What makes these birthday bars? The sprinkles! I just can’t resist desserts covered in sprinkles, and sugar cookies with a nice thick layer of frosting are one of my favorite treats.  I recently decided to bake up some fun sprinkle covered sugar cookies with my own special twist!

I love making bar cookies because they’re so easy to throw together. I mixed the perfect amount of lemon zest and almond extract into the cookie dough and topped the bars with an ooey gooey frosting made with cream cheese, lemon curd, and powdered sugar. And of course, added a healthy dose of sprinkles on top. My birthday isn’t until tomorrow, but I’ve been enjoying these all week!

Lemon Birthday Bars
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup lemon curd
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons sprinkles

Directions:
To make the bar cookies, heat oven to 350˚F. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Mix in egg and almond extract; stir in flour, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt until soft dough forms. Spread dough in bottom of a greased 8×8-inch square pan. Bake 18 to 20 minutes at 350˚F or until light golden brown on the edges and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

To make the frosting, place cream cheese and lemon curd in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread frosting evenly over cooled sugar cookie bars and top evenly with sprinkles. Cut into 16 bars.

Nutrition: 225 calories, 13.8g fat, 0.3g fiber, 2.9g protein per bar
Cost: $0.34 per bar

I think Boston is a bit of a cold city. It’s not something I notice anymore on a daily basis, but when I’m visiting more friendly regions, I’m often struck by the joggers who nod and give you a smile as you run past and the eager store employees who go out of their way to help you. These things rarely happen here and the subway is especially a land of aloofness where people tend to avoid eye contact. I’ve found a way to warm people up though – simply tote a homemade dessert around with you.

I have a clear cake carrying case that I bring all my treats to work in with and not only do people tend to smile when they see a dessert inside, many go out of their way to strike up a friendly conversation. Usually they ask if I made it or what flavor it is or just compliment its appearance, but one guy surprised me by pulling a quart of milk out of his backpack and asking if we could split the cherry pie I was holding with everyone on the train if he provided the beverages!

Desserts always make people happy, but I think it’s more than that. I think people realize that a lot of love goes into taking time out of one’s busy schedule to bake something special for someone. And I think they’re drawn to that warmth. A cheesy sentiment perhaps, but wouldn’t the world be a better place with more homemade desserts?

I recently baked up a treat for the most important birthday boy – Apolinaras, who celebrated his big day last Friday. He usually requests a treat with pineapple and coconut, but this year he wanted a decadent raspberry and chocolate cake instead. Here’s what I came up with – a layer of chocolate cake baked in a springform pan topped with a bit of raspberry puree and a creamy raspberry mousse. I garnished it with some dark chocolate shavings and fresh berries. Apolinaras and his coworkers were big fans!

p.s. Apolinaras suggested the best trick for removing the cake from the bottom of the springform pan (apparently, he uses a similar technique to remove his racing badges from his car). After detaching the sides of the pan, nurse a piece of dental floss or fishing line carefully under the entire length of the cake – then you can just lift the cake off with a big spatula and put it on the dish you’d like to serve it on. This avoids someone accidently cutting up the bottom of your fancy pan with a sharp knife!

Chocolate Raspberry Torte
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Raspberry Puree:
12 ounces frozen raspberries, thawed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

Raspberry Mousse:
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For assembly:
6 ounces fresh raspberries
1/2 ounce shaved dark chocolate

Directions:
To make the chocolate cake, heat oven to 350˚F. Grease and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt together into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until well combined. Add liquids to dry ingredients and mix for 2 minutes. Scrape down bowl and mix again briefly. Pour cake batter into the prepared springform pan and bake at 350˚F for 28 to 32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for an hour or until completely cooled to room temperature.

To make the raspberry puree, place raspberries in a food processor and pulse until smooth, about one minute. Push puree through a fine mesh strainer into a pot to remove the seeds. Add sugar and lemon juice to the pot and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 2 minutes, stirring frequently, or until sugar is dissolved. Cool 1/2 cup of the puree to room temperature (I stuck mine in the freezer for 15 minutes).

To make the raspberry mousse, place heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in a well chilled bowl and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 1 1/2 minutes. Fold 1/2 cup cooled raspberry puree into the whipped cream until smooth.

To assemble the cake, poke cooled chocolate cake all over with a fork and evenly spread remaining 1/2 cup raspberry puree over the cake. Allow to sit for 30 minutes and massage the puree into the cake every 10 minutes. Top with raspberry mousse and garnish with fresh raspberries and shaved dark chocolate. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Remove from pan and smooth edges as needed. Store in the refrigerator. Makes 12 servings.

Nutrition: 387 calories, 25.5g fat, 4.3g fiber, 4.2g protein per serving
Cost: $0.95 per serving

I’m so happy berries are finally in season! For the past couple of weeks we have just been annihilating as many as possible straight from the container – 2 pounds of blueberries only last a couple days around here. But, I’ve been yearning to use the new mini trifle dishes I scored from the Crate and Barrel outlet store during our trip to Portland, so I finally managed to set some fruit aside to use in these blueberry lemon trifles.

Lemons and blueberries are just made for each other. The trifles contain layers of a creamy lemon custard (well, it’s technically not a custard but it tastes just as indulgent as one – I simply mixed thick Greek yogurt with a bit of lemon curd from Trader Joe’s), a homemade blueberry sauce, fresh blueberries, and chunks of soft sugar cookies full of lemon zest, almond extract, and dried blueberries – SO good! I split an 8×8-inch pan of cookies into just 6 trifles, but if you want a lighter dessert you can certainly use less. These cute little desserts are perfect to enjoy at a summer dinner party because you can make all the components in advance and just assemble them right before serving.

p.s. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for an adorable apron from Shabby Apple!

