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).