525205 Tue Jun 03 06:41:41 -0700 2008 16 31 Home Cooking 0 3744388 Helping a friend stoke the fire of a new romance. :) He's cooking dinner for her for the first time on Thursday and she's bringing dessert. She dosn't spend a lot of time in the kitchen so she's a little inexperinced. Need simple AND delicious. He likes berries. Whatcha got? Tue Jun 03 06:41:42 -0700 2008 10426 shaebones 1 3744412 Pavlova and trifle are both easy and the latter requires no cooking. Adding a little bit of raspberry liquer to the cream in either will add a little more sweetness to berries this early in the season. Tue Jun 03 06:51:52 -0700 2008 3744388 68363 JungMann 2 3745026 Pavlova was exactly what I was thinking - with an unsweetened freshly whipped cream and the best, most fragrant strawberries she can find. Pavlova is actually quite easy, and she'll look like a star for making her own meringue. (Just warn her to keep the bowl in which she's beating the eggwhites very clean and free of fat/oil.) Tue Jun 03 09:27:42 -0700 2008 3744412 78370 littlegreenpea 3 3745220 Watch the weather too. Meringues are more finicky when it's humid. (As it will be here on Thursday with storms forecast.) A good crisp sounds great. Or a strawberry shortcake with a simple biscuit with butter, the best strawberries and some whipped cream. If you want a recipe for a good and easy one, let me know. Tue Jun 03 10:10:38 -0700 2008 3745026 123744 karykat 4 3746004 Good thought -- I live in a very dry climate, so that never occurred to me. Tue Jun 03 12:58:23 -0700 2008 3745220 78370 littlegreenpea 5 3746291 I resoundingly second the advice about the weather. I live in San Francisco and although I am a very confident and experienced cook, I never undertake meringue when it is for guests or an event because the odds of it going wrong are very high. Depending on her level of confidence with pie dough, how about a berry galette? They are simple if the crust isn't intimidating. Or, for truly simple how about just tossing some fresh berries with a little cassis and serving them over good vanilla ice cream. Tue Jun 03 14:12:36 -0700 2008 3746004 23560 Pistou 1 3744430 Berry crisp. Please use real butter. There's also those free form berry pie type deals. Are they Italian? I don't know the name, but it's basically a free for pie where you form the pie crust or dough around the berries. I'd do a berry crisp though. SOOO simple. Again, use real butter. Maybe get some ultra rich vanilla bean ice cream to go with it. Also, I've been seeing and eating some REALLY good strawberries from Cali this year. Chocolate covered strawberries? Super simple, and in season, too. Hell, do both. If you wanna stroke the proverbial fire, berry crisp for dessert, and chocolate covered strawberries for a quick snack in the fridge for um.. later. Tue Jun 03 06:59:00 -0700 2008 3744388 111530 gordeaux 1 3745259 Double Berry Crisp Make the "berry" easiest crisp you may ever made! Cake mix and pie filling are the secret helps. But add fresh berries too! Ingredients 1 package Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix 1/2 C. butter or margarine, melted 1/2 C. chopped nuts, if desired 1 can (21 oz.) cherry or strawberry pie filling 1 can (21 oz.) blueberry pie filling 1 Tbs. lemon juice Ice cream, if desired Directions Heat oven to 350ºF. Stir cake mix, butter and nuts in large bowl until crumbly; set aside. Spoon pie fillings randomly in ungreased rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches, without mixing them together. Sprinkle lemon juice over fillings. Sprinkle cake mix mixture evenly over fruit. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream. Tue Jun 03 10:17:08 -0700 2008 3744388 112406 Chew on That 2 3745610 Given that you edit a food blog, I'm interested to hear how you rate a recipe that contains only three fresh and/or natural products in comparison to a dessert of flour, spices, sugar and fresh berries? I'm open to shortcuts, but the copious ® makes me a little nervous! Tue Jun 03 11:28:10 -0700 2008 3745259 68363 JungMann 1 3745313 This would be easy: Chow's recipe for "Almost summer pudding" http://www.chow.com/recipes/11584 Tue Jun 03 10:26:57 -0700 2008 3744388 46956 maestra 1 3745629 Summer pudding (I haven't tried the "almost summer pudding above). It's a great light berry dessert. BUT much depends on the quality of the berries. If you can get something fresh and local then summer pudding is perfect. If not I'd try a dessert where the berries are cooked. Tue Jun 03 11:32:54 -0700 2008 3744388 85539 lupaglupa 2 3745682 Here's a summer pudding that cooks the berries: 1 unsliced rectangular loaf of brioche or good-quality firm white bread such as Pullman (1 pound), crusts discarded 4 cups blueberries (1 pound) 5 cups raspberries (18 ounces) 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Cut out a 3-inch round from 1 slice and put in bottom of bowl. Line side of bowl with 10 slices, overlapping them slightly. Bring berries, sugar, and lemon juice to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries collapse and release their juices, about 8 minutes. Spoon fruit into a sieve set over a bowl and let drain 15 minutes. Spoon drained fruit into bread-lined bowl (reserve juices) and cover completely with remaining bread, cutting bread to fit. Pour juices evenly over bread, making sure all bread is saturated. Cover pudding directly with a piece of wax paper and place a 7-inch plate, upside down, on top of paper. Put a 1- to 1 1/2-pound weight (such as a large can) on plate and chill at least 8 hours. Remove weight, plate, and wax paper and invert platter over bowl, then invert bowl onto platter. Carefully unmold. Tue Jun 03 11:42:44 -0700 2008 3745629 87249 katecm 1 3746147 There is a recipe for a coconut raspberry tart that is easy in the dessert COB "Pure Desserts" If it is interesting I can paraphrase. Tue Jun 03 13:33:16 -0700 2008 3744388 15001 jsaimd 1 3746149 Simple berry dessert, which I love so much is' red rasberries strawberries blueberries in a bowl add, Grand Marnier, orange zest a little lemon juice and sugar, then put this in a beautiful huge goblet. Top with whip cream made with real vanilla, the real deal not the fake stuff, and then add some orange zest to the top of the cream. Pure heaven and a very romantic dessert to eat by candlelight... Tue Jun 03 13:33:18 -0700 2008 3744388 50431 chef chicklet 2 3746258 Sometimes berries - strawberries especially - look better than they taste. Adding a little currant jelly or strained berry preserves guarantees enough fruitiness. Tue Jun 03 14:02:53 -0700 2008 3746149 159317 greygarious 1 3746470 Cook's illustrated Berry Fool. TOO DIE FOR!! Tue Jun 03 14:57:49 -0700 2008 3744388 190009 Calipoutine 1 3746977 I made a cherry crumb cake with fresh sour cherries. Yellow cake,cherries and crumb topping. Tue Jun 03 17:51:43 -0700 2008 3744388 133679 classylady 1 3747735 If she can get really nice berries there is nothing yummier than shortcake, whipped cream and berries. I use the cream scone recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Split one in half, ladle a big scoop of slightly sweetened mixed berries (blackberries, strawberries and blueberries) on top and then a big fat dollop of barely sweetened whipped cream. Heaven. The scones make it look like you worked, but they're really easy. Tue Jun 03 23:55:13 -0700 2008 3744388 86221 lulubelle