MADDIE DAY here with a jump on the US Memorial Day holiday, coming up on Monday. This is a yummy sour cream cake that's easy to decorate with a sour cream frosting and red and blue fruit. See, you can use it for the 4th of July, too! You're welcome.
Memorial Day Cake
Who
doesn't love a red, white, and blue dessert for Memorial Day? This cake is adapted
from a Sweetest Menu recipe.
Ingredients
Sour cream cake
3 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick softened butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups full fat sour cream
Sour cream frosting and fruit topping
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup full fat sour cream
2 cups cleaned and halved strawberries
2 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons cognac, sherry, or other liqueur (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line a 9”x13” pan or two cake pans with
parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add sour cream and mix to blend.
In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into wet ingredients.
Transfer cake batter to your pan(s) and gently smooth the top.
Bake cake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Leave cake to cool slightly before carefully removing from
cake pan(s). Leave on a wire rack to cool completely. Remove parchment paper and place on serving platter. (I covered a cutting board with tin foil.)
To make the frosting, add butter to a large
mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes
or until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat slowly until it
starts to come together. Add sour cream and continue to beat until smooth.
Cover top (and middle if using two pans) of cake with sour cream frosting.
Mix blueberries and strawberries with sugar and alcohol (omit if desired) and let sit half an hour.
Enjoy after your cookout and/or with your favorite veteran.
Readers: What dessert do you enjoy on Memorial Day or another spring celebration?
I'll send one lucky commenter Mulch Ado About Murder, my fifth Local Foods Mystery (written as Edith Maxwell), which takes place over Memorial Day weekend!
🍔🍓🎂
Murder at the Rusty Anchor will be out at the end of June!
A Case for the Ladies is out and available wherever books are sold!
We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.
Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.
My favorite dessert for Memorial Day is a plain cheesecake which I add to the top fresh strawberries on one half and fresh blueberries on the other half.
ReplyDeleteJess
Maceoindo(at)yahoo(dot)com
Delish!
DeleteOh my, this is a must make! Thanks for sharing,
ReplyDeleteWhat don’t I love for dessert on Memorial, Day!
Let’s see, we had fresh berries shortcake, hot milk cake, chocolate frosting cupcakes, bakery cookies, watermelon fruit salad (I think of it as dessert), Watergate salad (again for me a dessert), lemon Bundt cake, blueberry pie and blueberry-or cherry cobbler. Of course not all at once or on the same day, haha. We had large gatherings of family and friends in my younger years but sadly time has taken some tolls as has happened in everyone life. The gathering is smaller however -no less enjoyable - with all the picnic or BbQ foods and fun. Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Holiday! Thanks Rose - roseb2007@verizon.net
Thanks, Rose!
DeleteThis time of year, means fresh fruit and that always makes me think of this dessert, which is so versatile because you can change it around according to the fruit that is in season. Right now for us, that’s strawberries, followed by blueberries and lastly by peaches.
ReplyDeleteFRESH PEACH DELIGHT
The magic of his favorite dessert is that it is versatile for whatever fruit is in season at the time. To change it up with different fruit (strawberries, blueberries or peaches), you just change the flavor or jello or use your own homemade pie filling.
Here's the recipe using peaches. It was the original recipe my Mom started using decades ago.
Ingredients for crust
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup butter softened, 1 stick
¼ cups finely ground pecans
Ingredients for creamy layer
1 cup sugar
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
9 ounce tub of cool whip (As you can see old recipe. You can use the small tub or part of big tub. I usually use big tube and add a bit more than half of it.)
Fruit layer
3 cups of fresh, sliced peaches
Top layer ingredients
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
1 ½ cup of water
1 package of peach flavored jello (3 ounce size)
Directions
Mix crust ingredients until well blended. Spread in 9x13 pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven until light golden brown. Cool.
For creamy layer cream the sugar and cream cheese until smooth and blended. Fold in cool whip. Spread over cooled crust.
