Cleveland Cassata Cake

In honor of DD#3's birthday today, I thought I'd share the recipe for the cake she requested: Cleveland-style Cassata Cake (this one is very close to Corbo's in Cleveland's Little Italy.)

Yes, I know it looks like a strawberry shortcake but, trust me, it's SO much more!

Cleveland Cassata Cake

2 1/4 cup cake flour
1 1/4 and 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large egg yolks at room temperature
8 large egg whites at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

For the custard:
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups half and half
3 tablespoons cornstarch

For the strawberries:
3 pounds strawberries
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

For the whipped cream:
2 cups chilled heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar

Whisk together all of the custard ingredients in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-low heat, whisking constantly. Turn down the heat so that the mixture just simmers, and whisk until thick, 1-2 minutes. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a round of wax paper, and cool. Then, chill custard, covered, for at least 3 hours, or up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans with lightly oiled parchment paper. Sift together the flour, 1 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt two times into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat together the yolks, water, oil, zest and vanilla until smooth. Stir into the flour mixture. In another large bowl beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and beat on high until the peaks are stiff but not dry.

Using a rubber spatula, fold about a quarter of the fluffy egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Then very gently fold in the remaining whites. As soon as the egg whites are no longer visible, stop folding. Scrape the batter into the two prepared round cake pans and spread evenly. Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool in their pans on a cooling rack for at least an hour. When completely cool, run a knife around the sides to release the cakes, cover each pan with a wax paper-lined plate, and flip. Gently lift the pans off of the cakes.

Slice the strawberries thinly and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the sugar and stir. Allow the strawberries to soak up the sugar for 1 hour, giving them a stir every so often. Strain the berries, reserving the released juices.

When the cakes are thoroughly chilled slice them in half so you have four layers. Place each layer on a wax paper-lined baking sheet or plate. Whip the cream and sugar together until stiff.

Place one cake layer on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Brush with 1/3 of the reserved strawberry juice. Cover with a layer of strawberries, and then a layer of custard. Repeat for the following layers. Then, ice the top and sides of the cake with whipped cream. Top with fresh strawberries.

Chill the cake for at least 8 hours before serving, so that the cake has time to absorb the strawberry juices. Bring to cool room temperature before serving.

Is It Odd for a Recovering Alcoholic to Share Alcoholic Drink Recipes? Nahh.... Here's Strawberry Margarita Jell-o Shots!

It's not weird that a recovering alcoholic (almost 9 years sober!) is sharing a recipe for Jell-o shots, is it?  Nahhh... I didn't think so!  (And, no, I haven't tried these personally.  However, the person who shared the recipe swears they're the best thing ever.)

Strawberry Margarita Jell-o Shots

30 strawberries
1 box strawberry Jell-o
1 C hot water
8 oz. tequila
6 oz. cointreau
1/4 C cold water
Salt

Clean, hull, and hollow out approx. 30 strawberries.

Boil one cup of hot water in a saucepan, then add in Jell-o powder and whisk until powder is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Set aside.

Measure out 1/4 cup of cold water and set aside.

Combine tequila and Cointreau in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Add liquour mixture to cold water and stir to combine. Then add cold liquour mixture to hot Jell-o mixture and stir to combine.

Pour final Jell-o mix into strawberries and chill overnight. Dip your finger in water, to wet the edge of the strawberries. Dip and rotate the strawberries in salt to rim.

Top with a small wedge of lime and ENJOY!

Quick Tip: Flash freezing blueberries

We're just about to hit blueberry season in my area, and I love to stock up on them. Not only do I use them fresh, I flash freeze a bunch for use later in the year.

For those that don't know, flash freezing is super easy. Just simply wash the blueberries, remove any blemished berry or errant stem, dry them a bit (if you have a salad spinner, use it and you'll cut your drying time down to almost nothing!) Then just place them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze until the berries are partially frozen and kind of firm (approx. 10 - 15 minutes.) Remove from freezer, place in freezer bags, label with contents & date frozen, and pop into your freezer.

That's it! Oh, and the best part? If you're baking muffins or making smoothies, you don't even have to defrost the berries. Just scoop out as many as needed and go. Doesn't get much easier than that! grin emoticon

This method can be used for almost any type of berry, too, so don't think if you see a great deal on strawberries, that you're stuck either with making jam or risk wasting the berries because you couldn't use them before they went bad.