Super Simple Summer Sweet

Yes. I like alliteration. 

It makes my ability to name recipes that much less pathetic. 

This way it sounds cute and rhyme-y. 

Well...that's what I was going for...humor me.

Anyway, what this dessert should be called is how-to-beat-the-heat-with-a-little-cheating-and-still-come-up-with-a-treat-worthy-of-a-birthday-celebration. Except that's a little wordy.

I started out wanting to make a fruit pizza type dessert and it evolved  into this. 

See... I didn't want to turn on the oven because it is a bajillion degrees and we don't have air conditioning and when I wanted to cheat and go buy a crust there was nothing in town that would work. 

I turned to my freezer reserves and found a lemon loaf. The wheels started turning and I came up with this kind-of individual fruit pizza on a loaf dessert. 

I went with lemon loaf and blueberries & blackberries because, well, everyone knows that lemon + blueberries = perfection. And then I went with a cinnamon loaf and caramelized pecans because, well, cinnamon + caramel + pecans = perfection.

(I just wanted to point out, in the photo below, that there is a bite mark in the lemon loaf. That happened when I went to get my camera. I came back and that is what it looked like. Our dad isn't claiming responsibility but I'm pretty sure he's the culprit.)

Super Simple Summer Sweet

Ingredients

Bottom Layer

2 loaves - your favorite flavors, sliced fairly thickly 

Middle Layer

2 - 8 oz bricks cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups whipping cream

Top Layer

approx 2 cups of blueberries & blackberries

approx 1 1/2 cups of caramelized pecans 

Caramel Pecans

1 1/2 cup pecan halves

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp whipping cream

Directions

Place slices of your favorite loaf on a serving platter (or individual serving plates).

Above is my lemon loaf.

\

Above is a cinnamon swirl loaf I bought at the grocery store. 

Prepare Middle Layer - Beat the cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Beat in the sugar until well combined. 

In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. 

Scrape the cream cheese into the whipping cream and beat briefly to combine.

Spread evenly on top of the loaf slices. (I got 10 slices per loaf so 20 slices in total)

Prepare the caramel pecans - In a medium frying pan, place pecans, brown sugar, butter, and cream. 

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is bubbly and browned, about 5 minutes or so. 

Remove from heat and spread onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. 

Cool completely. (You can speed this process by placing in the freezer for a few minutes.)

Take out 10 pecan halves and then coarsely chop the remainder.

Sprinkle the loaf slices with either the blueberries & blackberries or the caramelized pecans.

The berries are so pretty, aren't they?

I think my favorite was the caramel pecans though.

You can serve these immediately or cover and chill until ready to serve. (I made mine the night before and they were fine the next day.)

Look at all that lemony, cheesecake-y, berry goodness.

Or, maybe you prefer some cinnamon-y, cheesecake-y, caramel pecan goodness. 

Either way - it is beat the heat amazingness. 

Imagine all the possibilities here!

Banana loaf with the cream cheese middle then topped with caramelized bananas and/or pecans.

Pumpkin loaf with cream cheese middle then topped with caramelized pecans.

Apple loaf with cream cheese middle then topped with streusel.

Chocolate chip loaf with cream cheese middle then topped with shredded chocolate.

And on and on and on....

 

Be sure to visit Carole's Chatter for tons of tasty links!