Super Summer Desserts

Raise your hand if you love desserts!  Okay, put your hand down and navigate through this post. There are 7, count them 7, delicious desserts perfect for summer.  That's just enough to have a different dessert every night for a week.  Warning: if you opt for making all of these in one week, and indulging, you'll probably need to go shopping for new clothes. Unfortunately, these aren't low fat or low calorie. But, in moderation, they are so good!  Bake and share with friends and then let us know what you think!

Lemon and Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

This is super easy and super good!

Follow the directions on a lemon cake mix.  Prepare cupcake cups.  Pour lemon cake batter 1/2 way up in cupcake liner.  Add 6 blueberries.  Pour batter over the blueberries until cupcake liner is 2/3rds full. Bake cupcakes as directed.  Let cool completely. Frost cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle yellow decorator sugar on top.  Use mint leaves and blueberries to decorate the top. Yum!

Lime Sherbert with Blueberries

This is an easy one my mom makes. Take lime sherbert.  Add fresh blueberries. Let them sit a few minutes and the blueberries start to freeze.  It's refreshing and delicious!

Strawberry Ice Cream with Fresh Basil

The girls from HowDoesShe shared this wonderful goodness. This is one of our family favorites. We even use strawberry frozen yogurt for a lower fat dessert. The basil freezes and has a great texture in the ice cream! http://www.howdoesshe.com/strawberries-meet-basil

Baked Alaska

Oh, I love Baked Alaska. 

First, make a pan of brownies. My favorite is Betty Crocker's Hershey's Triple Chunk. Let the brownies cool.  Beat 8 eggs whites, 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar, and 1 cup of sugar until stiff.  Put ice cream, that has been frozen solid, on top of the brownies. Cover the ice cream and brownies with the egg whites.  Set your oven's broiler on low (or your oven temperature to 500 degrees).  Put the Baked Alaska in the oven until the egg whites turn a light brown.

Pink Lemonade Cake

Yum, yum, yum!

1 yellow cake mix - 2 layer size

1 qt vanilla ice cream

6 drops red food coloring

1 6 oz can frozen pink lemonade - thaw

1 cup whipping cream

2 Tbsp sugar

Pepare cake, in 2 layers, bake and cool.  Stir ice cream to soften; stir in food coloring and 1/2 c lemonade.  Spread in foil lined cake pan and freeze til firm.  Whip cream with sugar and remaining lemonade until stiff.  Put cake together with ice cream as center layer.  Frost with whipped cream. Return to freezer at least an hour. Enjoy!

Jello Cake

This is a great, lighter cake.

1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix

1 cup  boiling water

1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin

1/2 cup  cold water

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

PREPARE cake batter and bake as directed on package for 13x9-inch pan. Cool cake in pan 15 min. Pierce cake with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals.
ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in small bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water; pour over cake. Refrigerate 3 hours.
FROST cake with COOL WHIP. Refrigerate 1 hour.

*Options: you can use an angel food cake for a lighter option.  You can substitute any flavor Jello for strawberry. You can also use sugar free! Finally, I prefer homemade whipped cream. Cool whip works fine as well.

Coca Cola Cake

This cake is so good, but so rich!

2 cups self-rising flour

2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup Coca-Cola

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon cocoa
6 tablespoons Coca-Cola
1 box confectioner's sugar, (1pound)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preparation: 

Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan and set aside.

In a large bowl combine flour and sugar. In a saucepan combine the cocoa, Coca-Cola, butter, and marshmallows; bring to a boil. Combine the boiled mixture with the flour and sugar mixture.

In a separate bowl mix eggs, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla; add to the first mixture. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, until cake tests done.

Frosting:

In a saucepan, bring butter, cocoa, and Coca-Cola to a boil. Stir in the sugar and mix well. Stir in nuts. Spread over the cake while both cake and frosting are still warm.
Serves about 16. Serve with a dollop of homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

My favorites, in order from "yummiest" to "yum": Coca Cola Cake, Baked Alaska, Lemonade Cake, Strawberry Basil Ice Cream, Lime Sherbert with Blueberries, Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes, and Jello Cake.