Raspberry Cheesecake Trifle

A while back I was reading an article in a goofy women’s magazine entitled “How to Maintain Your Weight During the Holidays” or something to that effect. What was unusual about it, however, is that I still remember the author’s clever intro to the article. Of course I can’t quote it directly, but she said something like “I always hear people saying to eat before you go to a party, but then I think ‘what’s the point of going if you don’t eat?’ Oh, people. Right.”

I love to socialize as much as the next person, but I’d have to say that I’m with the aforementioned author when it comes to my party priorities. Case in point: I threw a bridal shower for my best friend last month. The shower involved no cutesy decorations or elaborate games. It consisted only of friends gathering in my living room to chat and munch on Mediterranean pasta, green salad, pita triangles and hummus, cantaloupe with fresh mint, a platter of chocolate chip cookies, and raspberry cheesecake trifle.

When it comes to desserts, trifle is a definite showstopper. True, it starts looking downright sad and messy once people dig in, but before that first spoon is sunk into the trifle those pristine layers of custard and fruit are definitely worth all the oohs and aahs that escape people’s mouths when they see them shining through a glass bowl. This trifle in particular is quite the beauty— juicy red raspberries juxtaposed with pale layers of creamy, cake-y goodness. And its pretty appearance is matched only by this trifle’s delicious flavor. Plus it is a cinch to make and is assembled in advance, which makes it perfect for entertaining. So next time you find yourself hosting a gathering, don’t stress over decorations or party favors. Make this trifle instead.

Sylvia’s Raspberry Cheesecake Trifle

This recipe was given to me by a friend of the family, who made this trifle for my sister’s bridal shower. It easily feeds up to twelve people, and is perfect for those springtime occasions when you want a fruity dessert but nothing is really in season yet. My family has kind of made it our traditional Easter dessert. In fact, I think the photos below were randomly taken while transporting the trifle from my house to my parents.’ Classy. But at least you get an idea of what it’s supposed to look like, right?

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened*
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. almond extract
1 cup sour cream
1 cup whipping cream (measure one cup liquid cream- then whip it)
2 bags frozen raspberries
1 prepared angel food cake

1) Combine first six ingredients (I use the whisk attachment on my KitchenAid to get rip of any lumps)
2) Cut angel food cake into bite-size cubes and fold into cream cheese mixture
3) Layer cake mixture and raspberries in a large bowl, beginning with the cake and ending with the raspberries.
4) Cover and refrigerate overnight, or until raspberries are thoroughly thawed.

*I have messed this recipe up by not letting the cream cheese thoroughly soften. I ended up with little lumps of cream cheese in the cake mixture and it was not a pretty sight. So make sure your cream cheese is soft and smooth- I find Philadelphia brand works best.

Russian Salad

All right, I know I’ve already done my fair share of whining about the end of summer on this blog, but will you indulge me for just a little while longer? See, last night Mike and I ate the kind of meal that I know I will daydream about during the dark, cold winter months. Right now with the onset of fall I’m finding the prospect of rich soups and stews exciting, but I know once January hits and I’m staring down yet another root vegetable my mind will inevitably wander back to the simple freshness of summer meals. In this case, grilled teriyaki salmon and zucchini, quinoa with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, corn on the cob (my very favorite food), and the tomato-and-cucumber concoction my family refers to as “Russian Salad.”

I really don’t know why, since my family is Russian and many of the salads served at my parent’s house are decidedly influenced by that heritage, this particular salad was bestowed that title. But that mystery is not what matters here. What matters is that, after you see the brief list of ingredients for this salad, you must not turn up your nose and dismiss it as something that could only be enjoyed by Eastern Europeans. Please trust me when I tell you that sour cream, when combined with juicy, garden-fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, loses its thick creamy density and transforms instead into a pleasantly light, tangy, pink (!) dressing that some of us (not going to mention any names here) have been known to slurp from the bottom of the bowl after the substantial part of the salad has been eaten.

Earlier this summer I made a variation of this salad from one of Ina Garten’s cookbooks. It was way more complicated and not nearly as good. I think simplicity definitely wins out in this case. However, because this recipe is so simple, you want to use only the best and freshest ingredients. Meaning underripe hothouse tomatoes and flavorless cucumbers aren’t gonna cut it. Use only the tomatoes and cucumbers that you would want to eat all by themselves; the kind that (sigh) are only available in the summer.

Russian Salad



1 ripe tomato (I used a bunch of halved cherry tomatoes in the photo above)
1 ripe cucumber
½ small red onion, thinly sliced (I usually leave this out)
Sour cream
Salt, to taste
Minced fresh dill, if desired (I rarely have the dill on hand-this salad is fine without it but even better with the dill)

1) Peel cucumber and cut in half lengthwise, then thinly slice.
2) Cut tomato into pieces approximately the size of the cucumber
3) Combine tomato, cucumber and onion (if using) in a bowl and add a heaping tablespoon (the eating kind, not a measuring spoon) of sour cream.
4) Stir together and add salt and dill to taste. You can also add more sour cream if you think it’s necessary. It’s hard to add too much because the excess will just get watery and sit in the bottom of the bowl- it won’t coat the other ingredients.
5) Let the salad sit for about 5 or 10 minutes before serving.

