Snack Time ~ Raspberry Style

Here is an easy low cost individual snack: Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Raspberry Milk.

First the cake, I used the individual 3-2-1 cake recipe.  What you don't know about that?  Okay, it is really easy to make individual sized cakes.  Mix one box of Angel Food Cake with one box of any other cake flavor mix into a air tight container.  I chose chocolate but you can pick any other, yellow, lemon, etc. Maybe next time I will get a devil's food cake to mix and let them battle it out. :D

The only trick to this is that one box needs to be Angel Food.  When the two mixes are good and blended, put 3 Tbsp mix with 2 Tbsp water into a mug and mix, then microwave for 1 minute.  EASY!  I have found the wider cappuccino mugs make a more stable cake then a coffee mug which makes a taller cake which just topples over.

To kick this snack up a notch, I combined some raspberry juice with 2 Tbsp sugar and reduced.  NOTE: because of the pectin from the berries the sauce will be more thick like a jelly not a syrup, so you don't have to reduce it too much.  Now put some fresh berries on and pour the sauce.

To keep with the raspberry theme, I mixed some raspberry juice into milk.  Again, because of the pectin it made a satisfying consistency.

Total cost: $0.63
Fresh raspberries and juice = $0
The Cake and sauce = $0.13
The Milk = $0.50

If I bought a dessert like that in a restaurant I could expect it to be about $6 and a flavored milk costs $1.29, total $7.29, so a savings of about $6.66!

Raspberry Pie or Tarts

It is July and the raspberries are coming fast!  Eating them fresh is great but there are just too many.  I usually can them as preserves but I had a picnic to attend so I got the idea to make a raspberry pie.  While gathering all the ingredients, I was thinking of the picnic experience and all the extras I would have to pack; a knife to cut the pie, plates and utensils.  Then an idea struck me . . . mini pies!  Or as some would call them ~ tarts.

Food processor pie crust: 1 C flour, 1 Tsp salt, 1/4 butter.  Pulse til crumbly then blend very cold water slowly until dough forms, usually less then a 1/4 C.  Form into a ball and chill for 30 minutes.

So now you decide if you want a pie or tarts, roll out the dough and put into the appropriate baking dish then bake the crust.  I baked these in a cup cake tin at 325 for 20 minutes, next time I'll up the temperate and shorten the time.  Let your pie or tart crust cool.

The filling: 1 C sugar, 1/4 C flour [mix these together first or you will get clumps], add 2 C raspberries and 1 C sour cream.  Cook until thickened to your desired consistency, I made it really thick, no need for napkins from a drippy filling.  Let the filling cool a bit and place into your crust, pack and go enjoy!

The dough cost me $0.22 and the filling $0.85: so a pie cost $1.07 to make and ten tarts cost $0.107 each [eat that Little Debbie!].  Yes, I know only 9 tarts are shown, I HAD to test the recipe before I feed it to others. : )  A berry pie cost about $3.79 at the store, so this was a savings of $2.72!