Raspberry Cornmeal Crumble Bars

I saw these and couldn't resist making them. Unfortunately for me, it was during my month of not eating sugar, so I didn't get to try one. But, I took them to share at a large get-together and there were no leftovers, so I figure they must have been delicious!

I am debating making them again, so I can actually try one, because they combine cornmeal and ground almonds in the crust, which sounds so yummy to me. I love these types of bar cookies that have real fruit baked into them. The perfect way to use summer fruit, in my opinion.


Here is the recipe for Raspberry Cornmeal Crumble Bars from EveryDay Food

Rhubarb and Raspberry Crostada

Mother's Day is right around the corner and this dessert would be the perfect thing to make for any mother in your life, or anyone really. I saw this dessert in the most recent issue of Bon Appetit and it practically jumped off the page. The bright red rhubarb and raspberries with a partially whole wheat crust. So rustic and beautiful.

There are a few new mothers around here that I was going to visit, so I decided to make a few smaller crostadas that would be the perfect size for sharing
. I threw together the crust the night before and in the morning it didn't take me long to prepare the filling and bake these little guys up.

I made circles with my dough, although the circles were not perfect, as you can tell by the ragged crust in these pictures, and made sure to leave the 1 1/2-inch border, so there would be enough crust to fold over the filling. The crostadas baked up beautifully and made the perfect gift.

I had a little bit of filling leftover and it was very good. This was a great treat for May.



Here is the recipe for Rhubarb and Raspberry Crostada from Bon Appetit

Raspberry Swirl Mini Cheesecakes

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you have a fun day filled with red, pink, hugs, kisses, and that you are surrounded by people that you love.

I love Valentine's Day just because it is a great excuse to make heart shaped sugar cookies. This is the holiday that I associate with decorating cookies and I have a bunch of hearts waiting to be frosted. (I used this sugar cookie recipe).

But, this post is really about these delicious little cheesecakes. I made these a few weeks ago for someone who needed a treat to take to a work function. These were perfect because I could make them the night before and they just get better with refrigeration.

This recipe is straightforward and very simple. The results are creamy, dreamy, and delicious.
The little raspberry swirl adds a tart & sweet little burst of flavor that is divine.
I made some in a mini muffin pan and those little treats were the perfect size. What could be better than a two-bite serving of cheesecake? You could even swirl your raspberry puree into a heart for that special someone. Have a great day!

Recipe for Raspberry Swirl Mini Cheesecakes

Lemon-Raspberry Muffins

Muffins are one of my favorite breakfast treats. I like that they aren't overly sweet.
They are quick and can be healthy. Fruit is easy to include in them and they are just simple.

I had some extra raspberries in the fridge leftover from some other adventure that looked like they wanted to be included in a muffin. I searched online for a recipe and found one that looked good over at Eating Well.
I liked that it used buttermilk and not too much sugar.

The lemon flavor really played well with the raspberries in these muffins and the texture was perfect.


Recipe for Lemon-Raspberry Muffins
* My muffins were done in about 17 minutes- tops were golden and a toothpick came out clean
* I used olive oil

Plum and Raspberry Upside-Down Cake

I know in my last post I said I don't like cooked fruit in desserts, but cake sometimes can make me change my mind.

I made this for our 4th of July dinner, along with the cherry tart.
While the overall flavor was good, I had a few problems with the way this turned out.

The recipe says to prepare this in a springform pan and then to bake it on a baking sheet, in case any juice happens to leak out of the pan.
The problem is, that all the juice leaks out of the pan. The sugar/butter mixture that is supposed to stay at the bottom of the pan and get all nice and caramelized when it combines with the juice from the fruit, well, unfortunately, it all wasted away and got stuck to my cookie sheet.

The cake still tasted good, but the fruit was definitely missing the "upside-down" part of the process.

So, if you are going to make this, I would suggest using a tall cake pan, with at least 2-inch sides. And to make sure the batter fits on top, I would suggest a 9-inch pan.

I was slightly disappointed with how this turned out, but the cake has a fabulous taste and lots of potential.

Recipe for Plum and Raspberry Upside-Down Cake

Tropical Fruit Salad with Mint and Spices

Who is excited for Spring? Raise your hand and shout!
I can't wait for spring to officially be here. If you know me at all, you know that I am not a fan of cold weather or snow. I love sunshine. I would rather be hot than cold. Sweat doesn't bother me at all. Chills and brrrrr- I am not a fan.
This recipe made me feel tropical. And since spring is soo close (2 days away), I decided it wouldn't be too horrible if I posted this recipe with all these delicious fruits.