Leslie's chocolate chip cookies

I am convinced that the world would be a better place if everyone had neighbors like the Knaphus family. Theirs is the kind of home where the whole neighborhood is routinely invited over for scone parties on Sunday afternoons, donuts are fried up in the driveway every Halloween, and on any given day the living room couches are filled with various neighbors and friends dropping by to visit. Last summer the K-naps got a snow cone machine, and ever since you will find their front lawn teeming with kids and families on hot summer nights. A small block party that the Knaphuses threw a few years ago in their driveway has evolved into Hollystock, an annual event that requires the closure of a whole street due to the high turnout. It truly is the stuff of simpler times.

I was lucky enough to grow up across the street from the Knaphuses. My siblings and I are good friends with their boys and our family still congregates at their home frequently. No matter how large or small the occasion, be it Christmas Eve or a Utah football game, one element of these gatherings is constant: the food is amazing. Besides being some of the nicest people you will ever meet, Chris and Leslie are both fantastic cooks. I drool at the memory of Chris’ marinated tri-tip steak and look forward to the Superbowl every year not because of the game but because it means I will get to have some of Leslie’s delicious Superbowl bread (it’s essentially a giant cinnamon roll in the shape of a football but somehow tastes so much better than a normal cinnamon roll).

One trademark of Knaphus cooking is Leslie’s chocolate chip cookies. They are found at virtually every Knaphus function and are known by most people as “Leslie cookies.” I have yet to meet a person that does not love them. When I got married Leslie threw me a bridal shower and gave me her tricks of the trade: baking sheets, parchment paper liners, a cookie scoop, and the recipe for these cookies. I had to laugh when I noticed that her recipe yielded about eight dozen of these suckers. I guess you don’t become my favorite family in the neighborhood by running out of cookies.

I’ve been trying to figure out what makes Leslie’s cookies so good and it comes down to this: In my opinion, chocolate chip cookies fall into two camps. There are the rich, buttery ones loaded with semisweet chocolate that are amazing when warm but taste a little too heavy once they’ve cooled down, and then there are what I call “cookie jar” cookies- the ones that taste a little less intense at first and therefore age much better. Leslie cookies are pretty much the ideal form of this type of cookie. I’m thinking what makes that the case is the use of milk chocolate chips and the addition of instant oats to the equation. For those of you thinking “she didn’t mention that this was an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe”, let me state that I ate these for years without ever suspecting they contained anything of the sort. I’m guessing most connoisseurs of Leslie cookies would say the same. Because the oats in this recipe are instant and not the heartier rolled oats, they impart a subtle grainy flavor to balance out all the butter and sugar without changing the texture of the cookie. But don’t just take my word for it, go ahead and make a batch. And, if you feel like taking a page out of Leslie’s book, go share them with your neighbors.

Leslie’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don’t worry, I halved the original recipe so you won’t end up with a ton of cookies. This yields about 3-4 dozen. Also, the recipe Leslie gave me called for rolled oats but she told me that she always uses instant so I’ve made that change in my copy.

2 sticks softened butter (1 cup)
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Scant 3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup instant oats
1 (12 oz.) bag milk chocolate chips ( I like Guittard brand)

1) Cream butter and sugar
2) Add eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated
3) Add flour, soda, salt, and oats
4) Stir in chocolate chips
5) Drop by rounded tablespoons (or use a cookie scoop- mine is about 1 ½ tablespoons) onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
6) Bake at 350 for about ten minutes, or until bottoms of cookies are lightly browned.

Tzatziki

Any picky eater can tell you that food is about more than just flavor. Some can’t handle tomatoes because of their wet texture, others hate the stringiness produced by melted cheese, etc. I am far from a picky eater (I can count the number of things I absolutely will not eat on one hand), but I too realize that the experience of eating can be as much about how a food feels as how it tastes. For example, one of my favorite culinary sensations is that interplay of hot and cold that occurs when you take a hot food and pair it with a cool, creamy condiment. Think nachos topped with sour cream, buffalo wings dipped in blue cheese dressing, or apple pie served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Apparently the Greeks also recognized the genius of this pairing, as evidenced by tzatziki. This Greek cucumber yogurt dip can be eaten in a variety of ways, but my favorite is as a sauce for gyros or as an accompaniment to souvlaki. The cool notes of cucumber, dill, and mint, along with the tang of yogurt and vinegar, marry perfectly with the smoky taste of grilled meat and warm pita bread. Eat it on a sun-drenched patio to kick the Mediterranean experience up a notch.

I’m sure there are plenty of recipes out there for preparing your own authentic gyro meat, but so far I haven’t felt the need to go there. Instead I made a “light gyro” of sorts by marinating chicken tenders in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, lemon pepper, and garlic, then grilling them over medium-high heat until done. I threw that onto a grilled pita with some tomatoes and cucumbers and topped it with the tzatziki. Delish.

Tzatziki
(adapted slightly from The Gourmet Cookbook)


3 cups plain yogurt (or Greek yogurt if you can swing it. I like fage brand best.)
1 seedless cucumber (those plastic-wrapped ones also called English or Hothouse cucumbers), peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¾ Tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
½ Tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
½ Tablespoon white wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt

1) Put yogurt in a large sieve or colander lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth and set over a large bowl. Let drain for 24 hours (skip this step if using Greek yogurt).
2) Transfer yogurt to a clean bowl; discard the liquid collected in the bowl used to strain yogurt.
3) Stir in remaining ingredients and refrigerate, covered, for at least 4 hours.