I watch foodnetwork… a lot! I have an italian grandmother so growing up I was forced to be in the kitchen when meals were being prepared. I learned how to make all the basics at a very young age and enjoy cooking a lot now that I’m older. I try out new stuff all the time and develop my own personal tricks along the way. Mel gave me the awesome idea of blogging about all the yummy stuff I make (with pictures!) and sharing all my neat little tricks.  So for my first food breakthrough I decided to share this custard rendition of a strawberry shortcake that is easy to make… and its verstile for anyone who is watching what they are eating. I’ve tried both ways and I honestly couldn’t taste the difference.  Here is the original recipe off Foodnetwork’s website: Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:

Angel food cake (You can either make your own or buy one at the store… I used store bought just to save time… heh.)

1 8 oz package of cream cheese – at room temperature (you can use 1/3 less fat cream cheese instead)

1 12 oz package of whipped topping – thawed (you can use lite or fat free whipped topping)

1 cup of sugar

2 tbs cornstarch

3 tbs strawberry jello (you can use sugar free jello)

1 cup water

2 cups fresh strawberries chopped into chunks

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk (fat free is available!)

First you want to make the strawberry glaze that you will add to the strawberries for one of the layers. To do this, add the cornstarch, jello, water, and sugar into a medium saucepan. Heat until bubbling, stirring constantly, over medium high heat. Take it off the heat when the liquid starts to thickly coat the back of a spoon.

Strawberry jello liquid!!

While the glaze is cooling (you can’t add the strawberries to it until the glaze has completely cooled!) go ahead and cut up your strawberries into your desired size. I usually cut mine up into medium size pieces.

After you get the strawberries cut, set those aside and get a big bowl to mix the custard whipped topping filling. First, cream the cream cheese and condensed milk together with a whisk. Since the cream cheese is at room temperature it should be fairly easy to mix into the condensed milk. If you’re using the 1/3 less fat cream cheese, you may need to mix with an electric mixer to eliminate any clumps. Lastly, add the thawed whipped topping and fold that into the cream cheese/condensed milk mixture until it is completely mixed.

Custard Topping

Set the custard topping in the fridge to keep cool while you are working with the glaze and strawberries. Only add the glaze to the strawberries if the glaze has been completely cooled!

Glazed Strawberries!

Now you’re ready to start assembling your dessert! The recipe on foodnetwork’s website says to cut your angel food cake into 3 separate layers, I just tear it into junks, you can do it either way that works for you.

Assembly

First you want to layer the bottom of your dish with angel food cake.Then add a layer of the strawberries and glaze.

Layered Awesomeness

The last layer is going to be the custard whipped topping. Normally you can get about 3 layers if your bowl is deep enough. This dessert will taste good no matter how you layer it… so do what works for you!

First Completed Layer

And here is the finished product!

Finished Dessert!

Here’s what this dessert will look like if you make it in a truffle dish!

Truffle Dish

Ta da! This dessert is very yummy, but make sure you eat it as soon as possible after you make it because the liquid in the strawberry will turn this dessert into mush quickly. So do the right thing… share.