Creative Team

Raspberry Watermelon Granita

0 · Jun 19, 2013 · 13 Comments

Raspberry Watermelon Granita // I'm thrilled to have Jenn from Clean & Scentsible, another member of the WhipperBerry creative team here today. She has been a long time contributor to my Friday Flair link party and she always blows me away with her fun idea. I'm so excited to have her on the team

Hello Whipperberry fans! I'm Jenn from Clean and Scentsible and I cannot tell you how excited I am to be contributing to Heather's amazing blog!

To me, summertime is all about simplifying things. We usually only have a few months of nice, warm weather around here so I savor every moment I can get! This raspberry watermelon granita is one of my favorite summertime treats and is so easy to make. It does require a bit of patience while it is freezing but it is well worth it!

Raspberry Watermelon Granita

5 cups cubed seedless watermelon

2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 envelope unflavored gelatin {1/4 ounce}

1/2 cup cran-raspberry juice cocktail

Preparation

Puree the watermelon and raspberries in a food processor or blender. Depending on the size of your blender you may need to do this in two batches.

Combine the sugar and gelatin in a small sauce pan and stir over low heat until gelatin dissolves. Stir in juice.

Combine about half of the sugar mixture with the puree. Slowly add the remainder of the mixture to taste depending on how sweet you would like your granita to be. Remember that it will lose a little of the sweetness once frozen.

Pour into a 9 x 9 baking pan, cover with foil, and place in freezer.

Freeze for at least 2-3 hours and then use a fork to scrape along the top layers creating an icy texture. Continue until you start to get close to the less-frozen middle and then place back in the freezer. Repeat this process until it is all scraped. Makes about 10-12 servings.

**NOTE: Don't worry if you won't be around to scrape it every couple of hours. I often just leave it overnight and then scape it in one go – it just requires a little more muscle! If you only need a couple of servings, just scrape what you need and place the rest back in the freezer.

This keeps well in the freezer as long as you keep it covered. The kids love it and it is a refreshing, low calorie treat for those hot days!

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Here are a few other summer projects that I have worked on…

Blackberry Cheesecake Pots

Crab Cupcakes

Summer Lemonade Bar

If you have a chance, I would love for you to drop by Clean and Scentsible to say hello! You can also connect with me here:

Facebook / Pinterest / Twitter / Google+ / Instagram

Raspberry and Vanilla Bean Cream Tarts

5 · Jun 12, 2013 · 9 Comments

Raspberry & Vanilla Bean Cream Tarts // I'm thrilled to share with you another member of the WhipperBerry Creative Team today! Jo-Anna has been a long time Friday Flair contributor and I've always been in love with her work. She has fabulous taste and I can't wait to show off all of her amazing talents!

Hello Whipperberry readers!

I'm Jo-Anna from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs, my little corner of the internet, where I share my passion for the home. Everything from recipes to crafts to decorating for the holidays to gardening. I just really love to share ways to make our lives a little more simple and a lot more pretty!

I'm beyond thrilled to be contributing over here today at Whipperberry! I have been reading Heather's blog ever since I discovered this amazing world of blogging. I've always loved her work, so to be able to be a part of the Whipperberry journey, makes me very very happy!

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I wanted to kick things off by sharing an amazing dessert with you! These Raspberry & Vanilla Bean Cream Tarts are perfect for Father's Day or any summer gathering. There's nothing more summery than fresh berries!

You can make this recipe as 6 mini tarts or one large tart…either way it's a fantastic dessert! There's just something so elegant and charming about tarts, isn't there? And while they may seem daunting to make they're really not.

Don't be afraid of the length of this recipe. They are not hard to make at all, and trust me, they are well worth the effort! Your friends & family will love them. And if raspberries aren't your thing, you can use any kind of fruit you like: blueberries, strawberries, bananas. So simple. So versatile. So delicious.

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Let's get baking!

Raspberry Tarts with Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream

Please note: It's best to make the tarts in this order: Crust first, then the cream.

