Want a super-easy dessert for July 4th weekend?

This trifle combines sweetened, beaten cream cheese with fresh berries. There’s no cooking: Just add sugar and vanilla to the cream cheese, and layer it with the berries.

It’s like an unbaked cheesecake, a nice change from the classic British custard-and-pound-cake trifle.

Thanks to Taste of Home for the recipe.
 
 
RECIPE: JULY 4TH TRIFLE IN RED, WHITE & BLUE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. BEAT the cream cheese, sugar and extracts in a large bowl until fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream.

2. PLACE a third of the mixture in a 4-quart bowl. Reserve 20 strawberry halves and 1/2 cup of the blueberries for the garnish.

3. LAYER half of the the remaining strawberries and blueberries over the cream mixture. Top with another third of the cream mixture and the remaining berries. Spread the remaining cream mixture on top.

4. CREATE a flag design on top with the reserved strawberries and blueberries.

[1] An easy July 4th dessert, no cooking required—just a little mixing (photo © Taste Of Home).

[2] Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries from Driscoll’s (photo © Driscoll’s Berries).

For more July 4th desserts, check yesterday’s post.

[1] An Independence Day ice cream cone (photo courtesy Baldor Specialty Foods).

[2] You can make ice cream with holiday sprinkles, or soften regular vanilla and stir them in (photo © OddFellows Ice Cream | NYC).

Here’s an easy and fun red-white-and-blue dessert or snack for the July 4th holiday weekend made with:

 
Just insert the blueberries into the raspberries, and press the fruit lightly into the ice cream.

TIP: Freeze the berries lightly so you can press them in without crushing the fruit.

Thanks to Baldor Specialty Foods for the idea.
 
 
MORE JULY 4TH DESSERTS

We’ve lived in New York City our whole life but had never heard of Grandma Pizza. Maybe it’s because we didn’t have an Italian grandmother.

According to King Arthur Flour, which has a wealth of baking knowledge (and lots of delicious recipes):

A New York City staple, Grandma Pizza has its origins in the homes of America’s Italian ancestors.

Preparing the dough the day before ensures a fresh-from-the-oven pie in less than an hour, once you’re ready to bake and serve.

They’ve given us the recipe, below.

Grandma Pizza is served in thick, square slices with crispy edges, similar to Sicilian-style pizza, yet different.

 
 
> The history of pizza.

> Forty different types of pizza.
 
 
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

Pizza Pan. This pizza is baked in a “Grandma-Style” pizza pan, 14″ x 1″ (photo #1). You can substitute an 18” x 13” baking sheet.

King Arthur Flour sells the pan and the dry ingredients in a bundle, as well as separately.

Italian-Style Flour. For this recipe, the bakers used Italian-style flour (photo #3), their version of Italian “00” (that’s zero zero), which refers to the grind of the flour. It’s exceptionally fine-textured.

Italian-Style flour is lower in protein and “mellower,” per the KAF team. “It yields the friendliest, gentlest dough to work with: supple, smooth, and easy to shape.”

The resulting baked goods are light, airy, and have a crisp snap to the crust. It’s ideal for pizza, flatbreads, focaccia, and crackers. Try it in delicate pasta recipes like gnocchi and lasagna.

You can buy it here, or substitute unbleached all-purpose flour.

Pizza Dough Flavor. The recipe also uses Pizza Dough Flavor, a powder that’s added to the dough. The main ingredients are cheddar cheese powder and garlic powder*.

Ready to bake?
 
 
RECIPE: GRANDMA PIZZA

Prep time is 20 minutes, and bake time is 12 to 15 minutes. The dough needs to rise for 4 hours, but you can make it the day before and let it rise overnight.

Evidently, Grandma didn’t add toppings (what—no fresh basil?), but you can add whatever you wish. Because the pizza gets sliced into squares, you can position different toppings on different squares—or at least, different rows.

You also can offer DIY toppings: Fill ramekins with basil, chiles, olives, pepperoni, etc. and let everyone customize their slices.

Ingredients

[1] Grandma used an all-purpose pan to make pizza at home (all photos © King Arthur Flour).

[2] Forget those triangular slices: It’s so much easier to cut squares.

