Blueberry Cream Squares

I love the celebrations of summer and the simple foods we've come to associate with them. Show me a marching band, throw in some fireworks and I'll pull out a virtual parade of recipes to help celebrate the occasion. Most come from memories garnered under the hot and hazy skies of my Midwestern childhood. These dishes are not for the health or diet conscious, but because they are served just once a year, I feel no need to apologize for the wretched excesses that will appear here over the next few days. I wanted to start with an old-fashioned dessert that is trying to make a comeback. These use to be called icebox cakes, the most famous of which is the still popular chocolate wafer cake. An icebox cake can loosely be defined as a cake that does not require baking. Cake slices, cookies, or crumbs of some type, are used as a base to hold the layers of the cake together. Almost all of them use copious amounts of heavy cream, though it is possible to make them with lower calorie whipped topping. I've always insisted that fresh fruit cancels the calories in whipped cream, so my icebox cakes always contain some type of fruit. Ergo, this cake is good for you. Kinda. Good or bad, this was part of our 4th of July celebration when I was a child. If you'd like to take a stroll down memory lane, the recipe follows.

Blueberry Cream Squares...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite adapted from Farm Journal

Ingredients:

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

3/4 cup (6 ounces) blueberry yogurt

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

3/4 cup cold water

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Directions:

1) Combine sour cream and yogurt in a small bowl. Set aside.

2) Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a small saucepan and let stand for 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup sugar. Cook and stir over low heat until gelatin is completely dissolved.

3) Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and sour cream mixture until blended. Transfer to a large bowl. Chill until partially set.

4) Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and reserved 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Set aside 1/4 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into an ungreased 8-inch square dish. Set aside.

5) Stir blueberries into partially set gelatin mixture. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Chill until set. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 9 servings