The picture for this recipe in the New Mayo Clinic Cookbook just really made me want to make this fruit salad immediately. The little flecks of vanilla bean and all the bright colors of the fruits- It looked absolutely heavenly.
I noticed mangoes, papaya, raspberries, and kiwis at the grocery store and they were not too expensive, so I bought them. Throw in some canteloupe and banana and you are good to go.

My girls helped me cut up the fruit, make the divine syrup, and stir everything together. They are such good helpers.

The syrup that goes over the fruit calls for honey, lemon juice, orange juice, cinnamon, ginger, a vanilla bean and coriander. What? coriander? That was my original thought when I saw coriander on the ingredient list, but I was brave and I added it and it really added a little extra something to the syrup. The syrup reminded me of mulling cider when it was bubbling away on the stove. I loved that it wasn't overly sweet, but very full of flavor. It was warm(not temperature, but ya know?) and soothing, yet cool and refreshing all at once.

It was unbelievable with the fruit and mint. I never would have thought to combine all these fruits, flavors and spices. It was amazing.

The recipe said that the syrup was really great over pancakes. I was really hoping we could try it that way. But it just disappeared too fast.

Recipe for Tropical Fruit Salad with Mint and Spices

Raspberry Ripple Cheesecake

So what are you serving for Valentine's Day dessert?
This simple cheesecake is a great option.

My daughter was looking through Annabel Karmel's Mom and Me Cookbook and when she got to this recipe she asked me if I could make it.
We were going to be eating dinner at my mother in-law's the next night and I was bringing dessert, so I changed my plans and decided to make this no-bake cheesecake.

This recipe is soo easy. There is no baking involved.
Your kids can help you mix it up.
You just need to plan to make it ahead of time so it can chill for the required amount of hours. I let mine chill overnight.
I apologize for the pictures, but I was hurrying out the door to go to dinner and didn't have time to cut a slice and make it look nice.
Anyway, this cheesecake was a huge hit with everyone.
It is basically just cream cheese and whipped cream folded together and then chilled, with a lovely raspberry sauce swirled through and a graham cracker crust.
This cheesecake tastes really light and luscious. It has a great texture.

The adults loved it and the kids loved it too.
My sister in-law even asked me for the recipe that night and has already made it herself.
Plus, it is has red in it-so it is perfect for Valentine's Day!
Raspberry Ripple Cheesecake from Annabel Karmel's Mom and Me Cookbook
1 stick (8 Tbls) butter
8 oz graham crackers
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 oz cream cheese
1 cup superfine sugar
2 1/2 cups fresh raspberries, (I used frozen)
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 2/3 cups whipping cream

1. Put the graham crackers in a bag. Use a rolling pin to roll and crush them into crumbs.
2. Melt the butter in a pan. Pour the crushed graham crackers into the butter and stir thoroughly.
3. Line an 8-inch springform pan with plastic wrap. Spoon in the cracker mixture, press flat and refrigerate.
4. Make raspberry puree- bring the raspberries and powdered sugar to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Cool, then press through a sieve.
5. Mix together the cream cheese, superfine sugar, and vanilla extract. Whip the cream until stiff, then fold it into the cheese mixture.
6. Spread 3/4 of the cheese topping on the graham cracker base. Then spoon on 3/4 of the puree and swirl it into the cheesecake mixture.
7. Gently spread on the remaining cheesecake mixture. Drizzle on straight lines of raspberry puree. Pull a skewer across the lines for a decorative effect.
8. Leave the cheesecake in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours of overnight.

B-day stuff: Chocolate Cake with Whipped Frosting and brunch from The Pink Princess Book

Here is my little Ry-Bear. She turned 5 on October 25th. She loves the carousel, animals and dinosaurs, but sometimes has a thing for pink and princesses, too.
When we discussed her b-day cake, her first choice involved pink and princess, but she quickly changed her mind to dinosaurs and green frosting. I asked her multiple times and the dinosaur/green frosting combo was the winner.
She wanted to decorate it, so I let her put the little plastic dinos on top and then all the kids help throw the dinosaur eggs (candy-coated chocolate covered sunflower seeds) on top. Kind of relaxing to let the kids do all the work.
I had no problem getting rid of the extra frosting. The recipe for cake and frosting are below. Nothing too spectacular, but good enough for a birthday.
For her birthday brunch, the birthday girl flipped through the pages of Pink Princess Cookbook and chose a menu. The kids helped me prepare all of the food for our brunch.

