Cheaters Handbook: Dress to Impress Sponge Cake

The goal of my blog since day one has been to 1) Inspire other young foodies to come out into the open and express their passion and share their food knowledge and 2) To get young people who are intimidated by any sort of cooking and baking over their fears of the kitchen and become just as passionate as I am! 

Although all of of the recipes that I have posted have been very simple to prepare, I am still getting a response from those people who are not quite familiar with their kitchen yet and are scared to take that step and try out my recipes, fearing that they don't have what it takes to make the recipe succeed.  Well my friends, I have taken your thoughts into consideration and I am making it my mission to get you frightened future foodies cooking and baking up a storm! The trick here is to take it one step at a time.  

Starting today, I am introducing a new segment to my blog entitled Cheaters Handbook. Cheaters Handbook will introduce those people that I have just described to dishes that may be considered "cheats" to some, but to my frightened future foodies will be the stepping stones to great cooking.  For example, look at the oldest trick in the book: Buying a prepared pie and simply taking it out of the aluminum pie plate and serving it to your guests as though you made it yourself.  This is not the type of cheat I will be featuring! My cheats are about making that pie your own! Perhaps I would drizzle some caramel sauce over the pie with some toasted nuts. This allows the frightened future foodies to be able to familiarize themselves with the kitchen and kitchen techniques to give them the confidence to take a step further the next time they step into the kitchen.  

Todays Cheaters Handbook dish is Dress to Impress Sponge Cake.  I took bought mini sponge cakes and dressed them up to make them my own!  This is a great dessert to serve to guests as it has a beautiful presentation, is fast and simple to prepare, and is light healthy with its abundance of fresh berries.  

Ingredients:

purchased prepared mini sponge cakes

berries

whipped cream

blueberry sauce

toasted pecans

Directions

1.  Place each mini sponge cake on separate dishes to serve to guests and toss over an array of berries.  I chose to use strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, but you can use whichever fruit you like.  

2.  Drizzle over some purchased blueberry sauce.

3.  Add a dollop of whipped cream to the top.

4.  Sprinkle over toasted nuts for flavour and texture.  I used pecans, but virtually any nut will do.  

Challenge: Make your own blueberry sauce or glaze (why not try a glaze flavoured with orange or liqueur).  If you want to take that next step, look up a blueberry sauce or glaze recipe and make your own to drizzle over the cakes.