Fresh Berry Torte :: Super Easy Summer Dessert

It is summer!  Really and truly summer, the kind where temps soar into the 90's and thunderstorms make their way through in the evening.  And we're loving every minute of it, well not so much the storm destruction, but I do love watching a good thunderstorm move in.  The clouds rolling around the sky, the forceful sound of high winds, the darkening sky at 5 p.m.  It's hard to express just how much I love watching storms, not because I don't have the words for it, but we are cranberry farmers and weather impacts our crop immensely, and we only get one chance each year for a crop.

Hail = Destruction = Devastation

Anyway, I haven't posted a recipe since Black Bean Quesadillas back in May and I want to share this super easy summer dessert right now because it's strawberry season.

From instagram

Another #simplesummerpleasure - picking strawberries right out my back door.  Strawberries are not hard to grow.  My patch is in a raised bed about 3 feet x 16 feet.  I keep it weeded, watered, and throw on summer chicken manure in the fall and call it good.  I started this patch with bare root stock.  I would not recommend that.  Stop by @fleetfarm and pick up some nice lush plants, much easier to get started.  And there's nothing better than a ☀️ #sunwarmedstrawberry. 🍓  #strawberrypatch #homestead #homesteadingfun #homesteadingforbeginners #favoritesummeractivity #foodfromthefarm

A post shared by Jennifer Brockman (@camphomeschool) on Jun 12, 2017 at 6:18am PDT

This dessert is perfect for summer because the oven only needs to be on for 15 minutes and it's served cold so it's super refreshing and light.

Fresh Berry Torte

Crust:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
3/4 c. oatmeal

Place flour, sugar and butter in food processor and pulse until crumbly (or fork by hand).  Add oatmeal and pulse a few more times.  Press into ungreased jelly roll (10x15) pan.  Bake at 400 degrees F. for 10-15 minutes until edges are lightly browned.  Mine were in for 12 minutes yesterday.  Cool completely.

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. Cool whip, thawed

Cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.  Fold in Cool Whip.  Spread over cooled crust.

Topping:
1 qt. berries, washed and stemmed

The berry choice is the fun part.  This time I only had strawberries (fresh from the front yard) and not many of them because the kids were snitching all day before I made the dessert.

Enjoy immediately or refrigerate.

I sliced my strawberries so they would stretch over the full pan, but halved would work nicely.  I've also mixed up the berries and used strawberries and blueberries.  Raspberries are yummy, too.  Sadly, I've never used cranberries because they are quite tart and, although Warren and I would like that, especially if they were mixed with blueberries and strawberries, the kids wouldn't go for that and would end up picking them off.