[3] Lower in protein and mellower than traditional Italian 00 flour, it creates baked goods that are light, airy, and have a crisp snap to the crust. It’s ideal for crackers, flatbreads, focaccia, and of course, pizza. Also try it in delicate pasta recipes like gnocchi.

[4] King Arthur Flour’s Pizza Dough Flavor adds a punch to pizza crusts and Italian breads. Customers say this addition is worth every cent.

 
Preparation
 
1. MAKE the crust: Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix and knead—by hand, mixer, or bread machine—to form a smooth, elastic dough. Place the dough in a large bowl (at least 5 quarts), cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

2. ASSEMBLE and bake the pizza: Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 500°F. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a grandma-style pizza pan or an 18” x 13” baking sheet, and spread it around to coat the pan. Note: It’s best to use a dark pan for this recipe, to achieve a crust with a crispy bottom and edges. Lighter pans will result in a softer crust.

3. TURN the dough out into the pan, gently deflating it as you stretch it to the edges and corners. If the dough starts to shrink back, cover it with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let it rest for 10 minutes before resuming the stretching.

4. COVER the dough and allow it to rest for 30 minutes until it has puffed slightly.

5. TOP the crust with the cheese, spreading it all the way to the edges of the pan. Then dollop or spread the sauce over the cheese. Bake the pizza in the bottom third of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden.

6. REMOVE the pizza from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into squares; serve hot. Refrigerate any leftover pizza well wrapped; reheat individual slices in a 325°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
 
 
Here’s to you, Grandma!
 
________________

*Other ingredients are yeast extract, maltodextrin, lactic acid powder, lecithin and silicon dioxide. We haven’t tried it, but those who have are real fans. Check out the Amazon reviews (but buy direct from King Arthur Flour—it’s cheaper there).

[1] Pretty pasta, with colorful nutrition from kale and tomatoes (photo and recipe © DeLallo).

[2] DeLallo’s authentic Italian spaghetti (photo © DeLallo).

[3] Different varieties of kale. Through the Middle Ages, kale was one of the most common green vegetables in Europe. Curly-leaf and flat-leaf varieties were cultivated in Greece as far back as the fourth century B.C.E. Today, varieties of kale have different stem lengths, varying leaf types, and leaf colors from light to dark green and violet-green to violet-brown (photo © National Kale Day).

If you combine an equal amount of spaghetti with kale, does the kale offset the carbs?

No, but it does create a textured, flavorful, and with added cherry tomatoes, colorful dish of spaghetti. Here’s the recipe from DeLallo.
 
 
RECIPE: SPAGHETTI & KALE

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. BRING a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of hot pasta water.

2. COOK the pancetta over medium heat in a large pot until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a paper towel-covered plate and reserve the drippings in the pot.

3. ADD the oil and garlic and to the drippings and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is fragrant and light golden, about 6 minutes.

4. ADD the kale in batches, and cook, tossing until wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

5. ADD the pasta, pancetta, tomatoes, lemon juice and reserved pasta water. Cook, stirring, until a sauce forms, about 2 minutes. Divide the pasta mixture among bowls and serve.
 
 
HOW SPAGHETTI IS MADE

Meaning “small strings” in Italian, spaghetti may be the best-known pasta.

This long form originated in southern Italy, where it is traditionally served simply, with a sauce of fresh tomatoes and herbs.

The durum wheat fields of Puglia, Italy, have a climate and soil that produce premium grains of wheat. They are milled into semolina flour and combined with spring water. Premium pasta is then extruded using bronze plates (instead of the steel ones you may have seen on home pasta machines).

The bronze plates give pasta its authentic texture: a coarse surface to which sauce will cling. The traditional method of slow drying at low temperatures gives the pasta its fresh-bread taste and the ability to cook perfectly al dente.
 
 
Check out more types of pasta in our Pasta Glossary.
 
 
Plus:

 
________________

*Substitute bacon, Canadian bacon, pork belly, prosciutto, smoked ham or smoked sausage.

Ready to test your extra virgin olive oil chops? See how many of these questions you can answer correctly.

Thanks to California Olive Ranch for the test and photos. Their premium olive oils are so delicious, you can drink them from the spoon (two tablespoons a day are recommended by the FDA for heart health).

