Patriotic French Toast

French toast with a cream cheese topping and fresh fruit! With its red, white and bluse colours... its perfect for Memorial Day or the 4th of July. Thank you All Recipes

1 (10 ounce) package frozen strawberries, thawed
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 cups milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
8 thick slices bread

• Preheat an oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Combine the thawed strawberries with their juice and the blueberries in a bowl; set aside. 
• Beat together the softened cream cheese and confectioner's sugar until smooth; set aside. 
• Whisk the milk, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
• Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet or griddle. 
• Dip bread into egg mixture, coating thoroughly. 
• Cook until well-browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. 
• Place cooked slices on baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm until ready to serve.
• Spread the cream cheese mixture over each slice of french toast
• Top with 2 tablespoons of the fruit. 
• Serve immediately.

Coconut Berry Icebox Cake

This red, white, and blue make ahead no bake Coconut Berry Icebox Cake is the perfect summer time dessert for a Memorial Day or Fourth of July potluck. Thank you Self Proclaimed Foodie

14 ounces unsweetened coconut cream
½ cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon coconut rum
1 cup heavy whipping cream
9 ounces coconut cookies (or graham crackers)
1 pound blueberries (fresh )
1 pound strawberries (fresh, sliced very thin)

• To make cream filling, start by whipping coconut cream in bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment on medium speed until it is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 
• Add confectioners sugar and mix on low until incorporated. 
• Add coconut rum and mix on low until combined. 
• Scrape sides, add heavy whipping cream, mix on low to incorporate and then increase speed to medium high for about a minute. 
• Scrape walls and base of bowl
• Continue mixing on medium high speed until nice peaks form, about 3-5 minutes.
• To make the cake, spread some cream on the base of the plate. 
• Arrange cookies so that their sides are touching but they do not over lap. 
• Cover cookies with a spoonful of cream, using the spatula to spread. 
• Top with a second layer of cookies, rotating their pattern to cover any gaps
• Follow with a layer of cream. 
• Thickness in between layers should be thick enough so that there is a creamy layer in between, but not so thick that your ingredients aren't level or they slide around.
• Cover with a single layer of fresh blueberries. 
• Top with cream, then top with two cookie/cream layers.
• Next, cover with a single layer of sliced strawberries. Top with cream, then top with two cookie/cream layers.
• Repeat until you run out of ingredients. I portioned everything so that my top and bottom layers would be the cookies surrounded by the cream.
• Garnish with additional berries on top.
• Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours or up to several days before serving.

Patriotic Ripple Ice Cream

An easy, no-churn recipe perfect for the Fourth of July. Thank you Love Bakes Good Cakes

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
½ cup cherry pie filling (from a 21 oz. can - reserve the rest for another use)
½ cup blueberry pie filling (from a 21 oz. can - reserve the rest for another use

• In a large bowl, whip the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. 
• Fold the vanilla and sweetened condensed into the whipped cream. 
• Pour the mixture into a 9x5-inch bread loaf pan (or similar size container).
• Process the cherry pie filling in a food processor until smooth. 
• Drizzle the cherry pie filling over the top of the whipped cream mixture. 
• Rinse out and dry the food processor bowl and blade. 
• Process the blueberry pie filling in the food processor until smooth. 
• Drizzle the blueberry pie filling over the whipped cream mixture. 
• Use a knife to cut through the pie filling and create swirls.
• Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and freeze 8 hours or until firm.

Wave The Flag Cupcakes

Perfect cupcakes for the Fourth of July or Memorial Day. Thank you The Blueberry Council

1 package (18- to 19-ounces) yellow cake mix
1⁄3 cup applesauce
3 egg whites
3 cups fresh blueberries, divided
1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
½ cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 roll red-colored rolled fruit snack (from a 4.5-ounce box)

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• In a large mixing bowl, beat cake mix with applesauce, egg whites and 1-¼ cups water for 30 seconds on low speed, then 2 minutes on medium speed
• Spoon batter into 24 (2½-inch) aluminum or paper lined muffin cups
• Evenly divide 1 cup of blueberries onto tops of batter
• Do not stir
• Bake cupcakes following package directions
• Remove to a wire rack and cool completely
• In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until smooth
• Spoon onto cooled cupcakes
• Spread to the edges
• Unroll fruit snack and, with a sharp knife, cut into strips 1⁄8-inch wide by 2-inch long
• On half of each cupcake, arrange strips, trimming each to fit
• Arrange remaining 2 cups blueberries on the frosting on other halves of the cupcakes, about 10 blueberries per cupcake

American Flag Cheesecake Bars

 A great make-ahead dessert for summer entertaining. Thank you My Recipes

Crust:
1/2 cup whole almonds
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
3 8-oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
80 fresh ripe blueberries (about 1 cup
1 cup seedless raspberry jelly

• Preheat oven to 325°F. 
• Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides. 
• Mist foil with cooking spray.
• Make crust: Pulse almonds in a food processor until finely chopped. 
• Add flour, brown sugar and salt, and process until well combined. 
• Add butter and pulse just until mixture begins to come together; it should not form a ball. 
• Press mixture evenly over bottom of prepared pan. 
• Bake for 25 minutes, or until set. 
• Let cool on a wire rack.
• Make filling: With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. 
• Scrape down sides of bowl. 
• Reduce speed to medium-low and add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined. 
• Beat in lemon juice, vanilla and salt.
• Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over crust. 
• Tap pan on counter top 3 or 4 times to burst air bubbles in filling. 
• Place pan on a large roasting pan and put in oven. 
• Pour hot tap water into roasting pan until it comes up about an inch around baking pan. 
• Bake for 40 minutes, or until filling is just set. 
• Cool completely on a wire rack, then cover with foil 
• Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Use foil overhang to transfer bars to a serving platter. 
• Decorate each bar with 5 blueberries in upper left corner to resemble stars on the American flag. 
• Place jelly in a ziplock bag, seal bag and snip off about 1/6 inch at one bottom corner. 
• Pipe jelly in thin lines on each bar to resemble stripes on flag.
• Lift cheesecake out of pan and onto cutting board. 
• Heat a large sharp knife under hot water; dry knife. 
• Trim off edges of cheesecake. 
• Carefully cut into 16 bars, rinsing knife under hot water and drying thoroughly between each cut.