4th of July Dessert Recipes | Keep Holiday Costs Down

4th of July dessert recipes

Stay tuned for a good, old-fashioned apple pie recipe.

Independence Day is right around the corner, and it’s time to start planning the most important part of the holiday: the meals! If it’s your job to feed the masses this weekend, here are some 4th of July dessert recipes that will help keep costs down and tummies happy. There’s no need to take out short term loans in order to celebrate properly.

Here’s an inexpensive, fun idea from the Disney Family Fun web site:

Frosty Fireworks

One way to make a splash this Fourth of July is by treating your kids to tall glasses of Patriot’s Punch. Simply fill an ice cube tray with a red or blue fruit-flavored beverage (such as Powerade, Gatorade, or Kool-Aid) and let the cubes freeze solid. Then drop three or four colored cubes into each glass, pour in flavored seltzer water or clear soda, and watch the special effects. As the cubes melt, colored bubbles will swirl through the seltzer.

Dessert Recipes for the Fourth of July

This idea comes from Examiner.com out of Seattle:

Try this easy red, white and blue dessert that everyone will still have room for.
Ingredients: Angel food cake (make your own or purchase one). Strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream.

To prepare: Slice Angel food cake and place slices on their side. Wash and cut strawberries. Wash blueberries. Top Angel Food cake with berries and whipped cream. That’s it – it’s that easy.

You can also offer a variety of melons in star shaped cut outs. Using watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew and a star shaped cookie cutter you can decorate a tray with delicious and nutritious snacks and desserts of fresh fruit.

Apple Pie

It would just be downright un-American of me to leave out this one. This recipe is from The Culinary Institute of America.
For the Dough:
All Purpose Flour, 12 oz
Salt, 2 pinches
Butter, cubed and chilled, 4 oz
Shortening, cubed and chilled, 4 oz
Cold Water, 4 fl oz

Combine flour and salt in bowl of mixer. Add the butter and shortening and blend using a dough hook until pea-sized nuggets form, about 3 minutes. Add the water all at once and continue to mix until the dough just comes together. Remove dough from bowl. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before rolling.

For The Filling:
Golden Delicious Apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/8 inch thick, 1 lb 8 oz
Sugar, 5 oz
Tapioca Starch, ½ oz
Cornstarch, ¾ oz
Salt, ½ tsp
Ground Nutmeg, ½ tsp
Ground Cinnamon, ½ tsp
Lemon Juice, ½ fl oz
Butter, melted, 1 oz
Egg Wash, as needed

Divide the dough in half. Roll out one-half of the dough to 1/8 inch thick and line a 9 inch pie pan. Keep the other half wrapped tightly in the refrigerator.Combine the sugar, tapioca, cornstarch, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice, and melted butter and toss with the apples.Fill the pie shell with the apple mixture. Brush the rim of the dough with egg wash.Roll out the remaining dough to 1/8 inch thick, and place it over the filling. Crimp the edges to seal, and cut a few vents in the top of the pie.
Bake at 375 F until the filling is bubbling and the crust is a rich golden brown, about 45 minutes.
Enjoy.