Before you buy an oil labeled “extra virgin,” check the label for a seal from a sensory and certification panel, like www.appliedsensory.com/, that says “Certified Extra Virgin.”

If there is no seal, check the ingredients label. The only ingredient listed should be extra virgin olive oil.

A few years ago, Dr. Oz popularized the so-called “fridge test” on his nationally syndicated TV show. But, according to olive oil experts, that test is “unreliable in judging whether an olive oil is truly made from olives, nor does it provide information on the quality of the oil.”

In our experience with a dozen different types of oil, from avocado to pumpkinseed to sesame, most will solidify in the fridge the different culinary oils.
 
 
QUESTION #1:
WHICH GRADE OF OLIVE OIL IS THE HEALTHIEST?

A. Light Olive Oil
B. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
C. Virgin Olive Oil

Answer: B

The amount of fat and calories in all olive oils (and other culinary oils) are the same. Extra virgin olive oil has the greatest amount of phenolic compounds, which are strong antioxidants and radical scavengers. EVOO is thus the healthiest olive oil.

 
Check out our Olive Oil Glossary for more about olive oil.
 
 
QUESTION #2:
WHAT DOES THE COLOR OF THE OLIVE OIL INDICATE?

A. Quality
B. Freshness
C. Purity
D. None of the above

Answer: D

Color is an unreliable indicator of quality, freshness or purity. Good oils come in all shades, from bright green to gold to pale straw, based on the type(s) of olive, ripeness and other factors.

Plus, unscrupulous producers can doctor the color by adding chlorophyll, to get the green tint that many customers think represents “quality.”

One reason people may have been encouraged to go for the green: It has been widely reported that a green color may indicate higher levels of antioxidant polyphenols.

Flavor and aroma are better gauges of quality. When you smell and taste an extra virgin olive oil, it should taste like fruit (the olives) and fresh herbs, ranging from mild to complex.
 
 
QUESTION #3:
FOR WHICH PURPOSE(S) SHOULD YOU USE EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL?

A. Baking
B. Deep Frying
C. Finishing
D. Roasting
E. Salad Dressings
F. Sautéing

Answer: All of the above!

Home cooks in the Mediterranean have been cooking and baking with extra virgin olive oil for centuries. High-quality extra virgin olive oil from a top brand like California Olive Ranch has a smoke point of upwards of 425°F, well above the ideal frying temperature of around 350°F.

A general rule of thumb: The higher the quality of the oil and the fresher it is, the higher the smoke point will be. Extra virgin olive is some of the freshest and highest quality oil available, full of antioxidants to help hold its form longer.

Lower quality oils with a high free fatty acid content, on the other hand, will smoke at a lower temperature.
 
 
QUESTION #4:
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WITH A FINE EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL?

A. Display it out on the counter.
B. Save it and use it for only very special occasions.
C. Use it frequently so it’s all finished within a month or two of opening.
D. Let it age for a year or two in the cabinet, away from heat and light.

Answer: C

Some cooks like to have different extra virgin olive oils for different recipes. California Olive Ranch’s Destination Series (photo # 1) is a line of workhorse extra virgin olive oils.

[1] Extra virgin olive oil, like wine, is available in different qualities. Like wine, the oils made from the pick of the harvest are more complex. Just as good “everyday” olive oil like California Olive Oil’s Destination Series can be used for cooking and vinaigrettes (all photos © California Olive Ranch).

[2] Bake with EVOO, get so much better flavor than with other oils, and eliminate the cholesterol. Try this scrumptious olive oil cake.

[3] Use a more complex olive oil to drizzle onto soups for flavor, while you can use your everyday EVOO to brush onto shrimp.

[4] A harvester, bringing olives from the trees to the mill for washing and pressing.

[5] A bottle of fine olive oil is a great gift for anyone who enjoys fine food.

Olive oil does not get better with age! If you wait to use your a fine EVOO only for special occasions, it may go rancid before you’re able to finish it.

Pay attention to the “best by date” on the label, and use the oil within 1-2 months, once opened.

Be sure to store the bottle away from light and heat, two factors that will break down the oil and make it rancid more quickly.