Strawberry and white chocolate cookies

Strawberry and white chocolate cookies

Ingredients

• 1 box strawberry cake mix
• 1 stick {8 Tbls} butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 oz Neufchatel cheese {light cream cheese}, room temperature
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 3/4 c M&Ms

Directions

• Combine, butter, egg, vanilla, and cream cheese in a bowl. Mix together thoroughly.
• Add cake mix, half of the box at a time, mixing until well combined.
• Stir in chips and candies by hand.
• Refrigerate for at least one hour and then roll dough into 1 inch balls.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place dough balls onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes - you don't want the cookies to brown at all! Set a timer.
• Let cookies cool on a baking sheet for several minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
• Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Fresh Strawberry Fritters

Fresh Strawberry Fritters

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbls baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 egg whites
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 Tbls vegetable oil
• 1 Tbls lemon juice
• 2 1/2 c fresh strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped {drain on paper towels to elminate excess moisture}
• 1/4 cup blackberrry preservs - seedless
• Oil for frying
• Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions :

• Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Whisk together the milk, egg yolks, oil, lemon juice and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and beat until nice and smooth.
• In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. The batter will gain quite a bit of volume at this point.
• Coarsely chop the strawberries. You want nice big chunks in the fritters. Fold the strawberries gently into the batter.
• Stir up the blackberry preserves so they are nice and loose. Swirl the preserves in the batter.
• Heat oil to 375 degrees in a deep, heavy saucepan. Drop a couple tablespoons of batter into the hot oil and fry for 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown. I used an ice cream scoop for mine. You want the fritters to have enough time to cook all the way through without burning the outside
• Fry up a test fritter and make adjustments to size and temp as needed.
• Remove the fritters from the hot oil and drain on paper towels. You can keep the fritters warm in the oven – just set on a low temperature. Serve hot!
• Top with powdered sugar or a light glaze for yummy perfection!

Strawberry Cheesecake Tart

Strawberry Cheesecake Tart

                            

Ingredients

1. 375g block sweet shortcrust pastry
2. 250g tub mascarpone
3. 150g yogurt
4. 150ml whipped cream
5. 3 tbsp icing sugar
6. 2 tsp vanilla extract
7. 750g small strawberries , cored and halved

Method:

• Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of 1/4th inch (mine was thick as I had extra pastry, didn't want to throw away extra :D) and use to line a loose-bottomed 20cm sponge/tart/pie tin. Leave the excess pastry over hanging to avoid shrinkage. Fill with baking paper and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Take out the paper and beans and keep baking for another 15 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and golden. trim the excess pastry then leave in the tin to cool completely.
• Beat the mascarpone until smooth then add the yoghurt, cream, 1 tbsp icing sugar and vanilla and beat together until really thick. Spoon into the cool pastry case and level. Cover with strawberries and put in the fridge to chill for 2 hours.
• Put the remaining strawberries in a food processor with the rest of the icing sugar. Whizz to a purée and sieve to remove seeds. Serve the tart with the strawberry purée spooned over just before serving.

Enjoy!