Tart Crust:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter, cut into chunks

1 egg yolk

6 mini 3 inch tart pans, or 1 large tart pan

Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream:

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1 1/3 cups whole milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split down the centre to expose the seeds

1/4 – 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Start with the crust. In a food processor, process the flour, sugar and salt for about 10 seconds.

T hen add the chunks of butter and process until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Add the egg yolk and process again until the egg is thoroughly combined.

If you are making mini tarts (tartlets), separate the mixture into 6 – 3 inch tart pans, and press the dough into the molds, making the sides slightly higher than the centre. Bake for 12-15 minutes, making sure to prick them with a fork several times, as the dough tends to puff up. Watch them carefully, as they go from not done to overcooked very quickly!

If you are making one large tart, press the mixture into a 10 inch tart pan (making the sides slightly higher than the centre) and bake for about 15-18 minutes. Again make sure to prick the tart with a fork several times while baking, and watch it carefully.

Next, make your pastry cream. Using a mixer, beat together the sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks until the mixture is thick and pale yellow.

In a small saucepan combine the milk and the vanilla bean, bring to a simmer. Then remove the vanilla bean.

Pour about half of the milk mixture into the egg mixture, and stir.

Then return this milk/egg mixture to the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan, and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the custard is thick and slightly bubbly. Make sure to whisk constantly so that the mixture doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Cover the custard with a sheet of parchment paper to prevent a skin from forming, then it set aside to cool.

Fruit Topping raspberries icing sugar

Putting the Tarts Together

Once the tart shells and custard have cooled, add about a 1/4 cup of the custard to each shell.

Top with fresh raspberries, and a dusting of icing sugar.

Enjoy!

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Thank you so much for reading today! I do hope you'll try these tarts…you won't be disappointed!

And feel free to come on by and say Hi sometime at A Pretty Life in the Suburbs, or stop in for some Cheesy Quinoa Bites, or Fudge Ice Pops, or come learn how to make a Fresh Herb Wreath! I'd love to have you!

Have a delicious day!

Cute DIY Folding Chairs Makeover

136 · Jun 9, 2013 · 92 Comments

WhipperBerry Creative Team // Today I’m super excited to introduce you to another member of the WhipperBerry Creative Team… Jenn from My Fabulous Life. She is one talented lady with an amazing list of talents…

I’m Jenn and I blog about DIY, furniture refinishing, and other random creative endeavors over at My Fabuless Life. I’m beyond thrilled and flattered that Heather has asked me to be a part of her team. Today I’m sharing a cute folding chair makeover story in DIY style!

It’s probably no surprise that I love to host parties and gatherings at my house and volunteer my abode for events whenever possible–my husband totally loves it. So this past year, when the parents asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told them, without skipping a beat, FOLDING CHAIRS! Buuuttt….I feel like nothing puts a damper on my party quite like adding some drab, ugly folding chairs to a perfectly planned table setting. You can imagine the parents’ joy when they granted my Christmas wish and I immediately said, “Oh, I’m so excited! I can’t wait to paint these and recover them.” Queue collective, “Aww, no, don’t do that…they’re perfectly good and new…wait until they’re at least beat up a little….”

I had a little guilt about going against the wishes of the gift-givers, but seriously, these girls were not going to be invited to my parties in this outfit.

How to Makeover Folding Chairs – Do it Yourself Style

I originally set out to do some vintage florals, but plaids have stolen my heart in a big way lately–for some reason whenever I say this, I hear Tim Gunn in my head talking about menswear. Anyway, I was at Walmart, of all places one day, and found the blue and pink plaid (on the right) in their remnant bin for like $2.00 and knew EXACTLY what I was going to do with the chairs. The gold, polka dot burlap was not in the original plan, but when you find GOLD, POLKA DOT BURLAP (at Joann’s), you USE IT! I may need meetings for this burlap addiction because it is quickly appearing all over my house and I can not get enough.