I was not planning on taking pictures of this brunch, but my mom and husband both protested when I told them I was just going to have a relaxing time with no pics. They insisted. So, I grabbed the camera when everything was on the table (not the usual place for taking pics of food in my house) and I tried to get a decent shot of the brunch. Bear with me on these :-)
Ry chose Mini-Marshmallow Smoothies to start us off. I adapted the recipe from the book and placed 1 sliced banana, 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 cup vanilla yogurt, and 1 1/2 cups skim milk in the blender. I blended it well, then poured it into glasses and added the colored mini-marshmallows. (The adults enjoyed smoothies w/out marshmallows).
Next up
Blackberry Biscuits
1 can large-size refrigerator biscuits
1 cup canned blackberry pie filling
1 tsp ground cinnamon mixed w/ 1/4 cup sugar

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Slice or divide each biscuit in half. Press one half in the bottom of 8 of the muffin cups, covering bottom completely. Leave 4 of the muffin cups empty.
Spoon 1 Tbls pie filling on top of each biscuit half.
Cover pie filling w/ remaining biscuits halves.
Sprinkle tops w/ cinnamon-sugar mixture. I used decorating sugar too
Bake for 15 minutes.
Serve warm.
Fairy Tale Fondue
3/4 cup heavy cream
12 oz white chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla

Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until hot, about 2-3 minutes.
When hot, add the chocolate and stir until it is just melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Serve with your choice or fresh strawberries, banana slices, pound cake, pretzels, grapes, etc. for dipping
This was Ry's fave thing to help make for the brunch.

Little Ladybugs
12 seedless red grapes
12 toothpicks
12 whole strawberries w/ stems
1 package mini chocolate chips

Place a grape on a toothpick, sliding it all the way to the end of the stick. This is the ladybugs head.
Place a strawberry on the toothpick, stem end first, and slide it down to touch the grape. This is the body.
Lay the ladybug down and carefully push the pointed ends of several chocolate chips into the strawberry to make the spots.
Raspberry Tea Sandwiches
8 slices white bread
1/2 cup soft spread cream cheese
1 Tbls raspberry preserves
1 pint fresh raspberries

Cut bread into desired shapes with a cookie cutter. In a bowl combine cream cheese and raspberry preserves. Spread a thin layer of the mixture on each bread cut-out and place raspberries on top.

Classic Cucumber Sandwiches
1 English cucumber, sliced
8 slices whole wheat bread
2 Tbls softened butter
salt and pepper
cherry tomatoes for garnish

Cut crust off bread and cut into shapes with cookie cutter.
Spread butter on each cut-out. Lay cucumber slices on top.
Season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with cherry tomatoes


The whole brunch was really fun to prepare and even more fun to share. It was a great birthday!

Recipe for Chocolate Cake

Recipe for Whipped Frosting

Pistachio Cupcakes with Raspberries or Pistachio-Raspberry Teacakes

When I was growing up, my grandparents had a large garden. They grew everything imaginable. Every fruit and vegetable there is. They lived fairly close to us, so we spent weekends helping them pick and harvest different things.
One of the jobs I remember most was picking raspberries. They had tons of raspberry bushes and to get all the fruit, we would spend hours out in the raspberry patch. We would end up with lots of berries and lots of scratches.
Not exactly the most exciting way to spend a Saturday morning when you are a 5 year old, but I have fond memories.

The best part about the garden was having a never-ending supply of fresh fruits and vegetables that tasted wonderful because they were ripe, in-season, and fresh. I could go on all day about the delicious dishes my mom used to make us growing up that were so good for you and simply tasty.
One of the problems with having all that fresh produce during your growing up years is that you become accustomed to what fruits and vegetables are supposed to taste like when they are ripe and in-season. It becomes very difficult to find produce that tastes that good all the time.
Raspberries are definitely one of those things that I haven't really been able to enjoy very often, because they just don't taste like my grandpas did right off the bush!
That is the reason I made these cupcakes/ teacakes. I saw some raspberries that were a fairly decent price, so I grabbed a couple containers of them. Sub-par in the flavor department.
I decided they might be better in a baked good. I was thinking muffin or cupcake. I found this pistachio-raspberry combination in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, searched for the recipe on her website and discovered that it had 2 different names.
On the website these are called Pistachio Cupcakes with Raspberries and in the cupcake book they are called Pistachio-Raspberry Teacakes.
I think the Teacakes name suits them better as they aren't very cupcake-like, in texture, but feel free to call them whatever you want.
I halved the recipe, tooked them to a dinner at my mother-in-laws, and they were enjoyed. A couple of people took an extra one for the next mornings' breakfast, so I guess these are kinda muffin-like too.
Whatever you want to call them- they were a success. They are easy to mix up and my tart raspberries tasted great in these.

