Red Velvet Cobbler Sundaes

This is a sponsored post by Hudsonville Ice Cream, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

My favorite summer desserts are a celebration of seasonal produce! Of course, everyone loves fruit pies, but the dough can be a time-consuming process, and pies require a long cooling time. In the summer, I gravitate toward no-fuss desserts, which is why I love fruit cobbler. Cobblers are very versatile, and you can easily adapt the flavors to incorporate what is currently in season.

Many people have strong opinions about what makes a good cobbler topping. I prefer cobblers with thick biscuit-dough topping as opposed to a cake-like topping. I love the combination of textures—the biscuits are tender on the inside with a crisp crust so they absorb some of the warm fruit juices without getting soggy. All its missing is a scoop of cold, creamy ice cream on top. 

Ice cream and summer go hand-in-hand, and there isn’t a more festive flavor to celebrate the season than Hudsonville’s Limited Edition American Fireworks ice cream. The sweet and sour ice cream has ribbons of sour cherry swirl and is mixed with blue popping candy. It’s a celebration in every scoop. It inspired me to create patriotic red velvet cobbler sundaes.

I want to emphasize that red velvet isn’t chocolate dyed red. There are only 3 tablespoons of cocoa in this recipe, so the red velvet biscuit topping has just the slightest hint of chocolate. Instead, I would describe the flavor as rich and wonderfully buttery with some tanginess from the buttermilk. I highly recommend using red gel food coloring over liquid food coloring because gel food coloring is more concentrated so you need less.

Use any combination of fresh or frozen berries for the filling. If you’re using frozen berries, there’s no need to thaw them first. You want enough fruit to fill your baking dish between halfway and three-quarters full. If you’re using an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan, you’ll need around 6 to 8 cups of fruit.

One of the most important steps when making a delicious cobbler is to allow your berries to macerate before baking. Macerating softens the fruit and draws out its juices, creating a thick and delicious berry syrup when it bakes. To achieve this, combine the fruit with the sugar and cornstarch and let it sit for about 20 minutes, mixing periodically, before topping it with the cobbler dough.

Once the cobbler finishes baking and cools slightly, it’s time to prepare the ultimate patriotic sundae with Hudsonville’s Limited Edition American Fireworks ice cream. You can use a sundae glass, a mason jar, or even a tall cup for this. Layer one large spoonful of red velvet cobbler with one scoop of American Fireworks ice cream and repeat until you have at least two layers of each.

This easy and festive dessert is bursting with flavor in every bite. Use this Scoop Locator tool to find American Fireworks ice cream near you—it’s at Meijer in Indy-area stores! 

Red Velvet Cobbler Sundaes

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

For the fruit filling

• 8 cups berries (fresh or frozen)
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar 
• 2 Tablespoons (10 grams) cornstarch

For the red velvet biscuit topping

• 1 3/4 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 3 Tablespoons (15 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, cold and cubed
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon red gel food coloring

For the sundaes

• 8 cups Hudsonville’s Limited Edition American Fireworks ice cream

Directions

For the fruit filling

1. Mix together berries, sugar, and cornstarch. 
2. Transfer mixture to 8-inch or 9-inch square baking dish, spread in an even layer, and set aside.

For the red velvet biscuit topping

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Use pastry cutter or fingers to cut butter into dry ingredients until you have pea-sized crumbs.
4. Mix together buttermilk, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar, and food coloring. 
5. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until mixture becomes cohesive dough.
6. Form dough balls with your hands and place over berries.
7. Place in oven and bake 50 minutes to 1 hour. You can double-check that the biscuits are done by using a thermometer. The temperature should read 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Cool at least 20 minutes before preparing sundaes.

For the sundaes

1. Layer cobbler in sundae or parfait glasses with American Fireworks ice cream.

Checkered flag dip

 

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

I'm not sure non-Hoosiers fully grasp how big a deal the Indianapolis 500 is to locals. I didn't fully understand until I moved to Indianapolis. Many families display checkered flags outside their homes and neighbors host porch parties. There are parades, concerts, and festivals in the weeks leading up to the race. It's truly a month-long celebration! And it all culminates with the largest single-day sporting event in the world, the Indy 500. Many fans are eager to head to the track this year after the 2020 race ran without fans due to COVID-19 concerns. 