How to Add Cushions to Metal Folding Chairs

Metal folding chairs are a bit uncomfortable. So, if you don’t already have the one’s with cushions you’ll want to add cushions first. This might seem hard if you want to do it yourself but it’s actually easy! The things you’ll need for adding a cushion are below.

Things You’ll Need to DIY:

Spray paint (about one can for each chair)
Fabric (less than 1/2 yard for each chair)
Staple gun (can be purchased for about $10 just about anywhere that sells basic tools)
(4) 1″ screws for each chair

Start by removing the pads from the chair. On my chairs, the ones on the back just came off by unscrewing three little screws.

The seat cushion was attached with some type of plastic screws so I just clipped the ends off with wire cutters (just something will cut through thick plastic). DON’T TRY TO PULL THEM OUT. They have a flat head that’s attached to the wood under the padding and you’ll just rip a hole through the seat–learned that one the hard way.

Then spray paint the chairs. I used Valspar Brushed Rose and Mellow Spring from Lowe’s. While the paint is drying, you can upholster your cushions.

Just lay the cushion on the fabric, cut a piece of fabric big enough to pull around it, and staple it down right over the top of the existing fabric. Make sure to keep it pulled tight, and if you’re using a fabric with a pattern, keep flipping the cushion over as you go to make sure you’re keeping the pattern straight.

Trim the excess fabric and reattach the cushions. To attach the seat cushions, just drill a new screw up through where the old plastic screw used to be.

And there you have it! Pretty, party-ready chairs! And when they’re this easy, you can change the fabric for every party if you want!

You can find more Fabulessness at My Fabuless Life, here are a few more fun finds…

dressed-up childs artwork // diy towel rack // printables

The New WhipperBerry Creative Team AND Mini Berry Cobblers

8 · Jun 5, 2013 · 14 Comments

Mini Berry Cobblers // I am over the moon excited to share with you my big announcement… WhipperBerry has a new CREATIVE TEAM!!

jenn from clean & scentsible // shannon & jen from eat.sleep.make // haley from life is sweet // jenn from my fabuless life // jo-anna from a pretty life // jesseca from one pretty appetite

These are seven of the most talented ladies out there and they are going to blow your mind with their creativity! They have all been long time participants in my friday flair link party and I can't wait to show them off even more! We will start the show with Jesseca from One Sweet Appetite. She is one talented food blogger with some mad photography skills!

Hi everyone! My name is Jesseca, and I am honored to be here as one of the amazing contributors to Whipperberry! You can find me over at One Sweet Appetite where I’m whipping up special dishes every week. Speaking of great dishes… It’s almost summer and that means our produce selection in Utah is going crazy. There are so many fun and fresh things to chose from. I could hardly control myself at our farmers market and had to pick up some delicious looking berries. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach, and I worried that the beautiful fruit was going to go to waste before we got to it! I couldn’t let this happen… So I rolled up my sleeves, put on my apron, and got cooking!

Mini Berry Cobblers

2-1/2 Cups fresh chopped berries (I used blackberries and strawberries)

3/4 + 2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup buttermilk Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (optional)

Directions

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray six ramekins with baking spray and set aside. Divide your fruit between the four ramekins. You can toss them in sugar if you’d like. Our produce happened to be sweet enough already, so I didn’t feel the need to add any extra sugar. This time. In a separate bowl, combine 3/4 cup of sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, and buttermilk. Whisk until combined. Divide the batter between your dishes, pouring directly over your berries. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and bake fro 30-35 minutes, or until the top of your cobbler is golden brown. Serve your cobbler alone or topped with vanilla ice cream. Either way this is sure to be a crowd pleaser. It happens to be the most requested dessert from my four year old. This recipe is also very user friendly. You can swap the berries for almost anything. Get creative and toss in some fresh mango or peaches. You can’t go wrong! If you liked this recipe you should check out one of these other great desserts: Blackberry Lemonade Cupcakes Cherry Lime Lollipops Apple Crumb Bars