Dangerously Delicious Layered Raspberry Cake

Trust me on this one. This Raspberry Layer Cake is delicious. No joke. When I served it to my dinner guests they were stuffed from eating steak, shrimp, and potatoes and every single one of them (me included) finished our own huge piece. It is that good. Seriously. Try it yourself, but at your own risk. I sat one evening and ate close to half a pan with a spoon right out of the dish.

Yes, I did. I'm not proud of it. But I did it.

My theory on that is that with the cream cheese and whipped topping, it just sort of melts into the cracks so there is always room, right? Make this cake and you won't be sorry unless you eat half a pan by yourself like I did. Even then, you won't really be sorry you ate it all, you will be more sorry that it's all gone.

Then a trip to the store will follow shortly after to make another cake... Yes, it's that good.

Now let's get on with the recipe!

Raspberry Layer Cake

for crust:

1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs; reserve 2 tbsp.

1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tbsp. Vanilla Extract

1 tablespoon Milled Flax Seed

2 tbsp. Smart Balance Butter; melted

for raspberry filling:

10 ounces Frozen Raspberries

1/2 cup Baking Splenda

1 tbsp. Corn Starch
2 tbsp. Water

for Cream cheese layer:

8 ounces low fat cream cheese

1/2 cup Baking Splenda

4 ounces Light Cool Whip

for topping:

4 ounces Light Cool Whip

2 tbsp. reserved graham cracker crumbs mixture

1. Take your graham crackers and break them up in the food processor and pulse for about 30 seconds or until you get nice thin crumbs. Then add the flax and cinnamon and pulse for a few more seconds.

2. Then in a microwave safe bowl melt the butter for 45 seconds. Pour into the graham cracker crumbs. Add the vanilla and mix until a moist crust forms. Spray the bottom of a large pan and press firmly into the bottom.  Spread on the bottom of a round deep dish pie plate. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then set aside to cool.

3. Combine the water and corn starch until the water is smooth. 

4. In a sauce pan combine the raspberries, splenda, and corn starch mixture stirring over medium heat until the mixture thickens-- about 5-6 minutes. Then remove from heat and set aside to allow to cool and continue to thicken. 

5. In a large separate bowl, combine the cream cheese and splenda creaming it until it is smooth. Then carefully fold in the cool whip until it looks like clouds! Set aside.

6. Now we build the beautiful dessert! Spread the cream cheese layer over the  graham cracker crust. Top with the raspberry filling. Then spread the remaining 4 ounces of cool whip over the top and sprinkle with the topping mixture.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but you can do it for up to 24 hours if you so desire! Delicious and oh so easy!

Servings: 12

Nutritional Skinny:


200 calories / 11 g fat / 2 g carbohydrates / 2 g fiber / 2.7 g protein

Mental Health Tip: This dessert can be even lower in fat if you want to use fat free cream cheese and cool whip. And it will taste just as good. Most of the flavor comes from the super delicious and healthy raspberries! Enjoy yourself and these fresh flavors of summertime!

Montana Breakfast

Mornings are when I do most of my writing. It works best for my creative flow this way. Naturally, while I am coming to the end of my writing, my family and I are talking about what we should eat for breakfast. After lingering over coffee for a few hours we have usually worked up a healthy appetite. We typically stick with eggs, whole wheat toast, and fruit. 

The other element is summer. During the summer we get lots and lots of house guests, which means lots of cooking, meal planning, dishes, cleaning.. You get the picture. Some mornings we are just worn out and wanting something simple to feed our house guests. 

This is where the Montana Breakfast emerged from. One morning we were all tired of cooking and cleaning and we had baked a pie the day before that no one had left any room for after a large dinner the night before. The pie was left untouched. My mom had pulled it out of the fridge and sat it on the counter and declared, "Montana Breakfast is served!" Ever since that morning, this has become somewhat of a tradition in our household. SOme mornings we do eggs, others we do yogurt with fruit, and still others we do pie.

Because why not? Really, why not? The recipes below for Peach Razzilicious Pie is made with fresh peaches and raspberries from our friends gardens and the Apple Rhubarb Pie is from the garden harvest as well. There is fruit, fiber, and no sugar or fat... Why not start the day off right.. with a piece of pie for your peace of mind. Plus, Cinnamon is a wonder food in that it balances out those nasty spikes in blood sugar! It helps promote even blood sugar to prevent those nasty spikes and falls in energy and blood sugar. And since these don't have any sugar you don't have to worry about that dreaded morning slump.

Try it out.. take these recipes from dessert to breakfast! Have fun with your summer harvest and adapt the recipes depending on what you have from the gardens in your area. And.. our guests love this special treat by the way!

Peach Razzilicious Deep Dish Pie

Basic Pie dough (found in the refrigerator section)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

6 cups pitted and sliced peaches (leave skins on!)

1 cup fresh raspberries

1/2 cup splenda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons whole wheat flour

3 tablespoons butter (using Smart Balance is what we recommend)

1. Spray a pie pan with vegetable cooking spray and place the prepared pie crust on the bottom of the pan and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sliced peaches, splenda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and whole wheat flour and mix until all peaches are coated with sugar, spices, and flour. Set aside in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow flavors to marinade.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Pour the peach and raspberry mixture into the pie crust. Place the Smart Balance butter in small amounts on top of the peach and raspberry mixture. Top with the remaining prepared pie crust and crimp the edges with your fingers making sweet pinched edges just like grandma used to make.

5. Bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

**Serve warm out of the oven with sugar free vanilla ice cream or whip cream. Enjoy!

Apple Rhubarb Pie

Basic Prepared pie crust (found in the refrigerator section)
2 cups fresh rhubarb; diced
4 cups apples; skin left on and sliced
3/4 cup Splenda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tbsp. all spice

1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbsp. whole wheat flour
1 tbsp. milled flax seed

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spray a pie plate with cooking spray and place one of the pie crusts in the pie plate and set aside.

3. In a large bowl combine the rhubarb, apples, splenda, salt, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, whole wheat flour, and flax. Stir together until the fruit is coated. Then pour the fruit mixture into the pie crust. Top with the other pie crust and crimp the edges together using your fingers. Cut four slits along the top of the crust and sprinkle with additional cinnamon for more blood sugar regulating goodness!

4. Bake pie in the oven for 45-55 minutes. The apples should be slightly bubbling and the crust brown. Serve with sugar free frozen yogurt for an added dose of calcium in the morning!

Mental Health Benefit: This easy breakfast keeps everyone happy and allows your family to have a special l'anguiape to start there day and you as the cook get the morning off! Just use paper plates and you really give yourself a break! Come on! Doesn't that just look delicious! I think so!

Have a wonderful morning and a fabulous breakfast from our kitchen to yours!

~"Too Lovely" Hot Messes in the kitchen