I wonder if I am going to plant myself a raspberry bush.

Recipe for Pistachio Cupcakes with Raspberries

One Year Ago-Weekly Lunchbox

Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole with Ruby Grapefruit on the side

Sometimes it is nice to have a delicious breakfast, that you can prepare the night before, that will feed a number of people. All you have to do is pop it in the oven and you have a great breakfast, in a short amount of time. I made this breakfast casserole for a weekend breakfast and it was so, so easy to put together. I made it even easier on myself by using Jimmy Dean's Fully Cooked Turkey Sausage Links, which I buy regularly for my children. I just sliced them and threw them in with the bread cubes we had leftover from making our Thanksgiving stuffing. Since grapefruit is a readily available fruit this time of year, it is a nice addition to any breakfast, but you can jazz it up with this quick and easy raspberry sauce. The raspberry sauce could also be made ahead and kept in the fridge overnight. If you are expecting holiday guests, this would be an easy way to keep everyone happy in the morning!

Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole from Cooking Light

8 ounces ciabatta bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (I used leftover homemade bread cubes from Thanksgiving)

Cooking spray

1 pound turkey breakfast sausage (I used Jimmy Dean's Fully Cooked Turkey Sausage Links)

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 1/4 cups fat-free milk

1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I used mozzerella)

2 large eggs1 (8-ounce) carton egg substitute

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400°.
Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 8 minutes or until toasted.
Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage to pan; cook 6 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Combine sausage, bread, and onions in a large bowl. Combine milk, cheese, eggs, and egg substitute in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to bread mixture, tossing to coat bread. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Uncover casserole. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Sprinkle with parsley; serve immediately.

Ruby Grapefruit from the Black Book

1- 10 oz pkg. frozen raspberries

1-3 tsps sugar

3-4 grapefruit

In a small dish, thaw raspberries in the microwave, until completely defrosted. Put them in a blender or food processor with 1 tsp of sugar and process, until smooth. Taste and add a little more sugar, if needed. Press this mixture through a sieve and discard the seeds.

Halve the grapefruit and remove the sections. Place the sections in bowl and drizzle the raspberry sauce over top.

Coming Up on Monday- Greek-style Stuffed Pepper and Greek WonTon Cups

White Chocolate Brownies

The White Chocolate Brownies are one of the most inviting pictures in Dorie's Baking. They just look divine. I don't even really like brownies, but these look wonderful in her book, plus white chocolate and raspberries are a winning combination. My picture doesn't do these justice. But, it was snowing, the sky was gray and I knew there wouldn't be any left in the morning. I halved the recipe and made these in a 8-inch round cake pan. The meringue was high and beautiful, but I accidentally squashed it when I was removing them from the pan. I also had to add about 15 minutes onto the baking time for these to bake through. So if you make them and they are a bit wobbly, put them back in the oven for a few more minutes. The wait will be worth it.

Dorie's White Chocolate Brownies from Baking: from my home to yours

Ingredients:
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsps grated orange zest
4 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh raspberries

for the meringue:

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x13-inch pan, line the bottom with parchment or wax paper, butter the paper and dust the bottom and sides of pan with flour; tap out the excess. Put the pan on a baking sheet
Whisk together flour, ground almonds, and salt.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of only-just-simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl, top with the chopped chocolate and stir frequently until the ingredients are melted-you don't want them to get so hot that the butter or the white chocolate separates. Remove the pan from the pan of water.

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic.
Add the eggs and beat on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes (they should be pale and foamy). Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and blend in the melted butter and white chocolate mixture. With mixer still on low, mix in the dry ingredients, stirring only until they disappear into the batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the raspberries evenly over the batter. Set aside while you make the meringue.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt on medium speed until the are foamy and just turn opaque. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and add the sugar in a slow, steady stream. Whip the whites until the form firm but still glossy peaks.

Gently spread the meringue over the brownie batter.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the meringue is browned and crackly and the brownies pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow to cool to room temperature in the pan. Cover a cooling rack with a piece of wax paper, dust with powdered sugar, and very gently, so you don't squish the meringue, turn the brownies out onto the rack. Peel away the parchment paper lining and carefully invert the brownies onto a cutting board. Cut into 32 bars.