Blueberry Lemon Trifles
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Cookies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried blueberries

Blueberry Sauce:
1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice

For Trifle Assembly:
3 cups vanilla non-fat Greek yogurt
6 tablespoons lemon curd
3 cups blueberries

Directions:
To make the cookies, heat oven to 350˚F. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Mix in egg and almond extract; stir in flour, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt until soft dough forms. Stir in dried blueberries. Spread dough in bottom of a greased 8×8-inch square pan. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown on the edges and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour, and cut into 64 squares (you’ll have 4 leftover for nibbling!).

To make the blueberry sauce, place blueberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small nonstick pan over medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and berries have broken down. Let cool about 10 minutes and then pulse in a food processor until smooth, about 10 seconds.

To assemble the trifles, whisk yogurt and lemon curd in a large bowl until smooth. Spread a thin layer of yogurt over the bottom of six mini trifle dishes. Top with five squares of cookie, a bit of blueberry sauce and some fresh blueberries. Layer once more the yogurt, five squares of cookie, a bit of blueberry sauce, and some fresh blueberries. Top with remaining yogurt, blueberry sauce, and garnish with fresh blueberries. Makes 6 trifles.

Nutrition: 564 calories, 22.5g fat, 3.8g fiber, 16.0g protein per trifle
Cost: $2.10 per trifle

Have you had any baking disasters? I’ve had my fair share, and naturally, they all tend to occur when I’m making a treat to share at a party. One time the pecan crust just fell off the sides of a cheesecake I had made for a lab birthday celebration. Another time a cake I made for a dinner party that was loaded with peach puree, didn’t taste like peaches at all, which would have been ok, except that I had just announced it was a peach cake! And I wince every time I think about the night I was easing a cake out of its pan onto a cooling rack and the pan slipped away from me and fell onto a different cake layer that was already cooling – that cake split into 4 pieces, eeek (I ended up pressing all the chunks together like puzzle pieces and making it the bottom layer and I don’t think anyone noticed, thankfully!). Creating new recipes is just so fun though that I usually can’t bring myself to repeat a dessert that I know always turns out well, so I take a bit of a chance each time and the hope that if anything goes wrong, that I’ll be able to save my dessert with a bit of creativity. Enter this cake.

Jen recently posted a beautiful carrot cake with a cheesecake filling that I thought was just genius. She was inspired to put the cheesecake layer in the center of the cake after seeing Erin’s mouth watering Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake and Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cake. When my undergrad assistant Juliana’s birthday rolled around, she told me her favorite desserts were cheesecake with fruit topping and light yellow cake, so I was inspired by Jen and Erin to combine the two desserts into one marvelous treat. Everything went well at first. I baked up a layer of strawberry cheesecake two days before the celebration and then made the tender yellow cakes the night before. They stacked up nicely, but things quickly went downhill when I began to work on the strawberry cream cheese frosting I had dreamed up. I forgot to put the butter in and when I added some strawberry preserves it became a runny mess. When I realized it was beyond saving and that I was out of powdered sugar, cream cheese, and heavy cream, I started racking my brain for a quick frosting fix since the last thing I wanted to do was head out to the store at 12:30am!

I ended up hesitantly stirring up a box of instant vanilla pudding with a little milk and a few cups of Chobani Strawberry Greek Yogurt. It had a lovely light texture but was still thick enough to adhere to the cake! I added in some strawberry preserves for a little extra strawberry punch, frosted my cake, and fell into bed. Will this experience stop me from attempting new desserts the day before I need them? Nope, of course not!

Strawberry Cheesecake Filled Yellow Cake
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Cheesecake:
3 cups pureed strawberries (I pulsed 30 ounces strawberries in the food processor)
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Yellow Cake:
3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Strawberry Frosting and Garnish:
1 3.4-ounce package instant vanilla pudding
1/4 cup milk
2 6-ounce containers Chobani Nonfat Strawberry Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup low sugar strawberry preserves
10 ounces strawberries, sliced

Directions:
To make the cheesecake layer, heat oven to 350˚F. Place strawberry puree in a small nonstick pan over medium low heat and heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until reduced to 1 cup. Let cool to room temperature. Combine the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl and beat on medium-high speed with a mixer for 3 minutes or until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in vanilla and cooled strawberry puree. Pour into a greased 9-inch springform pan lined with parchment paper and bake at 350˚F for 60 minutes or until edges are set and middle is slightly wobbly. Cool to room temperature, about one hour. Place in the refrigerator for several hours or until chilled.

To make the cake, heat the oven to 350˚F. Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt and sift the mixture into a large bowl. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer in a large bowl until creamed. Add in eggs and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly mix in half the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk, until smooth. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk. Pour batter into two greased 8-inch cake pans lined with parchment paper. Bake cakes at 350˚F for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean and the tops are light golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then run a knife around the edges of each cake. Flip over onto wire racks and cool cakes completely, about an hour.

To make the strawberry frosting, place vanilla pudding and milk in a large bowl and whisk until well combined. Stir in yogurt and strawberry preserves. Chill in the refrigerator 5 minutes or until thickened.

To assemble the cake, place one layer of the yellow cake on a serving platter. Remove cheesecake from the pan and flip over on top of the yellow cake. Cut around the edges of the cheesecake layer so it fits the cake layer. Place second layer of yellow cake on top. Evenly cover with strawberry frosting and garnish with strawberries. Makes 20 servings.

Nutrition: 438 calories, 23.4g fat, 1.6g fiber, 9.2g protein per serving
Cost: $0.90 per serving