Mixed Berry Trifle with Lemon Cream

If cobbler is my favorite dessert this is a close second. I love the berries and the way it pairs with the lemon in the cream. It's another really easy dessert that can be made ahead of time...in fact it's almost better if it does sit for a little bit. I actually made this for my work for a dessert contest and it was a huge hit. They forgot to have us vote...but I think it would have won. I of course was biased. You will need...
1 Angel food cake
2 pounds of strawberries
2 pints of blueberries
1 pint of heavy cream
2 lemon yogurts (I use Yoplaits lemon burst)
4 T sugar
1/2 t Lemon Extract

I start by trimming and slicing my berries. I like to do it all in steps...I trim the leaves off of all of them then slice them all. It makes it faster for me. Add them all to a bowl with blueberries and add about 2 T sugar to get some of the juices flowing. I leave some of the blueberries and 1 strawberry or so to decorate the top of the trifle...this is optional. I like to let mine sit for a while.

I then slice the angel food cake across to make about 3 or 4 layers.

Whip the cream, lemon extract and about 2 T sugar until you get medium stiff peaks. It takes some time, but this give the berries more time to sit. About half way through add the yogurt to the cream to blend together.

I like to start with a little bit of a base of the cream and then add a layer of angel food cake and more cream then berries, then angel food cake, cream and then berries until you get to the top. I then decorate the top of it with some berries and then when I am going to serve it I put a strawberry in the middle of all of the blueberries. I like to let mine sit over night if I can to let it all blend together. It's a great summer treat...especially for grilling! It serves a ton of people too.

Bacon Cheddar and Jalapeño Biscuits

These are nice biscuits with a nice crust and fluffy interior. The first time I tried making them I over worked them and looked like cookies more than biscuits. The second time was MUCH better and they were nice and fluffy on the inside. They are not tall biscuits, but have great flavor. After I started I decided on adding bacon, jalapeno and cheese to them and it was a great choice. You will need...
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C cake flour
2 t baking power
1/2 t baking soad
1 t salt
3 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter cut into cubes
3/4 C buttermilk, may not need all of it


I forgot to take pictures of what it looked like before I rolled it out. But this is a fairly sticky dough when you bring it all together. Start preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Then add both flours, baking powder and soda and salt in a bowl and mix together to combine. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients...I used a fork but a pastry blender would have bend better. Stir in enough buttermilk to make it a soft sticky dough. Kneed it until it comes together on a floured surface. Be careful not to over kneed. If you want to add things like I did you want to do it before you kneed. I added about 3 pieces of crumbled bacon, a T or so of fine minced jalapenos and 1/2 C of grated cheese...I used extra sharp. Roll our until it is about 1/2 an inch think. Use whatever size biscuit cutter you want. Something to remeber is do not twist your biscuit cutter or that will prevent them from rising as well in the oven. I could really tell on the ones I twisted even a little to get them cut. Lightly kneed back together and roll out until they are all cut. Place about an inch apart on a non-greased baking sheet and bake about 18 minutes until golden brown.

Remove and place on a wire rack to cool a bit before opening up. Here is what mine looked like with the bacon, cheese and jalapeno's! Hope you like!

Blueberry and Peach Cobbler

Cobbler is by far my favorite dessert. Since my mom owns a bakery that has the best cakes in the world :)...Cake wasn't on our list of things we wanted for our birthday. My brother always wanted the big cookie, but for me it was cobbler. This is a pretty simple recipe for a blueberry peach cobbler. For this cobbler you will need...

about 3 pounds of peaches
1 cup of blueberries
2/3 C granulated sugar and some extra to sprinkle on top
3 T cornstarch
2 T packed brown-sugar
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 t ground cinnamon
salt
2 C all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
1 t vanilla
1 C plus 2 T heavy cream...I used half and half plus some to brush

Start by preheating your oven to 375. Peel and cut your peaches into segments. I stuck mine in some boiling water and then cold water to help peel them easier...be careful because they get slippery. Stir together peaches, blueberries, 1/3 C sugar, cornstarch, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and combine. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish and set aside while you make the crust.

Add flour, baking powder, chilled butter, 1/2 t salt and remaining 1/3 C sugar into a food processor and pulse to get pea sized pieces. Add vanilla and cream or half and half to bowl and then add dry ingredients and stir to combine. This will make a very sticky dough.

Spoon dough onto the peaches and berries in about 10 spoonfuls or so it covers the peaches.

Bake cobbler for about 60-70 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Take out and cool for at least and hour and then serve!