Sweet Friday

I found this recipe in the September issue of Martha Stewart Living. It looked so delicious and it was gluten free I had to try it. It is definitely a winner, everybody liked it, my mom loved it and some of the neighbors we shared it with came back for seconds. I highly encourage everyone to try it and it is actually not too difficult. There are a few steps, but none of them are very difficult.

Blackberry Cloud Cake with Pistachios

Makes one 10-inch cake; serves 8

Ingredients

3 containers (6 ounces each) blackberries (about 4 1/3 cups)

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Vegetable oil cooking spray, for parchment

8 large egg whites, room temperature

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups cold heavy cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting

1/2 cup shelled salted pistachios, chopped*

Directions

1. Toss 2 containers blackberries (about 3 cups) with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar; let stand for at least 2 hours, tossing occasionally, until berries release juices. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment; coat with cooking spray. Whisk egg whites with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar. Raise speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Whisk in cornstarch, vinegar, and vanilla. Spread meringue evenly into sheet pan. Bake, rotating halfway through, until puffed and top is pale gold, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool in sheet pan on a wire rack.
3. Puree remaining container blackberries (about 1 1/3 cups) in a food processor, and strain through a fine sieve; discard solids. Whisk cream and confectioners' sugar until soft peaks form. Add 1/3 cup puree, and whisk until stiff peaks form.
4. Run a knife along edge of cake to release. Generously dust top with confectioners' sugar, and top with another piece of parchment. Flip cake, and peel off original parchment. Working with shorter end of cake facing you, spread cream on cake, leaving a 1-inch border at bottom and a 2-inch border at top. Tightly roll cake into a 10-inch log, starting with bottom edge and using parchment as a guide. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Trim edges of cake, and slice. Serve topped with reserved berries and sprinkled with pistachios.

*Pistachios are optional if you don't like nuts. I liked the salty crunch it added to the dish, but it's still good without the pistachios.

Spinach Salad with Strawberries

I had a few people request the recipe for the salad I made at my friend's baby shower, so I thought I would post it. It really is an amazing salad, tastes great and looks pretty, totally great for entertaining. I made it again the next night after the shower because I loved it so much and one person I made it for said they liked it even though they won't eat any vegetables. So if this salad will please a vegetable hater, I figure it's a winner.

Spinach Salad with Strawberries

from Lion House Entertaining

DRESSING

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup strawberry jam

SALAD

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup cashew pieces

15 wontons, cut into thin strips*

1 large head red leaf lettuce, washed and broken into pieces

1 package fresh spinach, with stems trimmed

1/3 cup bacon pieces, cooked and well drained

1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped

1 purple onion, sliced

1 cup strawberries, sliced

To make dressing, mix together vinegar, sugar, oil, mustard, salt, and strawberry jam. Mix until all ingredients are well blended. Set aside.

Heat a medium frying pan and add sugar and nuts. Stir constantly over medium heat until nuts are coated and slightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside.**

Fry wontons in hot cooking oil and drain onto paper towels.

When ready to serve salad, put lettuce, spinach, bacon, red pepper, onion, and strawberries into a large bowl and toss. Add salad dressing and toss. Add sugared nuts and wontons last. Makes 10 servings (They were definitely 10 generous servings).

Variation: Use fresh raspberries and raspberry jam instead of strawberries and strawberry jam. Substitute almonds for cashews. When fresh berries aren't available substitute dried cranberries.

*I didn't use wontons because it seemed like too much extra work, I'm pretty lazy, and the salad already had bacon in it so I thought it didn't really need anything fried in it. I did the raspberry jam variation the first time, but the second time I was out of fresh raspberries so I just used fresh strawberries but with raspberry jam in the dressing and it still tasted good.

**Be careful not to overcook the nuts, mine tasted slightly overdone on their own, but you couldn't really tell in the salad. Sheldon thought it might be easier to melt the sugar by itself, and then add the nuts once the sugar is liquidy.