Happy Dessert Day!

Cardamom Buttermilk Cake with blackberry whipped cream...

Putting it all together:  


The cake is made with buttermilk, ground cardamom and ginger, orange juice (freshly squeezed), and some vanilla.  The texture is firm, but light tasting...sort of similar to pound cake.  The cake pan is lined with ground pecans mixed with sugar and some orange rind to give the cake a little crust.  

The filling is just some Cool Whip and blackberries gently folded together.     

It was the best way to celebrate National Dessert Day!

Gingerbread

I made some gingerbread over the weekend.  A big warm slice tasted great on a cool, fall night, topped of course, with my favorite whipped topping.  

I used an 8x8 pan since I didn't have a 9x9 sized one.  This seemed to work, but the pieces are very tall!  

Strawberry Shortcake

It seemed like the perfect compliment to our grilled veggie burgers last night.  I don't know if I've ever had real strawberry shortcake before.  Growing up, my mom would buy lady fingers or sponge cake dessert shells in the bakery at the grocery store, and we'd fill them with strawberries and top them off with Cool Whip.  The old-fashioned version was also a wonderful treat.  The recipe came from Cooking Light, and definitely one I'll add to the line up.  I like how the shortcake was sweet...I expected it to taste more like a biscuit and was pleasantly surprised.  Not the most beautiful presentation, but trust me, it was very good! 

I can make a decent whipped cream from scratch, but I prefer to use Cool Whip.  There is such a huge difference in terms of calories and fat, and personally, I prefer the taste of Cool Whip.  For me the only downside is appearance...cool whip just doesn't look as light and fluffy as the real thing.