My preschooler loves strawberries. But, she’ll gladly gobble up watermelon when it’s around.
During the summer months I try to keep as much of the refreshing fruit around as possible. When I was a kid my brothers and I would rock, paper, scissors for the last piece of watermelon, yet I know there are many people who don’t particularly care for the juicy summer fruit.
Fortunately, your family doesn’t have to love watermelon to love this next recipe. They’ll have to tolerate the sight of it, but they don’t have to enjoy the taste. That’s because the recipe doesn’t call for a single piece of watermelon. Rather, you will be using flavorful sherbets to craft a frozen watermelon look-alike. And the best part—it’s so easy to prepare your kids can get in on the action.
The second recipe is for a chilled cake that pairs everyone’s favorites: chocolate and strawberries. This simple dessert is a great way to make use of all the fresh strawberries available this time of year. The final result provides a cool ending to a hot summer day.
WATERMELON ICE CREAM CAKE
Ingredients:
1 pint lime sherbet, slightly softened
1 pint pineapple sherbet, slightly softened
About 1 1/2 pints raspberry sherbet, slightly softened
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Line a 1 1/2 qt round metal bowl with plastic wrap.
Press the lime sherbet evenly against the bottom and sides of bowl. Freeze, uncovered until firm.
Remove bowl from freezer and spread a layer of pineapple sherbet evenly over lime sherbet layer.
Freeze until firm.
Remove bowl from freezer and pack raspberry sherbet into center of sherbet-lined bowl.
Smooth the top to resemble a cut watermelon. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 8 hours.
Just before serving, remove bowl from freezer and uncover. Invert onto a serving plate. Remove bowl and plastic wrap.
Cut into wedges; press a few chocolate chips into the raspberry sherbet section of each wedge to resemble watermelon seeds.
Makes about 8 servings.
CHILLED CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY CAKE
Ingredients:
29 Oreo cookies, divided
2 tablespoons margarine, melted
2 packages (4 serving size each) Jell-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water
2 cups strawberries, puréed
1-1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped, divided
Directions:
Cut 3 of the cookies in half; set aside.
Finely crush 12 of the remaining cookies and mix with margarine. Press mixture into bottom of 9″ springform pan; stand remaining 14 cookies around edge of pan.
Dissolve gelatin in boiling water in large bowl; stir in cold water and strawberry purée. Refrigerate until slightly thickened.
Beat gelatin with electric mixer on high speed 2 minutes or until foamy. Gently stir in 2 cups of the whipped cream until mixture is thick. Spoon into crust.
Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.
Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen dessert; remove rim of pan.
Top with remaining whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and halved cookies. Garnish with additional strawberries.
Makes 14 servings.
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