Strawberry Mousse

Prep Time: 8 minutes
Wait Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Chill Time: 4 hours

Grade: A-

Make Again: Maybe 

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 2014)

This was a very nice and refreshing dessert that doesn't need perfect strawberries. I did have Farmer's Market berries to use, but they were actually not any better than grocery store berries this time. (Usually they are much better!)

The end result still had a very nice strawberry flavor, but I'm not sure I would make again, just because it was a little more work than I wanted for a nice but not amazing dessert.

Strawberry Shortcake

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 20 minutes
Cool Time: 20 minutes
Assemble: 5 minutes

Grade: A+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Everyday Food (June 2003)

(I'm a bit behind, and strawberry season is pretty much over in the midwest, but this is great for next June!)

I recently did a run-off between Everyday Food and Cook's Illustrated blueberry cake recipes.  I can't really do that with Strawberry shortcake, because I don't have a recent recipe from CI or ATK. However, I don't feel like I need another recipe, because this recipe is a winner. It was even declared a "top recipe" from the picky eater in my life, so that is good.

This is a more rustic dessert with craggy biscuits. The biscuits are pretty big. I think you could make them smaller and still have a very filling dessert. It did help to have perfectly ripe June strawberries to make this with of course. I would not make this with grocery store strawberries (but maybe frozen would work.)

Strawberry Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes

Grade: B+

Make Again: Maybe
Recipe Source: Martha Stewart

I was alerted to this recipe from the Smitten Kitchen blog. I don't read a lot of food blogs, but I do enjoy that one. She suggested using some barley flour, which I actually had in the freezer so I did that (1/2 c only) and it was fine.

This was good, and super easy to make. It is almost like a coffee cake. It uses a lot of strawberries which is nice. I thought it was a tiny bit dry the first day (perhaps I baked too long). But the second day it was better.

It isn't a beautiful cake. I didn't even take any pictures of it when it was done. It is a nice simple tasty cake. Even though it isn't the best ever, I might make it again because it uses up a nice amount of strawberries and it was good. 

Lemon Yogurt Mousse

Prep Time: 43 minutes
Cool Time: 6-24 hours 
Grade: A

Make Again: Yes
Recipe Source: The Best of America's Test Kitchen 2011


I was kind of disappointed with the best of 2011 book when I first looked at it after borrowing it from the library last week. There are several recipes from the Light & Healthy 2010 in there, and it seemed like there were other repeats in there. The only CI books I get anymore are these yearly annuals, so I expect to not have repeats.

It seems like a strange assortment of recipes, and I'm not sure how many I will try. However, this Lemon Yogurt Mousse looked good to me, so I decided to try it first. This one recipe may be enough to convince me to buy the book. I don't think it is on-line anywhere. I am guessing the recipe comes from this book but I don't know for sure.

It is a perfect summer recipe. Light, and refreshing. There is a berry sauce at the bottom of the dish, which is a nice little addition and complements the lemon nicely. (Strawberry, blueberry or raspberry - I used strawberries.)

After making the sauce, you make the mousse with egg whites, sugar, greek yogurt, lemon and some heavy cream. I was previously annoyed at having to purchase heavy cream for a light recipe earlier, so I was happy to be able to use some up with this recipe.

The most difficult part of the recipe is whipping the whites and sugar by hand while the bowl is over simmering water to get the eggs to 160 degrees. That takes almost 10 minutes. Otherwise the rest of the recipe is not too bad.

This one is really good. I will definitely make again. It would be good for summer entertaining, because it is a cold dessert and can be made ahead.

Strawberry Pretzel Bars

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Assemble: 1 hour (with chilling of gelatin)
Chill Time: 4 hours

Grade: A-

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (June 2005)

Some of the times above can be overlapped. This is kind of similar to a jello recipe that uses crushed pretzels. I liked it, but my crust was too crumbly. Maybe I measured the butter wrong or didn't cook enough. I have never used plain gelatin before and like it. I like the idea of making my own with my own flavors. For the grape juice, I used extra juice from Trader Joe's peaches, which worked well. I used a little more water and less juice than called for because the juice seems a bit reduced to me. It worked out OK.

Strawberry Scones

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Maybe

Recipe Source: Cook's Country (June 2005)

These were good and tasty, however, getting the strawberries into the dough didn't work great for me. They got a little mushy. I really prefer the "Best Blueberry Scone" recipes, which is wonderful (but I have not added here yet.)

Strawberry Shortcake

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes
Cook Time: 12-14 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 1997)

Strawberry Cream Cake

Prep Time: 18 minutes
Bake Time: 30-40 minutes
Cool Time: 2 hours

Filling Time: 15 minutes
Sit Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Cream Time: 7 minutes
Assemble Time: 10 minutes

Grade: A+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated Magazine (May 2006)

My first layer cake. I used a cheap torter that I bought at Michaels to cut it, which was very helpful. It was still lopsided because I hurried putting it together, but I still think it looked nice.

I skipped the Kirsch and that was fine. I had lots of leftover strawberry and cream filling, and I'm not sure if I needed more. (I mixed the two leftovers together and froze for some strawberry ice cream, which was very good!)

I'll definitely make this again, but next time might make a 7" cake instead and cut the recipe in half, unless I am serving a big crowd. The leftovers were good the next day though, and I froze some in pieces and it has still tasted pretty good (although not as great as fresh.) This can be put together ahead of time and still taste good.