Top with the sliced peaches and put in refrigerator
For top layer combine the sugar and cornstarch. Stir in water. Cook until thick. Stir in jello until thoroughly blended. Cool. (I often speed this up by placing pan in sink with water and ice. Constantly moving pan around while stirring so it doesn’t just cool on mixture closest to the pan. You don’t want it to set – only getting thick or it won’t spread properly.) Spoon glaze over peaches covering them completely. If they stick up, take your finger and push them down into the cheese layer. If you don’t, the fruit will turn dark.
Chill until serving.
One variation to this are to use fresh strawberries cut in half (enough to cover the creamy layer) and use strawberry jello.
Another variation is to use a layer of blueberry pie filling instead of the fruit and jello layer. I make my own blueberry pie filling for this using fresh picked fruit.
Blueberry Pie Filling
2 cups sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups water
8 cups of fresh blueberries.
Stir together the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Wisk in the water until smooth. Stir in the blueberries and bring to a boil. Boil stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
LOVED the Local Foods Mystery! It was this series that sold me on cozy mysteries and introduced me to your amazing books.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
I am touched that my stories sold you on the genre, Kay!
DeleteHi, Edith/Maddie -- Your cake is beautiful and the red-white-and-blue theme is perfect for this weekend and July 4th. Cheers for sharing it. Marc and I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cleo. The same to you both!
DeleteMy favorite desserts are Strawberry Trifle, Cheesecake, and cream puffs. Thank you for the Chance. Enjoy your Memorial Day
ReplyDeleteI love trifle - haven't made it in a while.
DeleteThank you for sharing the recipe, fresh berries make the best topper for a cake. Strawberry shortcake is my go to for a spring/summer dessert. I did not realize you had another series under Edith Maxwell! I will be adding to my TBR list and (fingers crossed) maybe my bookshelf as well. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity tracy.condie@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI have several series written as Edith: https://edithmaxwell.com/
DeleteTracy, you are our lucky winner! Congratulations, and please check your email.
DeleteI like angel food cake topped with just picked strawberries and lots of fresh whipped cream!
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
Yum.
DeleteYou are so accomplished in the culinary arts, dear Edith! There has never been a recipe you have posted or included in your FUN-tastic books that I have not liked. This cake is now going to be on the menu for the 4th. of July, since we are at our son's family this weekend, and it would be a bit difficult to bake something due to a regimented schedule starting this afternoon with our eldest granddaughter's graduation from high school, and then celebrations and so on. Ewe usually have pies at home, but have not made a cake that depicted the colors of our flag. Now I vow to bake and offer yours to our guests on the 4th, nice the colors are so appropriate. This luscious cake will surely be a hit...(definitely with me :-)) Thanks for sharing all you gifts with us eager readers. Happy Memorial Day! Luis at ole dot travel
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Luis, and thank you.
DeleteMemorial Day used to be the start of homemade ice cream season for us, but a couple of family members have developed lactose intolerance, so we've had to make some changes. These days it's often pie, so for Memorial Day, it's usually either apple, cherry or blueberry pie. Ice cream or whipped cream for those who can indulge.
ReplyDeleteHappy holiday weekend to one and all! makennedyinaz at hotmail dot com
I'll be right over for homemade ice cream!
Deleteoh but this recipe looks so yummy. thanks for sharing. I love to make home made ice cream with berries of choosing to put on top. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
ReplyDeleteA tasty beauty.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your celebrations!
libbydodd at comcast dot net
My family and I enjoy brownies and watermelon during our Memorial Day weekend family celebration. Cherie J cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is watermelon!
ReplyDeleteI usually like to make a strawberry or raspberry cheesecake for Memorial Day or Fourth of July. Thank you for this opportunity!
ReplyDeleteNancy Urtz
jnurtz@yahoo.com
Tracy Condie is our lucky winner! Congratulations, Tracie, and please check your email.
ReplyDelete