Raspberry Cream Cake…and a Giveaway!

You know, I had big plans for my Valentine’s Day post. I was going to poach lobster tails for dinner and make Mini Red Velvet Trifles for dessert. Sounds delicious right? Yeah…problem was, I couldn’t find cake flour at the grocery store, and by the time dinner rolled around I was feeling too lazy and sluggish to poach anything. I did attempt to make a batch of Red Wine Truffles, but those were a complete failure. The alcohol in the chocolate batter made it almost impossible for the mixture to chill/firm up, so I ended up with a tray of ugly, sticky, vaguely spherical blobs that tasted great but were so not camera-ready. Sigh.

In a fit of desperation, I ripped open a pack of ladyfingers, blended together some raspberries, whipped cream and cream cheese, and threw together a tiramisu cake-inspired dessert loaded down with fresh berries. Not exactly what I had in mind when I woke up on Saturday, but I think it turned out pretty well, don’t you? Delicate, creamy, and fruity (with a surprise red wine-infused chocolate layer on the bottom), this was accidentally the perfect Valentine’s dessert. Phew. Happy early Valentine’s Day, guys!

Raspberry Cream Cake (No bake!)

Ingredients:
– 1 pack lady fingers
– 1 cup heavy cream
– 8 oz cream cheese, softened
– 1 6oz carton of raspberries + 1/4 cup more for topping
– 3 tbsp sugar
– 1/4 cup blueberries

Steps:
(1) Remove the bottom from a 4-inch springform pan, and set the bottom less pan in the center of a plate. This will act as a support system to help build the cake.
(2) Place a layer of lady fingers on the bottom of the plate inside the sides of the pan. Set aside.
** I had a lot of leftover chocolate batter from the Red Wine Truffles, so I spread a layer of that over the lady fingers. I bet Nutella would be great too.
(3) Whip heavy cream until firm peaks form, then mix it with the softened cream cheese until smooth.
(4) In a food processor, blend 60z raspberries with sugar. Add blended fruit to the cream cheese mixture. Stir until well-incorporated.
(5) Spoon raspberry cream on top of the lady finger layer inside the springform pan. Fill to the top, and set the remainder aside.
(6) Gently remove lift the springform pan from the plate, making sure not to shift the cream/fingers.
(7) Line ladyfingers vertically around the sides of the cake. Press gently to make sure they stick.
(8) Spoon the remaining raspberry cream into a piping bag, and pipe the cream inside the ring of lady fingers, around the edges. Leave a hole in the center.
(9) Fill the hole with your remaining berries.
** To give your berries that glossy, bakery look, microwave 1 tbsp water with 1 tbsp of strawberry jam for 40 seconds, then brush the resulting glaze generously onto your fruit.
(10) Tie a ribbon around the cake to keep it from shifting, and refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Enjoy!

For other great dessert ideas, click here.

And now….The Giveaway!As it turns out, I forgot a very important event last week…the second anniversary of my blog! That’s right, Just Putzing Around the Kitchen has been around for two years now! Oh how time flies when you’re having fun, right? Anyway, in honor of my blog’s birthday, I’m am hosting my first ever giveaway.  The good folks at My Memories have gifted me two copies of their My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software, and I’m giving a free copy to one lucky reader.Since I don’t take pictures of anything but food, I’m not much of a scrapbooker. My friend Amy, however, is a scrapbooking fiend, so I let her test out the software and write a little review. Here’s what she had to say:

“I am an avid scrapbooker with paper paper and printed photos, and colorful hard-sided albums, but the convenience and ease of this software may convince me to switch to digital. It took me the better part of a summer to meticulously scrapbook all my pictures, maps, ticket stubs, etc. after my semester abroad, but I imagine that if I had access to something like My Memories Suite, it would have been much faster. The software is easy to purchase and install, and very user-friendly. Pictures can be easily uploaded, and every task is clearly labeled and easy to use. Photos can be dragged/dropped wherever you want, and text can be entered easily and manipulated to suit your tastes. And, if you don’t feel like designing your own background, there are lots of fun, colorful templates available for you to choose from. Overall, I was impressed by the ease and intuitiveness of using the My Memories Suite, and pleased with how much I could manipulate each page to achieve the look I wanted.”So there you have it, folks — if you like to scrapbook, the My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software is for you!

To enter the giveaway, check out the My Memories website, choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout, and leave me a comment on this post telling me which one you picked. One entry per person, but you can earn 2 extra entries if you follow My Memories on facebook and Twitter, and leaving me comments to let me know.

The giveaway will end at 5:00pm on Friday, Feb 17. Winners will be chosen at random.

Good luck!