Since I already posted the Classic Ice Cream Cake recipe this summer I wasn’t planning on posting another ice cream cake, but I got the urge to make it so here we are. This right here is a Black Raspberry and Lemon Cream Pie Ice Cream Cake. This cake is my absolute favorite non-chocolate ice cream cake I’ve ever made. It’s fruity, tart, sweet, creamy and so so so good.

Ice cream cakes are all about the layering so let’s dive in. On the bottom we have a layer of soft lady fingers. You could do a graham cracker layer instead, following directions from the Classic Ice Cream Cake, but I like having a little bit of cake texture with the lemon and black raspberry flavors. Next we have black raspberry ice cream followed by a layer of the Lemon Cream Pie Dip from Monday. The combination of these two together is crazy delicious!

I also added in a middle layer of graham cracker crunch to give the cake some texture and a little saltiness. Next up, a final layer of black raspberry ice cream and fresh whipped cream. Yum! You could make extra whipped cream and frost the sides, but I went the easier, pile-on-top route this time around.

I was initially going to try making this in a loaf pan so it would be a small cake. I took one look at all the different components and decided this needed to be full-sized to really get enough of each layer. I’m so glad I did because not having leftovers of this Black Raspberry and Lemon Cream Pie Ice Cream Cake would be a very sad day.

If you want additional tips for making a perfectly layered ice cream cake, head over to my Classic Ice Cream Cake post. Meanwhile, I’ll be over here trying to convince myself I shouldn’t immediately run out to get everything to make this cake all over again…

Black Raspberry and Lemon Cream Pie Ice Cream Cake

 

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Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

for the lemon cream cheesecake layer

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened (see note)
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 10 ounces lemon curd (usually found near jelly in the grocery store)
• 8 ounces whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed (see note)

for the ice cream cake

• 12 soft lady fingers, halved lengthwise
• 1½ quarts black raspberry ice cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup crushed graham crackers
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Blackberries, for topping

Directions

for the lemon cream cheesecake layer

1. Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer until fluffy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the lemon curd and beat until combined. Gently fold in the whipped topping until blended. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

for the ice cream cake

1. Line a 9-inch springform pan with plastic wrap so it goes up and over the sides. I use 2 pieces. Use the lady fingers to make a single layer on the bottom of the pan, pressing down as you add them. You might need to rip some to fill up all the little spots.
2. Scoop half the container of ice cream into the bowl of a stand mixer then beat with your paddle attachment until smooth and spreadable. Use a rubber spatula to spoon over the lady fingers and spread into an even layer. Put in the freezer.
3. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the crushed graham crackers and sprinkle the brown sugar over top. Cook for about 5 minutes, until toasted and coated. Toss with the salt and set aside to cool. Once cool, remove the cake from the freezer and sprinkle a single layer of the graham crumbs over top, reserving a little to sprinkle over the finished cake. Use a spatula to spoon 4 cups of the lemon cream cheesecake over top (you will have some leftover) and spread into an even layer. Put in the freezer until just firm, about 1 hour.
4. When the lemon cream cheesecake layer is firm enough to put on another layer, scoop the remaining half the container of ice cream into the bowl of a stand mixer then beat with your paddle attachment until smooth and spreadable. Use a rubber spatula to spoon over the lemon cream cheese layer and spread into an even layer. Put in the freezer.
5. Make the whipped cream. Place a metal mixing bowl or the metal bowl of a stand mixer in the freezer along with the metal beaters or beater for 5-10 minutes. Remove and add the heavy cream (make sure your cream is cold), powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Spoon over the top of the cake and return to the freezer for at least 2 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, open the ring of the springform pan. Use the plastic wrap to lift up the cake; carefully remove the plastic wrap and transfer the cake to a cake board or platter. Top with the remaining graham cracker crumble and some fresh blackberries. The cake can usually be cut right out of the freezer with a sharp knife.