As you can imagine, tailgating is a big part of race day, and I love making Indy 500-themed snacks. This year I'm really excited to debut my checkered flag dip. It looks tricky to make because of the checkerboard design, but it's actually quite simple! I started by making a whipped feta dip, which consists of feta, cream cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, and seasonings. Feta and cream cheese are the primary ingredients in this recipe, so it's important to use good-quality products. I don't recommend using low-fat or fat-free feta cheese because it can be quite dry and the dip won't be as creamy. For cream cheese, Challenge Dairy is the only brand I use. It's made from the freshest milk and cream from happy cows at family-owned dairies. You can really taste the difference.

After making the dip, create a checkerboard pattern with a few pieces of paper cut into squares and black sesame seeds. Lightly lay the pieces of paper on the dip so it resembles a checkerboard and fill in the empty spaces with the black sesame seeds. When you finish, carefully lift up the pieces of paper. And that's it!

You can serve the checkered flag dip with pita chips, regular chips, or vegetables. I actually found really fun green, yellow, and red tortilla chips at Trader Joe's that I think resemble the IndyCar start, caution, and stop flags.

 

Checkered flag dip

Ingredients

• 10 ounces feta cheese
• 4 ounces Challenge cream cheese
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 Tablespoons black sesame seeds

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients except the black sesame seeds in a food processor or with a mixer until smooth and airy. Taste and adjust pepper if necessary.
2. Transfer dip to platter or serving dish (preferably square, but it's okay to use round dish) and smooth the top in an even layer. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
3. Cut blank sheet of paper into 1-inch squares. Lay squares across dip in checkerboard pattern.
4. Fill in empty spaces with black sesame seeds. Carefully remove paper squares. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Strawberry orange shortcake with rose whipped cream

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Strawberry orange shortcake with rose whipped cream

Yield: Makes 8 shortcakes

Ingredients

For the fruit

• 1/2 pound strawberries, sliced
• 4 blood oranges (or 2 regular oranges), segmented and cut in half
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar 
• 1 Tablespoon rose water

For the shortcake biscuits

• 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar 
• 1 Tablespoon orange zest (from 1 orange)
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted Challenge butter, cold and cubed
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

For the whipped cream

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sour cream 
• 3 Tablespoons (38 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon rose water

Directions

For the fruit

1. Combine strawberries, oranges, sugar, and rose water. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the shortcake.

For the shortcake biscuits

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick mat.
2. Combine flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and baking soda in large bowl.
3. Use pastry cutter or fingers to cut butter into dry ingredients until you have pea-sized crumbs.
4. Pour buttermilk into bowl and mix until it becomes cohesive dough.
5. Form dough into 8 mounds using ice cream scoop or 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop and place on baking sheet.
6. Sprinkle tops of biscuits with sparkling sugar if desired and place in oven.
7. Bake biscuits for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bottoms are browned and the tops are golden, and set aside to cool.
8. Once biscuits are cool, use serrated knife to cut biscuits in half horizontally.

For the whipped cream

1. Whisk heavy cream (by hand or in a stand mixer) in chilled bowl until soft peaks form. 
2. Add sour cream, sugar, and rose water and continue whisking until stiff peaks form.

Assembly

1. Plate bottom half of 1 shortcake biscuit.
2. Spoon macerated fruit over biscuit bottom. 
3. Top with generous dollop of whipped cream
4. Close with top half of biscuit.
5. Spoon more cream over shortcake if desired and serve immediately.

Simple orange, fennel, and beet salad

I love making big salads for dinner, and this super simple orange, fennel, and beet salad is one of my favorites for spring. I make it at least once a week—I can't stop eating it! All the flavors work really well together,  and the variety of textures and colors is really delightful. I've experimented and had great success with several variations of this salad, so you can customize it however you see fit. The version pictured here has goat cheese and toasted hazelnuts on top with diced shallot mixed in the dressing.

It lasts for several days in the refrigerator, but if you're planning to serve it for a special event, I recommend waiting to mix the beets into the salad until that day because the colors will bleed onto the other ingredients.

Simple orange, fennel, and beet salad

Yield: About 6 servings

Ingredients

For the salad

• 4 small red beets, roasted or steamed, peeled and cut into rounds, wedges, or half moons
• 3 medium oranges, peeled, pith cut away and segmented
• 1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced against grain on mandoline
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• Optional ingredients: 1/4 cup goat cheese, 1/4 cup feta cheese, 1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts (chopped small), 1 cup arugula or watercress

For the dressing

• 2 Tablespoons lime (or lemon) juice
• 1 teaspoon honey or agave
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Optional ingredient: 1 shallot (small dice)

Directions

1. Mix the salad ingredients together.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients together.
3. Toss lightly with salad and serve.