WEEKEND RECIPES

Don't forget to enter our giveaway for a Personalized Aluminum Water Bottle. Comment here to enter no later than midnight EST tonight!

Having a picnic or weekend party? Here are two perfect recipes for a summer party. I made them both for our fireworks viewing party on the fourth and they were both tremendous hits!

The first is a fantastically delicious trifle recipe from Make and Take, complete with a lemon curd recipe that you will die for! Seriously, you may want to make an extra batch of lemon curd just to eat with a spoon while you assemble the trifle. (Not that that is something I would do, of course. It's just a suggestion.)

SUMMER TRIFLE

1 prepared recipe sour cream pound cake, sliced or cubed (recipe follows) 1 prepared recipe lemon curd, chilled (recipe follows) 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold 16 oz. fresh strawberries, sliced 2 pints fresh blueberries

To make the cream:

Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add the heavy cream and continue beating until thick. Chill until ready to assemble trifle.

Assembly:

Layer in a trifle dish or large bowl–

Half the sliced pound cake–use smaller pieces to fill in the gaps Half the lemon curd One third of the blueberries and strawberries Half the whipped cream mixture

Repeat with the remaining cake, lemon curd, another 1/3 of the berries, and whipped cream. Top with the remaining 1/3 strawberries and blueberries.

Let chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

Serves a bunch.

Sour Cream Pound Cake adapted from The Joy of Cooking

3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature 3 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided 6 eggs, separated and at room temperature 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 8″ square baking pans or a 9″ Bundt pan.

Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add the sugar and continuing beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Don’t skimp on this step.)

Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating for at least 1 minute between additions. Add the vanilla extract.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, beat just until it disappears into the creamed mixture. Add 1/2 of the sour cream. Beat to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and sour cream, making sure to end with the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Set aside.

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar a little at a time. Continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.

Carefully fold in 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter using a large rubber or silicone spatula. (It’s okay if there are some streaks of egg white. This is to lighten the batter before the remaining egg whites are added.)

Add the remaining egg whites by gently folding, being careful not to deflate the whites.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan. If using 8″ square pans, bake for about 35-40 minutes. (Don’t open the oven at all during the first 30 minutes or the cake will fall in the center.) If using the bundt pan, bake for 60-75 minutes. Tent the pans with foil if the top browns too quickly. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.

Let cool for a few minutes in pan before removing the cake to a wire rack to finish cooling. Cake gets better the longer it sits. Be sure to wrap it well in foil or plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.

Lemon Curd from my husband’s aunt

Juice of 3 lemons Zest of 3 lemons 1 cup granulated sugar 3 whole eggs 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

In a bowl, rub the lemon zest with the sugar until wet and sandy. Whisk in the eggs. Add the juice. Add the melted butter.

Transfer the mixture to a stainless steel (or other non-reactive) pan. Cook over medium heat while whisking constantly until the curd thickens. (It will be about the consistency of thin yogurt.) Quickly remove from heat. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Press plastic wrap on the surface and chill until ready to use.

 The next recipe is for a simple and refreshing white Sangria courtesy of Eddie Ross. This sangria is soooooooo good and sooooooo refreshing. 'Nuff said.

Check back tomorrow for our lucky giveaway winner!