Our neighborhood has an annual block party hosted by one of the residents. Every year it's a bit different in format, but this year was "bring your own main dish" and sign-up for a side dish or dessert to share with the crowd. I was asked to contribute a dessert. I had been wanting to make jumbo S'more pops since my son's Bar Mitzvah and this was the perfect opportunity! I started by melting two packages of mini Ghirardelli semi-sweet morsels in my melting pot. While the chips melted I prepared the jumbo marshmallows by pushing a long lollipop stick into the flat end of each. I prepared the crumble by placing two sleeves of graham crackers in a plastic bag and rolling over them several times with my rolling pin. Actually, my son, Ben, was very happy to help with this part of the project!
Once the chocolate had melted, I used a knife to evenly spread it over each marshmallow then coated the chocolate with the graham cracker crumble. I placed the finished product on wax paper until they were dry. The end result is a fabulous individual dessert which required no utensils or fire. It was a huge hit at the block party!
The second dessert I made was individual berry and cake parfaits. The berries are amazing this season and the parfaits are perfect on a warm summer night.
I started with fresh berries, washed and dried.
I cut butter pound cake into 1/2" rounds and whipped some fresh cream adding a touch of vanilla. Again my son, Ben, was happy to help with the prep work. He cut all the strawberries into pieces roughly the size of the blueberries. Together we made the parfaits by layering the blueberries, dollop of cream, a cake round, spoonful of cut strawberries, another cake round, dollop of cream and finally a mixture of berries to top it off. To transport them, I covered each parfait cup with a square of wax paper secured with a white rubber-band. Voila!
What summer desserts to you make for a picnic or outside party?
Once the chocolate had melted, I used a knife to evenly spread it over each marshmallow then coated the chocolate with the graham cracker crumble. I placed the finished product on wax paper until they were dry. The end result is a fabulous individual dessert which required no utensils or fire. It was a huge hit at the block party!
The second dessert I made was individual berry and cake parfaits. The berries are amazing this season and the parfaits are perfect on a warm summer night.
I started with fresh berries, washed and dried.
I cut butter pound cake into 1/2" rounds and whipped some fresh cream adding a touch of vanilla. Again my son, Ben, was happy to help with the prep work. He cut all the strawberries into pieces roughly the size of the blueberries. Together we made the parfaits by layering the blueberries, dollop of cream, a cake round, spoonful of cut strawberries, another cake round, dollop of cream and finally a mixture of berries to top it off. To transport them, I covered each parfait cup with a square of wax paper secured with a white rubber-band. Voila!
What summer desserts to you make for a picnic or outside party?
