Fruit Cake for People Who Hate Fruit Cake

Fruit Cake with Coconut
whipped cream

Don't run for the nearest door just because the title says Fruit Cake.  This is a cake of a different color.  Fresh, Spring, Summer, Juice, and Glorious were all invited into the recipe.

Symmetrical melons are easier
to work with.  2 cakes from one
melon.  Cut off ends. Cut in half.

Fortunately, it takes very little time to prepare, and no two or three months to ripen.  This is ready to be eaten in minutes (can wait a few hours).  So grab your forks.

By slicing at the outer edge of the rind you
get the most from the wider melon below

Ready to decorate

The idea/recipe came from Rawforvitality's post on Facebook:  Rawforvitality. They used whipped coconut milk for the "frosting."

About 10 strawberries and one kiwi.
Blackberries were stabilized with
Toothpicks

Just waiting for someone to sing "Happy Birthday,
dear Teresa" then add the whipped cream.

My trial run on that found that the brand I used would not hold its shape for more than a few minutes.*  I needed three hours of "solid" frosting to hold until we were ready to serve.  My solution:  Cover the sides of the "cake" with halved strawberries.  Serve the whipped "cream" on the side so everyone can pour as much as they like over their piece.  Sharing the cake with friends today and sharing the recipe with friends in blogland are Things I get to do today.   I am so blessed!


*PS. The "cakes" were served up to many oo's and ah's.  Coconut cream on the side.  As the cream warmed to the room, it seemed to hold its shape better.  Recipe said to chill it first.  Next experiment will be to start with the coconut milk at room temp.  No sugar or flavor added to the coconut milk.  It was sweet enough on its own.

Second Time Around

The first time was nothing compared to this!  Why these day-neutral strawberries are knocking their little socks off getting ready for the best crop of their entire career up till now.

All this on one plant!

There's a thing called "ever bearing" that refers to strawberries.  The term does not mean they make fruit all summer.  Just somebody's excitement in the name factory when they created a new strawberry years ago--and the name stuck.

Just like spring--at the end of July

The real revolution came to strawberries when someone developed a berry that did not take its cues on fruiting from the length of the day.  It begins to fruit when it is warm enough and does not stop until it is too cold.  I've picked day-neutral strawberries in November.

Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with these lovely red rascals is the dessert tonight after all the other Things I get to do today.

A Party

It's Karen's birthday, and we had a party!  She lives on the East Coast, and we are on the West. Speaker phones are perfect.  We had her on the phone in the middle of the table while we sang the usual birthday song and ate dinner. Hard to give her a birthday hug through the phone, but it was lovely to have her voice joining us in our celebration.

Birthday Party!

Our dessert in her honor was Angel Food Cake drizzled with fresh Raspberry Puree and a side of Mexican Strawberry Chocolate Ice Cream*.  Besides being grateful for these lovely Things I get to do today in her behalf, the excuse to make this ice cream was most welcome. Thank you, Karen! May you enjoy this coming year to the fullest.









*Mexican Strawberry Chocolate Ice Cream

2 Cups whipping cream divided.

Strawberry Puree mixing with cream and sugar and cinnamon

3/4 Cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
Dash of salt

Heat one cup of the cream with the sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Bring to a boil. Cool completely. Add the remaining cup of cream. Stir in

2 Cups pureed fresh or frozen strawberries
2 Tablespoon of white rum

Chill well before freezing.
Freeze in a 2 quart ice cream maker.  Just before the ice cream is firm enough, drizzle in

2 Ounces of melted dark chocolate.  The churning of the ice cream will cause the chocolate to form thin chards through out.

Sound of Strawberries

Hide in the bushes and make noise like a carrot.  You do remember the old punch line to "How do you catch a rabbit," don't you?  Why that came to mind as I tousled the tops of strawberry plants, finding red, ripe berries, I'll never know.

Ever notice that strawberries have little pockets for cream and sugar built right in?  

Nearly everyone's day starts with some form of breakfast.  All the Things I get to do today are not powered by just a cup of tea.  Our first meal includes a fruit, and in the summer we are so fortunate to have a variety of fresh berries from our garden May through August when the fruit trees come into their generous gifts.

The strawberries talk to me as they're plucked from their stems.  Some say nothing at all.  Others make a little snap as the stem breaks free from the plant.  But the one that caught my ear the other day and again this morning is the unique snap/pop combination that happens when the stem releases from the calyx at the top of the berry.  You know that sound!  If you've ever picked strawberries, it's the sound that neutralizes the stiff back and the pinching knee.  It's the sound that explodes with flavor on your tongue.  It's the sound that tastes like "mmm-m-m-m."

Strowing the Garden

"Where do you get your strow?" Reva asked over the phone.  Strow.  I was speechless with absolutely no clue what she was talking about.  Context of the question implied, however,  that not only did I know what strow was, but I had also procured some.  "You know, the strow you put around your strowberries."

"Strow" in the "strowberries"

So every year when Things I get to do today include putting straw around  my strawberries, I remember Reva, from Knoxville, TN, my neighbor in times past.  Warm affection is mixed well with this mulch that keep the berries clean and the earth damp.


I now "strow" most of my garden.  And I think of Reva nearly every time I see it glisten in the garden light.