Coming Tomorrow- Citrus Salad with Pomegranate and Pistachios and Roasted Cauliflower

Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies and Graham PB Bon Bons

I haven't found out the results of the pizza contest yet, but I did get around to making that pot pie. Look for it on Sunday with some fab twists. Now for some treats!

Last week my husband asked me to bake some goodies for a team meeting at work. I had a couple of things I wanted to try, but then the day before he told me he wanted me to make a pony cake instead. You see, my daughter is turning 4 tomorrow and she is obsessed with horses. She wanted a horse cake, so I looked online to see if Wilton had a cute pony pan. They do. Only problem is that they haven't made it since 1986. Back when I used to play with My Little Pony. Luckily, I found one on E-bay and with a little help from my bro (Thanks Jake!), secured the pan. My husband told me I could practice and make his co-worker a b-day cake. It was a joke, of course. What 30+year old man actually wants a pink pony cake for his birthday? Everyone got a good laugh and my hand was hurting from piping all those stars. I get to do it again today!
I also made these delicious sandwich cookies from Martha Stewart. The cookies are great by themselves but even better with the Raspberry-White Chocolate Cream Filling. I used another vanilla bean (can I say expensive?) and then threw together some Peanut Butter Bon Bons. They may sound simple, but they are a crowd pleaser!

Raspberry Cream Sandwich Cookies from Martha Stewart Cookies
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 Tbs.) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. plus 2 tsp. sugar
1 lg. egg
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
6 oz. (1 cup) fresh raspberries
7 1/2 oz. best-quality white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 c. heavy cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
Mix butter and 1 1/2 c. sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 min.
Add egg, extract and vanilla seeds; mix until smooth.
Reduce speed to low.
Gradually mix in flour mixture.
Scoop batter using a 1-inch ice cream scoop; space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake cookies 4 minutes.
Remove from oven; gently tap baking sheets on counter to flatten cookies.
Return to oven, switching positions of sheets; bake until cookies are just set, 4 to 6 minutes more.
Let cool on parchment paper on wire racks.
Puree raspberries and remaining 2 tsp. sugar in a food processor.
Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a small bowl, pressing to extract juice; discard seeds.
Set mixture aside.
Melt white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Remove from heat; whisk in cream in a slow stream.
Whisk in reserved raspberry mixture.
Refrigerate 30 minutes.
Spread 1 heaping teaspoon raspberry cream on the undersides of half the cookies.
Sandwich with remaining cookies.
Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container up to 2 days.

Graham and Peanut Butter Bon Bons 1 1/2 cups rice krispies
1 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup powdered sugar
12 oz white or dark chocolate candy coating (I used Bakers milk chocolate dipping chocolate)

In a large bowl, stir together cereal, peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and sugar. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Shape crumb mixture into balls, using 1 level Tbls for each.
Melt candy coating or dipping chocolate and dip each ball in coating, letting the excess drip off. Place on wax or parchment paper. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes or until set. Store in an airtight container

Coming Tomorrow- Minestone and Easy Breadsticks!

You Want Pies With That?- "A Lot Like Love" Fresh Peach-Raspberry Pie with White Chocolate Mousse, Raspberry Coulis, and Fresh Peach Sorbet

WARNING- (This will be the sappiest, corniest, cheesiest post I ever write, but it all had to do with keeping the theme, so read on and forgive me ahead of time!)

"A Lot Like Love" Pie- 1- "A little goes a long way"

2- "Sometimes it gets a little messy"

3- "You have to wait for it, it is just that good"

Welcome to a new event, You Want Pies with That? Susie was inspired when she watched the movie, Waitress, a great film, where the main character invents pies with great names to describe what is going on in her life. Susie asked a few of us to join her and this group was born! The point of this group is to invent Pies!

Our first theme is "I love that Movie!" We got to choose a movie and create a pie that ties into it, be it by food, theme, a phrase, or whatever. This was really fun for me. I came up with about a million different movies and fun pies that would go along with them, but in the end, I just liked how this movie fit my pie.

A little background on my movie choice. This summer a dear friend, her little sister and I went to the drive-in, just for fun. We saw a movie that wasn't that great that starred Ashton Kutcher. I remembered that I don't like him when he plays characters that are supposed to be funny, I remembered I liked him once, when he played a more serious role. My friend hadn't seen that movie, so we rented it later that week. This same friend just happened to be in town when I was inventing my pie, so that made it even more fun. I love the movie- "A Lot Like Love", it follows 2 people who have a chance encounter and follows them through the years, they keep meeting up, but the timing is never right. I won't ruin the ending if you haven't seen it, but I loved this movie. It is quirky, fun and has great music.

