Happy Birthday—Baby Girl

In the past birthday parties for my little boy, I’ve made Japanese Cheesecake to celebrate.  You can check out the recipe and pictures here.  The Japanese Cheesecake was super easy to make, light, fluffy and anyone who’ve tried it would love it and ask for the recipe.

For baby girl’s birthday this year, I decided to make something new.  Something more girly for her. 



Plus, I’ve got an incentive to make a more girly cake.  It’s the lovely pink stand that you’re seeing in these pictures.  I purchased this cake stand from the Amazon gift card granted by the Fairy Hopmother.  Here’s the detail if you’ve missed that post.  How could I not create a girly cake to match this lovely cake stand?  Plus, my kids love strawberries and it’s the peak season to enjoy them.



This cake might sounds similar to the Meyer Lemon and Strawberry Mousse Cake that I’ve created before.  But in fact, they were quite different.  With my baby girl’s birthday cake, I used the Meyer Lemon Cake recipe here.  Baked it in an 8-inch round cake pan and split it in half to create 2 layers. The previous Meyer Lemon cake was a vanilla sponge cake.  Along with the fresh strawberries in between the lemon and strawberry mousse layers, I also added some Lemon syrup onto the top of the cake.  The Meyer lemon flavor was a lot more intense compared to the previous layered mousse cake that I've made.  However, the sponge cake portion of the earlier version was more soft and more fluffy.



Another difference is the mousse layer.  Instead of making the Lemon Mousse from scratch, I used the Meyer Lemon curd that I had on hand and folded in some whipped cream, and that was it.  Super simple.  Here’s the recipe for the Meyer Lemon Curd.  I managed to make extras for our guests to take home too. 



I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to celebrate my baby girl’s birthday with us.  Thank you for all the wonderful gifts, warm wishes and precious memories.  Including all of you, who visited my blog today.  Thank you!

I wish my baby girl to be healthy, happy and beautiful as she always is.  Happy Birthday again, my sweetie!





This post is linked to:

Sweets for Saturday
Sweet Treats Thursday
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
On the Menu Monday
Fresh Food Friday
I’m Loving It
Everyday Sister Sharing Sunday

Happy Fourth of July--Prosecco Gelatin with Berries and Mint

Gardening is really NOT my specialty, I knew it all along.  Even cactus died on me, that was years ago and I refused to plant those any more ever since.  It’s just hurt my self-esteem sad to see the strongest plant died under my care.  However, I use quite a bit of herbs in my cooking. It is way more economical and convenience to grow my own. 



As I shared with you a while ago, I planted some herbs this spring. Mint was one of the later addition to the herb family. To my surprise, it is growing out of control! It is almost bursting out of the pot I planted it in, and it is taking up too much soil space from the other herbs in the same pot.  I transferred it once to a separate pot and it’s still growing like this. Okay, that’s a little exaggerating, but you can imagine.

Flowers started blooming on it lately(I assume it’s not a good thing) and I know I have to use some up quickly.  I have no problem with that at all as it’s so refreshing in drinks and desserts.  Especially in these Prosecco Gelatin with Berries and Mint!



The Prosecco Gelatin with Berries and Mint screams summer right in my face!  The mint simple syrup is sweet, with the cool mint and chilled gelatin, it’s the best way to cool down in this hot weather.  The berries add a little tang to this sweet treat.  You can totally taste the prosecco in the gelatin and it’s the best way to enjoy prosecco, besides drinking it straight.





What's better than a Red, White, and Blue dessert to celebrate 4th of July?  Probably the extra green mint in it.  hahaha....Happy July 4th for those who celebrate.  This Prosecco Gelatin with Berries and Mint is the perfect treat to cool down after the BBQ.  Also, you can make this the day before the party so you can have more time spend with your friends and family.

For the kiddo’s version, substitute the prosecco (and simple syrup)with the same amount of fruit juice, such as apple juice or white grape juice.  As the fruit juice is sweet enough and you don’t need to add any sugar in the kid’s recipe. 





Prosecco Gelatin with Berries and Mint:
Makes: 4 Servings

For the Gelatin:
2 package of unflavored gelatin powder, dissolved in 2 tablespoons of cold water
1/4 cup blueberries
4 strawberries, diced
2 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
2 cups chilled prosecco
Mint Simple Syrup:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
a handful of fresh mint leaves

To make the mint simple syrup:
In a small pot, bring water and water to a boil. When sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat and add mint leaves. Let steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove mint leaves from syrup.

To make the gelatin:
Add gelatin mixture into mint syrup and heat until gelatin dissolved and syrup return to a simmer. Remove from heat. Add prosecco, berries and chopped mint.
Evenly divided the mixture into 4 (8 ounces) cups and chill for at least 2 hours or until set; enjoy.

 

This recipe is linked to:

Theme Baker Sunday
Full Plate Thursday
Foodie Friday
Fun with Food Friday