The State Farmers Market hosted a strawberry dessert contest at its 2009 Strawberry Day to find the tastiest dessert recipes containing N.C. strawberries, and we’re just glad we weren’t the ones tasked with picking only three winners.
Kathy Crank of Raleigh took home top honors with her Strawberry Delight recipe, Jessica Phillips of Raleigh’s Strawberry Devilish Cupcakes and Alice McFadden of Wake Forest’s Strawberry Lemon Cream Bliss recipes rounded out the top three.
Below you’ll find the winning recipe, and you can access a printable PDF version of all three winning recipes by clicking here.
Strawberry Delight – Kathy Crank
Crust:
- 1 ½ cup self-rising flour
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 stick + 2 Tbsp. melted butter
Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Lightly grease 13″ x 9″ pan. Combine first three ingredients. Pour in melted butter and stir until well blended and flour mixture is moistened. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes until crust is lightly browned. Cool before adding the filling mixture.
Filling:
- 1- 8 oz. block cream cheese
- 12 oz. Cool Whip whipped topping
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Combine, using a mixer, cream cheese and sugar. Add in whipped topping and beat until smooth and fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl to make sure all of cream cheese is incorporated. After crust has cooled, pour in filling mixture and spread evenly to cover entire crust. Place in refrigerator until topping is ready to add.
Topping:
- 1 small box strawberry Jell-o
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 2 cups boiling water
- 4 cups sliced strawberries
Mix first three ingredients together in medium sized pot. Add water and cook on medium heat until mixture thickens to gel consistency. Remove from heat, stir in strawberries. When mixture cools spread evenly over top of filling. Refrigerate until ready to serve.