I decided to create "A Lot Like Love" Pie. It starts with a Spicy Gingersnap Graham Pecan Crust, because well, we all need a little spice and zing in our lives, right?

Next, comes the Fresh Peach and Raspberry Layers. This pie has lots of layers, because love is multi-layered, it is deep and there is always something more that you can give or get.

Then comes the White Chocolate Mousse, decadent and wonderful.

Top it off with Fresh Peach Sorbet and Raspberry Coulis, both fresh, beautiful,and tart, giving this pie just a little bit more!

This pie is "a lot like love" because it is multilayered-there is alot going on in and around this pie, but all the layers go so well with each other. It is sweet and fresh, rich and creamy, spicy and nutty, all at the same time. It reminds me of the last fruits and days of summer, you want that last peach to last forever, just like you want love to do the same. So, savor it slowly, and enjoy, it just might last forever!

"A Lot Like Love" Pie- Fresh Peach and Raspberry Pie in a Spicy Gingersnap Graham Pecan Crust with White Chocolate Mousse, Raspberry Coulis, and Fresh Peach Sorbet by Mary Ann

Make the crust first. When it is almost cool, make fresh peach filling and fresh raspberry layer.

Add raspberry layer to cooled crust and spread to make even and smooth. Pour fresh peach filling over top, smooth with a rubber spatula to make even, and cover with foil and refrigerate.

Next, make the white chocolate mousse and refrigerate.

Make raspberry coulis and refrigerate.

When pie and mousse have been in the fridge for at least 2 hours, dollop mousse in blobs on top of peach filling and very carefully spread mousse to edges of pie. Cover with a plate and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Now make Fresh Peach Sorbet.

When ready to serve, drizzle raspberry coulis onto plate, carefully slice and plate pie, garnish with sorbet and more coulis. Enjoy!

Spicy Gingersnap Graham Pecan Crust by Mary Ann

1/3 cup pecans, toasted

5 gingersnaps

1 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

3 Tbls sugar

4 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place toasted pecans and gingersnaps in a food processor. Process until mixture is fine crumbs, but watch carefully so it doesn't get too moist. Tranfer to a bowl. Add graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix with hands until well combined. Add melted butter and mix until butter is mixed in. Press into a 9-inch glass pie plate and bake for 10 minutes. Place on wire rack and let cool completely before filling.

Fresh Peach Filling adapted from Nancy Morgan's Fresh Peach Pie

3 large peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped

1/2 cup water

1/2-3/4 cup sugar, depending on sweetness of peaches

3 T cornstarch

Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Mash and combine all ingredients. Place over medium high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. This should take about 5 minutes. When thickening remove from heat.

Fresh Raspberry Layer by Mary Ann

2- 6 oz containers fresh raspberries

2T -4 T sugar, to taste

Place raspberries and sugar in a bowl. Mash well, but leave larger pieces of berry.

White Chocolate Mousse adapted from Daring Bakers Opera Cake Challenge (May 2008)

7 oz white baking chocolate

1 cup + 3 Tbls heavy whipping cream

Place white chocolate and 3 Tbls cream in a small heavy bottomed saucepan. Melt together over low heat. When chocolate is completely melted, remove from heat and let cool completely.

Whip remaining 1 cup heavy cream to soft peaks and gently fold into the white chocolate mixture. Refrigerature until slightly thickened, about 2 hours.

Raspberry Coulis by Dorie Greenspan

6 oz frozen raspberries, slightly thawed

3 Tbls water

2-3 Tbls sugar

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Strain mixture through sieve to remove all seeds. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Fresh Peach Sorbet Adapted from Anne Strawberry who Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

6-8 Fresh, Ripe Peaches (about 2 pounds)

1/3 Cup Sugar

2/3 Cup Water

4 Teaspoons Fresh Lemon Juice

Pinch of Salt

4 Tbls peach nectar

Slice, peel, and pit the peaches. Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. Taste, then add more lemon juice or sugar if desired.

Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch metal pan and freeze until solid, at least 3 hours.

Break mixture into chunks and puree in two batches in the food processor, adding 2 Tbls peach nectar to each batch. Make sure to process until smooth and creamy. Pack into a airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours.