The Fourth of July has always been a fun holiday from good food, and good company to fun crafts and decor. I had a lot of fun this year as I made some festive food and crafts. (Be on the lookout for a craft post soon.)
We had a couple treats to celebrate and they were all very tasty.
During the summer, I love fresh fruit. I was thrilled to find out we had cherries growing on the tree this year because we haven't had any in the past 15 years. There is something special about picking a cherry off a tree in your own yard and being able to eat it right then. There is nothing better than homegrown fruit, and I was happy cherries were an addition this year.
Watermelon is also one of my favorite summer treats. I love how refreshing and crisp it is. Although these required a little more prep than the cherries, they weren't very time consuming and well worth the effort. First I sliced the watermelon in about 1 inch rings. Then I took a metal star cookie cutter and pushed that through the watermelon slice to get about 3 or 4 stars. Afterwards, I placed about 7-10 blueberries on a wooden skewer followed by the watermelon star. I found that some of the stars started to fall apart so make sure your watermelon is crisp, not mushy. These turned out even better than I thought, a win for sure!
And last but definitely not least, the red, white, & blue trifle. Not only did this turn out beautiful, it was just as delicious. For this you will need: strawberries, blueberries, angel food cake (homemade or from the store, I like the store one), shredded sweetened coconut, whipping cream, coconut extract, powdered sugar, and vanilla. I started out by slicing the strawberries and sprinkling some sugar and a little bit of water to help them marinate and stay nice and sweet. Afterwards I toasted some shredded coconut.
Toasted Coconut Instructions:
I preheated the oven to about 375degrees and line a cookie sheet with some parchment paper. Then you want to sprinkle the coconut on the paper and stick in the oven for about 3 minutes, after that time is up you will want to stir the coconut to make sure it toasts evenly. Then stick it back in for another 2 minutes. The time for this will vary depending on how much coconut you have. You will want to keep an eye on the coconut to ensure it doesn't burn.
Coconut Cream Instructions: ( I doubled the recipe to ensure there was enough cream)
Pour 1 cup heavy whipping cream into bowl, and beat with an electric mixer for one minute. Slowly add 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons coconut extract & 1 teaspoon vanilla. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. (This can take a couple minutes)
After the coconut and cream were ready I got the cake ready to go. I took the easy route and got ready made angel food cake from the store (personally it tastes better) and cut it into cubes. I had two loaf cakes and that was plenty.
Next comes the fun part, layering the trifle. I started out with cake on the bottom, then cream, then strawberries. Then I put cake, cream and blueberries. After that I layered cake cream and strawberries and blueberries on top with some toasted coconut.
My favorite part was arranging the fruit on top, that was so satisfying to me.
I loved making these treats and they tasted so yummy. I will definitely be making these again in the future.
Keep making happiness.
xoxo
Hollyn
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