirring will not allow the onions to brown. When the onions have absorbed all the butter, add the remaining butter and sauté another 10 minutes, occasionally stirring. When the onions absorb the second round of butter or oil and they are brown and translucent, start deglazing with the Coke, using enough to cover the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Keep stirring occasionally and repeat the deglazing process until the onions are completely brown and soft, and all of the coke has be absorbed. Keep warm until you are ready to use.

3. For the Thousand Island Sauce: Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Season with salt & pepper to your taste.

4. For the Weaved Bacon Patties: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with a Silpat. Cut strips of bacon in half and weave the bacon slices into a square patty. I did this similarly to how you would weave a lattice-topped piecrust. Just alternately overlap the slices of bacon with each other to form a square patty. Bake the weaved patties in the oven for 20 minutes, and then boost the heat up to 400 degrees and cook until the bacon slices are all crisp (this will depend on how thick your bacon is, mine took an extra 10-15 minutes). Set these aside until you are ready to use them.

5. Assembling the Burgers: Top each slice of buttered & toasted bun with a thick layer of Thousand Island Sauce. On the bottom slice of each bun, top the sauce with 1 slice of seasoned heirloom tomato and lettuce. Place one stuffed burger on top of the lettuce, spread with Coca-Cola Caramelized Onions, and then top with the other weaved bacon patty and finish with the top slice of the bun. Repeat the make the other burger.

6. Serve immediately with some French fries.

Best Recipes For Your 4th of July Parties

Here are my favorite recipes that would be perfect for y'alls Fourth of July parties :)

All-American Bacon-Crusted Burger with Thousand Island Mayo

Homemade Southern Banana Pudding

Bourbon Banana Bread Pudding Trifle

The Best Fried Chicken I've Ever Made

Shaved Brussel Sprout Slaw

Chili-Cheese-Slaw Dogs

Summer Fruit Crostata Bars

Fried Egg Burger with Pimento Cheese

Beer Battered Fried Oreos

Fourth of July Jello Shot Stars

Classic Low Country Boil

Layered Mixed Berry Mojito Popsicles

Peach Cobbler Crumble Pancakes

Fresh Georgia Peach Mint Julep's

Pickled Deviled Eggs with Country Ham & Sriracha Powder

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Fried Pickles

Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake Layer Cake

Gourmet S'more Brownie Bars 

Sweet Tea Brined-Fried Chicken

S'mores with Homemade Vanilla Bean Marshmallows

Homemade Watermelon Lemonade

Enjoy y'all!!

"Easy as Pie" Mini Blueberry & Cherry Pies

As you read in the title, this dessert is easy as pie... literally. I had already made the Bourbon Banana Bread Pudding Trifle, but I had some store bought pie crusts in the refrigerator, so I figured why not make a festive dessert that would be yummy, but super easy. Literally all I did was cut out circles that fit my muffin tins, as liners, and then I filled them with cherry pie filling & blueberry pie filling (you could also make your own filling too). Then I did different decorative crust work on top, except for you can't really see mine very well because the pie filling decided to ooze everywhere. But that's fine because it still tasted good. Also, it was nice that these were hand-held because you could just carry these around and eat as you please!! Enjoy :)

Alex Enjoying the Mini Pies

Mini Blueberry Pies

Mini Cherry Pies

For the Mini Pies:

4 9inch Pie Crusts, Thawed (I used store bought)

1 Can of Cherry Pie Filling

1 Can of Blueberry Pie Filling

For the Topping:

1 Egg

1T Water

Sugar in the Raw, For Sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray. Roll out the piecrusts on a flour surface then smooth them out with a rolling pin. Use a cookie cutter (about 4inches) to cut out circles in the piecrust (try to get at least 12 circles).
2. Place the circles (or the bottom crusts) into the prepped muffin tin, pressing them firmly, but gently up against the sides. Scoop roughly 2T of the cherry pie filling into each tin.
3. For the Top Crusts: You can use different mini decorative cookie cutters (like mini stars, flowers, or hearts). You can use the same cookie cutter as before that you used for the bottom crust. Also, you could cut the crusts into small strips and do some lattice work. It is really up to your preference. But, make sure you slice the vents into the top of each pie if it’s completely covered with a crust.
4. Mix the egg and water together, and then brush the top of each pie with this mixture, and the sprinkle with a little of the sugar in the raw.
5. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
6. Once done baking, remove them from the oven and let them cool for 4-5 minutes. Serve plain or with ice cream and enjoy.

source: mini pies. 

Bourbon Banana Bread Pudding Trifle

I've never really liked banana pudding, actually I hated it for some odd reason. I think that's like a sin in the south because every barbecue or cookout I go to, there's banana pudding. But this recipe had made me change. Now I love it. My friends all love this recipe, it's one of the recipes that I always get requests for the recipe, and I don't know why I haven't posted it yet on the blog because I have made it like 4-5 times since I start Piece, Love, & Cooking. So instead of doing just the banana pudding for our cookout. I decided to update it with a twist and make Bourbon Banana Bread Pudding Trifle. I soaked cookies with some bourbon (because a real southerner tries to include alcohol in anything we cook), then I layered it with cubes of my favorite banana bread ever, sliced bananas, creamy vanilla custard, and whipped cream. You could easily leave out the banana bread and just layer it for good ole' nanner puddin' (it'll be just as delicious, I promise you). Like you have to make this... I mean it. It is sooooo good. You will thank me because next time you bring this to a cookout, you'll be the talk of the party. So be prepared and just bring copies of the recipe with you :) Enjoy!

Bourbon Banana Bread Pudding Trifle

Ready to Dig in :)

Layers of Bourbon Soaked Cookies, White Chocolate Banana Bread, Sliced Banana, Vanilla Custard, Whipped Cream

For the Banana Bread:

2 Eggs

1C +2T Sugar

2T Sour Cream

1t Vanilla

1C + 2/3C AP Flour

1t Baking Soda

¼t Cinnamon

½t Salt

½C Vegetable Oil

4 Ripe Bananas, Mashed

1C White Chocolate Chips   

For the Custard:

2C Milk

1 5oz Box of Instant French Vanilla Pudding

1 8oz Block of Cream Cheese, Softened

1 14oz Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

For the Trifle:

2 Bags of Pepperidge Farm Chessman Cookies

¼C Bourbon

1 Loaf of Banana Bread, Cut into Bite-Size Cubes

6-8 Bananas, Sliced

Prepared Custard

1 12oz Container of Frozen Whipped Topping, Thawed

Directions:

1. To Make the Banana Bread: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a loaf pan with aluminum foil and spray with Pam. In a standing mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, and then add in the sour cream and vanilla and mix until incorporated. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the standing mixer at the lowest speed, add in the flour mixture into the wet mixture in small increments. Next, slowly drizzle in the vegetable oil until just incorporated. In another small bowl, mash the ripe bananas until mushy. Fold in the mashed bananas into the batter. Next fold in the white chocolate chips. Pour the banana bread into the prepared pan and bake for an hour until golden brown on top. Let the banana bread cool in the pan for 10-20 minutes, then remove it and let it cool completely on a cooling rack. Once completely cooled, cut into bite-size cubes. Set them aside until ready to assemble the trifle. 

2. To Make the Custard: In a large bowl, combine the milk and pudding and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth.

3. To Assemble the Trifle: Lay some cookies on the bottom and brush some of the bourbon over them. And then top with the banana bread cubes. Spoon on some of the custard and then scatter with some of the slices of banana. Finally top it with some of the thawed whipped topping. Keep going for 3 or 4 more layers, depending on the size of the bowl, finishing with a layer of the whole cookies, organized into a decoration, for presentation purposes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve (about 3 hours). 

4. Serve a big scoop on a plate and devour :)

Check out Sweet for a Saturday for my recipe, as well as many others!!

Fourth of July Jello Shot Stars

Fourth of July Jello Shot Stars

My friends and I make jello shots a lot. Like usually any special occasion or holiday, there is some kind of jello shot. Like for my 21st birthday, I made margarita and sex on the beach jello shots. I mean the possibilities are endless. So for the 4th of July, I decided that I had to make some, even though we already have mojito popsicles. I ended up doing layered red, white, & blue shots, and then I cut them with a cookie cutter into stars, ya know... to be festive. The little pieces I had left over, I just put into small shot glasses because there's alcohol in there, and if my parents have ever taught me anything, you do NOT waste alcohol (just kidding... but really). You obviously don't have to include alcohol in this, you could simply just make layered jello jigglers for the kids. They were delicious, but that is a given. Enjoy :)

Jello Shots for Breakfast at 10:00AM

My Drinking Buddy :)

Fourth of July Jello Shot Stars

Look at those Red, White, & Blue Layers

For the Each Pack of Jello:

1 3oz Box of Jello (1 Red & 1 Blue)

1C Boiling Water

¼C + 2T Cold Water

1C Vodka  

For the Middle White Layer:

2 Envelopes of Knox Unflavored Gelatin

½C Cold Water

1 ½C Boiling Water

1 14oz Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

Directions:

1. For the Red Layer: Mix the strawberry jello mix with the boiling water until the powder is fully dissolved, and then add the cold water and alcohol. Pour the cooling mixture into a large pan into a thin layer. Put these in the refrigerator and let them jell up (before layering on the white layer about 2-3 hours).

2. For the White Layer: Sprinkle the packets of unflavored gelatin into a bowl, and then pour over the cold water and let it bloom before you whisk in the boiling water. Once all the water is mixed in, slowly whisk in the milk until smooth. Skim off any bubbles then pour this mixture (once it has slightly cooled) over the red layer. Put this in the refrigerator and let them jell up (before layering on the blue raspberry layer, about an hour).

3. For the Blue Layer: Mix the blue raspberry jello mix with the boiling water until the powder is fully dissolved, and then add the cold water and alcohol. Pour the cooling mixture into shot glasses (just a small portion because you will layer with the other 2 colors). Put these in the refrigerator and let them jell up before eating, about 3 hours.

source: stained glass jello.

Layered Mixed Berry Mojito Popsicles

I know when you read the title of this post you're probably going to think... mojito popsicles on the 4th of July, not Cinco de Mayo? Yeah I know. But, mojitos are one of my favorite drinks... my friends love them too. And I figured I could make them into red, white, & blue layers to make it a little more festive. So I made a batch of strawberry mojito, plain mojito, and blueberry mojito and layered them into paper cups (with popsicle sticks in the middle) and then they just slid right out after they had frozen! They turned out really yummy (a little messy haha). I love this idea of adult popsicles... I think the next one I'll be making is Sangria Popsicle yummmmm :) Anyway, enjoy!

Excited for the Mixed Berry Mojito Pops

Silly 

Layered Mixed Berry Mojito Popsicles 

For the Strawberry Mojito Layer:

2C Fresh Strawberries, Cut into Cubes

4 Fresh Mint Leaves

1t Sugar

1T Agave

1T Lime Juice

1oz Light Rum

¼C Club Soda

For the White Mojito Layer:

1 Can of Frozen Mojito Mix

1 Can of Water

1 Can of Rum

1 Can of Club Soda

2 Cans of Ice Cubes

For the Blueberry Mojito Layer:

2C Fresh Blueberries

4 Fresh Mint Leaves

1t Sugar

1T Agave

1T Lime Juice

1oz Light Rum

Few Drops of Blue Dye

¼C Club Soda

Directions:

1. For the Strawberry Layer: In a large mixing bowl, muddle the strawberry and mint together until the strawberries are a juice consistency with some small chunks. Once it’s fully muddled, remove the muddled mint. Add the agave, rum, and lime juice into the strawberry juice. Pour the mixture into a cocktail shaker. Shake until combined and strain into a bowl with a spout. Add the club soda into the shaken juice and then stir. Fill the Popsicle tray a third of the way up and freeze for about 45 minutes to an hour (or until frozen enough that when you pour on the next layer they won’t blend together). 
2. For the White Mojito Layer: In a blender, put all of the ingredients and blend the smooth and icy. Pour this on top of the frozen strawberry Mojito layer, about a third of a way as well. Let this mixture freeze for about an hour until you can stick in the Popsicle sticks (in the middle, as straight as possible). Let this mixture almost completely freeze before layering on the blueberry Mojito layers.
3. For the Blueberry Layer: In a large mixing bowl, muddle the blueberry and mint together until the blueberries are a juice consistency with some small chunks. Once it’s fully muddled, remove the muddled mint. Add the agave, rum, and lime juice into the blueberry juice. Pour the mixture into a cocktail shaker. Shake until combined and strain into a bowl with a spout. Add the club soda into the shaken juice and then stir. Fill the remaining third of the Popsicle tray (so that it’s the final third layer on top of the white Mojito layer). To garnish, place a small mint leaf in each of the popsicles. They will need to freeze them overnight because of the rum. 
4. When ready to serve, gently pull out the Mojito pops from the paper cups and enjoy!

Our First Mojito Popsicle!!

source: watermelon mojito pops.