Notes

You must use block cream cheese for the lemon cream cheesecake layer. You can substitute ⅓ less fat block cream cheese if you prefer.
If you want to use homemade whipped cream for the lemon cream cheesecake layer, follow these instructions: In a cold metal bowl of a stand mixer or in a large cold metal mixing bowl with a hand mixer, use cold beaters to beat 1½ cups cold heavy whipping cream, ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Also feel free to substitute Lite Cool Whip.

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Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

It’s funny how you can go through life without ever experiencing a category of food until it suddenly gets introduced to you decades later. This has happened to me several times, but today I’m talking about sweet dips. When I think of dip, I think of spinach and artichoke dip, Mexican layer dip, hummus, salsa – basically everything savory. Little did I know, there is a whole plethora of sweet dessert dips out there!

Do you have any sweet dips you like? If you’ve never had or heard of a dessert dip before, the whole concept of it sounds very odd, at least I thought so. A few years ago at work we were going to have a dip party where everyone would bring in different dips and all these dessert dips got mentioned. I did some Google searching and stumbled across a sweet dip that sounded amazing: Lemon Cream Pie Dip.

The recipe was simple, like four ingredients simple, so I made it and the rest is history. By that I mean it’s absolutely amazing and I’ve made it over and over ever since then. Cream cheese and powdered sugar get whipped together until fluffy. Then tangy lemon curd gets mixed in – feel free to use store-bought or homemade – followed by folding in some whipped topping or homemade whipped cream. I’ve made it with store-bought lemon curd and whipped topping and I’ve also made it with homemade versions of both. Each time it was delicious so use whatever you prefer.

So now that you have the Lemon Cream Pie Dip what do you do with it? I love to serve it with mini Nilla Wafer cookies, graham crackers, fresh fruit or cannoli chips. You could even frost some vanilla cupcakes with it for a lemon-packed treat.

However, you will have to wait until Wednesday to see my personal favorite use for this dip, but I promise the wait will be worth it. Enjoy!

Lemon Cream Pie Dip

 

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Yield: about 4½ cups

Ingredients

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened (see note)
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 10 ounces lemon curd (usually found near jelly in the grocery store)
• 8 ounces whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed (see note)

Directions

1. Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer until fluffy and smooth, about 2 minutes.
2. Add the lemon curd and beat until combined.
3. Gently fold in the whipped topping until blended. Serve cold with mini Nilla wafers, graham crackers, fresh fruit or cannoli chips.

Notes

You must use block cream cheese. You can substitute ⅓ less fat block cream cheese if you prefer.
If you want to use homemade whipped cream, follow these instructions: In a cold metal bowl of a stand mixer or in a large cold metal mixing bowl with a hand mixer, use cold beaters to beat 1½ cups cold heavy whipping cream, ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Also feel free to substitute Lite Cool Whip.

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Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

My summer cupcake post is here! I loved all the cupcake toppers my goddaughter sent me, but I think I was most excited about the summer ones. Look how adorable they are! The crab googly eyes get me every time. Since they are beach themed it felt appropriate to post them at the end of my family’s annual beach week.

I know we’re already halfway through August (UGH), but thankfully these cupcakes are not just summer cupcakes. These are classic vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. And by classic I mean perfectly moist, extra fluffy, damn good vanilla cupcakes. Do you know how difficult it is to find a homemade vanilla cupcake recipe that tastes just as good – or better – than those made from a box mix? I’ve tried several over the years and I’ve been disappointed every single time.

Last week I stumbled upon this delicious vanilla cupcake recipe through a happy accident. I initially was planning on making nectarine cupcakes for the summer cupcake post that were an absolute flop. I plan to revisit that recipe idea, but until then I really wanted to bake and photo something for this post before leaving for beach week the next day.

Deciding to revisit my perfect vanilla cupcake search I looked through all my cookbooks and Googled plenty, but there was one problem with every recipe: we only had one egg left in the fridge and I didn’t want to go to the store. I know, so lazy, but at least it led me to this recipe! Apparently there’s an old-fashioned recipe called a One Egg Cake from the Joy of Cooking and it requires minimal ingredients, is very simple and makes outrageously fluffy cupcakes!

I paired these with a traditional vanilla buttercream because sometimes you’re just dying for a classic vanilla-vanilla combo piled high with frosting like you would get at a birthday party. I used a pastry bag fitted with a Wilton 2D tip to frost these cupcakes. If you want something lighter and less sweet then I recommend my mascarpone frosting. Or if you want something chocolatey then definitely make my Perfect Chocolate Frosting. Of course, if you want to turn them into summer cupcakes then make sure to dye the frosting blue and add cute cupcake toppers! Enjoy, friends!

Classic Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

 

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Yield: 16 cupcakes

Ingredients

for the cupcakes

• ⅓ cup butter, room temperature
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk, any fat percentage you prefer

for the frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature
• 2½ cups powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

for the cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners so you have enough for 16 cupcakes.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined with a whisk attachment, scraping down the sides as needed.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the large bowl and beat on low with the whisk attachment until just combined. Add the milk and beat with the whisk attachment until combined. If the batter is lumpy keep whisking until it isn’t lumpy.
4. Use a cookie scoop or batter spoon to fill the cupcake liners so they’re half full. You should get 15-16 cupcakes. Bake the cupcakes for 20-22 minutes. They are done with they are golden, the tops spring back when you touch them and just a few moist crumbs come out when you stick a toothpick in the center. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

for the frosting

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the powdered sugar and the vanilla and beat on low until combined, scraping down the sides as needed. I used a pastry bag fitted with a 2D Wilton tip to frost these cupcakes.

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Lauren Uncategorized 0 Comments

Nutella. S’mores. Bars. Yes, you read that correctly. Graham blondies, Nutella and melted marshmallows combine together for the ultimate on-the-go s’mores treat. Also, tomorrow is National S’mores Day. Not like you need another reason to make these Nutella S’mores Bars as soon as possible.

I made these bars for family visiting last summer and they were such a big hit that I look for any excuse to make them now. The graham blondie is made with all brown sugar so it’s perfectly chewy. Layered on top of that is Nutella and then gooey marshmallows. The original recipe calls for marshmallow fluff and I’ve made them both ways. I personally prefer the mini marshmallows because it’s easier to just sprinkle them all over the Nutella layer instead of trying to spread sticky fluff on top of Nutella.

Speaking of the Nutella, if you wanted to make these, but someone has a nut allergy, there is a note in the recipe below for swapping it out with chocolate. If no one has a nut allergy then definitely load up on that creamy chocolate hazelnut spread!

Finally, a second layer of the graham blondie gets put on top and it gets the slightest bit crunchy in the oven. Chewy, gooey and crunchy – yes, please!

Not that you will have any leftover, but these bars do freeze well. I know this because Matt and I have tried putting some in the freezer to avoid eating them all right away, which has only ever resulted in us each eating them out of the freezer every single day after I’ve frozen them until they’re gone. Hmm, I guess that trick doesn’t work well for us, but at least now I know they taste fine after being frozen! I know you all will love these bars just as much as we do – enjoy!

Nutella S'mores Bars

 

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Yield: 12 bars

Ingredients

• 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• ⅓ cup marshmallow fluff or 1½ cups mini marshmallows (enough to form a single layer)
• ⅓ cup Nutella (see note)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside. I find it easier to line if I crumple the parchment paper first.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and egg, beat until combined. Add the graham mixture and beat on low until just combined.
4. Spread out half the dough into the prepared baking sheet. Spread the Nutella on top of the dough then top with the fluff or mini marshmallows. Place pieces of the remaining dough on top, lightly pressing down, to form the top crust.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack. Cool completely before cutting.

Notes

If you have a nut allergy, you can substitute the Nutella with a single layer of chocolate chips or Hershey bar squares.

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Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

There is no time for stories today because we need to start talking about these Plum Pie Cookies now! These are the August Cookies from the Food Network Magazine Calendar of Cookies and they hit a home run with this recipe. Even though they are called cookies, the pie part of the name is much more accurate. Essentially small hand pies, these Plum Pie Cookies are flaky, buttery, tart and dangerously delicious.

The cookies are made from a pie crust that has more sugar than normal, which I think Food Network did to try to take them from a pie to cookie category. The perfectly jammy inside is made from tossing some fresh plums with sugar, cinnamon and a little flour. Plums can be a little sweet and a little tart; a winning combination for these cookies.

I don’t know if I mentioned it previously or not, but even though Matt is a fan of lots of different types of dessert, his absolute favorite is pie. Specifically cherry pie. However, I kid you not that might have changed with the baking of these Plum Pie Cookies as Matt announced that if these are the pie dessert I choose to make for the rest of eternity he would be ecstatic. Cherry pie recipe search over – Plum Pie Cookies have been crowned the ultimate dessert.

Matt is slowly turning me into more of a pie person and I was also quite smitten with these Plum Pie Cookies. I say that so modestly, while the real truth is I ate three the first day I made them and none from this batch made it out of the house or to the freezer. Oops. I’m perfectly fine with these cookies being in the regular dessert rotation, at least during plum season, because although there’s a fair amount of steps the recipe wasn’t complicated.

If you’ve worked with pie dough before then you know what to expect; if you haven’t the one thing I would want you to know about pie dough is that it is easier to roll, cut and pick up when it is cold. The original Food Network recipe skipped a lot of nuances when it comes to chilling the dough in a way that keeps the process from getting frustrating so I added in a lot more detail in the recipe below to take you through how I went about making the cookies. When you make these Plum Pie Cookies don’t forget to let me know what you think in the comments!

Plum Pie Cookies

 

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Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients

• 2½ cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten, plus 1 beaten egg for brushing
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 small plums
• Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse 2½ cups of the flour, ½ cup of the sugar and the salt until combined. Add the butter cubes and pulse until the flour mixture looks crumbly. Add 1 beaten egg and pulse until the dough comes together. Divide the dough into 2 balls. Work each dough ball into a disk and place each disk on a separate piece of wax or parchment paper. Place another piece of wax paper on top of each and then roll out each into an 11-inch to 12-inch round, about ⅛-inch thick. Place both round sheets in the fridge and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Take the first round sheet out of the fridge. Use a circle cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to cut out 2½-inch rounds as close together as possible. Place the rounds on one of the baking sheets and return to the fridge. Put the scraps aside. Take the second round sheet out of the fridge and repeat the cutting out process. After returning the second baking sheet to the fridge, take all the scraps and shape into a disk before placing on a piece of wax or parchment paper. Place another piece of wax paper on top then roll into an 11-inch to 12-inch round, about ⅛-inch thick. Place in the fridge.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining ½ cup sugar, the remaining tablespoon of flour and the cinnamon. Halve, pit and thinly slice the plums. I cut each plum in half then cut each half into 10 thin slices. Then cut each slice in half crosswise. Toss the plum slices in with the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Take one of the baking sheets out of the fridge. Arrange it so you have 9 rounds on the baking sheet. Lightly brush the edges of each of the 9 rounds with the remaining beaten egg. Place 4 plum pieces in the middle of each round then top with a second round of dough (taking more from the second baking sheet in the fridge if you need them). Press the edges to seal them crimp the edges with a fork. Cut 4 small vents on the top of each cookie. Put the baking sheet in the freezer while you work on the second batch.
5. Take the second baking sheet out of the fridge. Arrange it so you have 9 rounds on the baking sheet. Repeat the steps with the beaten egg and the plums. Top with the rounds you have then take the remaining large round sheet of dough made from the scraps out of the fridge and cut out the remaining rounds. After sealing, crimping and cutting vents remove the first baking sheet from the freezer and replace with this second one.
6. Lightly brush the cookies with some beaten egg and then sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. Bake for 22-24 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Let them cool completely on the pan set on a wire cooling rack. Take the second baking sheet from the freezer and repeat.

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 Recipe from January/February 2019 issue of Food Network Magazine.

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Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments