Raspberry Cream Dessert

This is another take on one of my favorite chilled desserts which combines yogurt, frozen topping and cream cheese.  This makes a delicious chilled dessert base which is creamy and smooth but not too sweet.  The addition of raspberries makes it special.

• Servings: 4-6
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1 cup yogurt
1-½ cups frozen topping, thawed (Cool Whip)
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
12 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed (about 1-½ cups with juice)

Mix together the yogurt, whipped topping and cream cheese until smooth.

Stir in the raspberries.

Spoon mixture into 4-6 pretty dessert dishes.

Cover and chill for at least two hours.

Makes 4-6 servings

Easy Cannoli Cones

These cannoli cones aren’t going to be as good as the cannolis from your favorite Italian restaurant but they’re really delicious, easy to make and fill the need for a quick cannoli fix.  I combined several recipes, ideas and tips from online to make this fun dessert.

To hold the cones while coating them with chocolate and chilling them, you can cut an “x”  for the number of portions in the top of the cardboard cone box covered with foil…

… or, my favorite, the bottom of a Styrofoam egg carton, inverted with an “x” cut for the portions.

At first, I thought it would be nice to serve the cones in a tall flute along with the filling and garnishes in separate bowls …

… but the cones are  too hard to remove.  I found it best to just let each person grab a cone and alternate layers of filling, chips, cherries and nuts.

• Servings: 6
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6 sugar cones (the cake type with pointed ends)
½ cup chocolate chips, melted
¼ cup heavy cream
8 oz. ricotta cheese (one cup)
¼ cup powdered sugar
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup each of mini chocolate chips, chopped pistachios and chopped candied cherries

Place a spoonful of melted chocolate into each cone, turning and swirling to coat the inside of the cone.  Spread a little bit of chocolate over the rim of the cone.  Place cones in a container and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes until set.

To make filling:
Beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form.  Beat in ricotta, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.  Place in a covered bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

The chocolate coating on the cones and the filling can be done ahead of time, but wait until ready to serve before filling the cones so they will be nice and crisp.

Fill cones with alternating layers of filling, chips, cherries and nuts.

Servings:  6 cones   

Strawberry and Amaretto Tiramisu

I’ve seen a few recipes for Strawberry Tiramisu online but went back to my original recipe which my family loves, substituting Amaretto for the Kahlua I normally use and adding fresh strawberries.  This might be our new favorite, certainly during the strawberry season.  It’s very easy to put together, not too sweet and a good make-ahead dessert.

• Servings: 9
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One package Italian lady fingers (about 12 lady fingers – I use Alessi Biscotti Savoiardi)
¼ to 1/2 cup Amaretto (to pour over lady fingers – they should be evenly moist)
One cup of fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
15 oz. light ricotta cheese
2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed (Cool Whip)
9 fresh strawberry-halves for garnish

Place the lady fingers in a layer in bottom of 9-inch pan.  Pour Amaretto over the lady fingers.  Arrange sliced strawberries over lady fingers.  Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat together the cream cheese and ricotta cheese until smooth.  Fold in whipped topping.

Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the top of the lady fingers and strawberries.  Place the strawberry halves over the top of the dessert, creating 9 servings.  Cover and refrigerate at least two hours or overnight.

To serve, cut dessert into 9 servings, including a fresh strawberry half.  Refrigerate leftovers.

Apricot Raspberry Trifle

On Christmas Day, my daughter and I have dinner alone and try to have something a little different that would not be appreciated by the men in the family.  This is a very easy trifle that can be made with any type of pound cake.  My youngest daughter always gives us her prize-winning Lemon Pound Cake for St. Nick (December 6) and I freeze a portion of it to use in this dessert.  I like the use of the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar to stabilize the whipped cream to make a dish that is still delicious on December 26.  I don’t know if it will last another day, since we have always eaten the last crumb by then.

• Servings: 6
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• One 15 oz. can of apricots, drained
• One 10-12 oz. bag of frozen raspberries, thawed and drained
• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3 cups pound cake cubes, divided
• ¼ cup brandy, divided (or juice drained from fruit and/or orange juice)

In a large bowl, combine drained apricots and thawed/drained raspberries.  Toss lightly to combine.  Set aside.

Beat cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth.  Add cream and beat until soft peaks form and mixture is like soft mousse (don’t overbeat).

In a 6 inch glass container, place 1-½ cups of cake cubes on the bottom.  Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of brandy.  Place half of the fruit on top of the cake cubes.

Top with half of the cream/mousse mixture.  Repeat with cake cubes, brandy, fruit and cream/mousse.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

6 servings 

Blueberry Chocolate Mousse

I got the idea for this dessert from a recipe on the Blueberry Council web site.  I changed it to suit my taste, ingredients and the way I wanted to serve it.

The mousse alone would be very good but the addition of the cookie adds a bit more richness and flavor.  My daughters and I really enjoyed it.

• Servings: 4
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• 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk, divided
• 1-¼ teaspoons unflavored gelatin
•  ½ cup milk chocolate chips (Ghirardelli)
•  4 chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreo)
•  ½ cup fresh blueberries

In a medium microwaveable bowl, place 1/3-cup evaporated milk.  Sprinkle gelatin over and stir to mix
Set aside to allow gelatin to soften for 5 minutes

Microwave on high until bubbles appear, 30 to 60 seconds
Add chocolate chips and stir until smooth then stir in remaining evaporated milk

Cover and refrigerate until the mixture starts to set.
Meanwhile, crumble half of a chocolate sandwich cookie into each of 4 dessert dishes

Set aside

Remove bowl of chocolate chip mixture from refrigerator and stir until smooth.   Fold blueberries into mousse.

Spoon mousse mixture into the four dessert dishes.  Crumble half of a chocolate sandwich cookie over the top of each dish of mousse.

Cover loosely and chill until firm, about 2 hours

4 servings 

Sort of Like Whip ‘n Chill

In the 1960s, there was a little box of powdered mix called Whip ‘n Chill which was mixed with water to make a very light and delicious mousse-like dessert.  On the rare occasions when my mother-in-law came for supper, I struggled to find something she would eat.  She didn’t like my cooking but one thing she seemed to enjoy was Whip ‘n Chill so that was always our dessert when Grandma Mary visited.

Whip ‘n Chill has been out of the regular grocery stores for many years and for a time could only be purchased at the Vermont Country Store.  Now, they no longer have it, but it is sold in bulk on Amazon.com at a pretty hefty price.  For our purposes, my version will do just fine.  If Grandma Mary were still with us, I wonder if she would like it.

Grandma Mary

• Servings: 6
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• 1 envelope (¼ oz.) unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups milk, divided
• One 3.4 oz. package of Cook and Serve Chocolate Pudding (not instant pudding)
• 2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed (Cool Whip)

Soak gelatin in ¼ cup of cold milk.  When dissolved, place in a medium saucepan with the remainder of the milk and the chocolate pudding mix.  Whisk over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a full boil.  Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Whisk the whipped topping into the pudding mixture and spoon into six dessert dishes.  Cover and chill for an hour.

Makes 6 servings. 

Based on 6 servings – 156 calories/serving

Delicious No-Bake Eggnog Pie

At this time of year, we usually have some straggling leftovers and I wanted to make something for Sunday dinner that would use up two cups of dairy eggnog.  I remembered a pie I had made for Christmas in 1985 from an old 1978 Southern Sideboards cookbook.  I adapted it a bit, including leaving out an extra two cups of whipped cream – I felt we had indulged enough over the holidays.  It’s a good dessert with a crunchy graham cracker/almond crust and a smooth creamy filling.  Make the day before serving so the pie can chill at least 6 hours or overnight.

• Servings: 6
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CRUMB CRUST:

• 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup chopped almonds
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup butter, melted

FILLING:

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• ¼ cup cold water
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tblsp. cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 cups dairy eggnog
• 2 Tbsp. rum
• 1 cup whipping cream, whipped
• Freshly grated nutmeg for topping

TO MAKE THE CRUMB CRUST:
Combine graham cracker crumbs, ¼ cup sugar, almonds, cinnamon and melted butter in a small bowl.

Press the mixture on the bottom and sides of a buttered 10-inch pie pan (deep).*  Set aside.

TO MAKE THE FILLING:
In a cup, sprinkle gelatin over water to soften – set aside.  Mix 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt in top of double boiler.  Gradually stir in eggnog.  Cook over hot, not boiling water, stirring constantly until thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in softened gelatin until dissolved.  Allow filling to cool …

…then fold in rum and whipped cream.

Pour mixture into the pie shell and sprinkle with nutmeg.  Cover and let chill in refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.

*I had a 10-inch pie plate but apparently it wasn’t deep enough.  I poured the leftover filling into two custard cups, covered and chilled for a nice light dessert after the pie is gone.

6 servings 

This has nothing to do with eggnog pie but I couldn’t resist showing you this picture.  It’s not everyone who can look out the back door and see a St. Bernard dog in the snow.  Our neighbor’s dog is usually looking for a shady spot or barking to get back in the house, but today he was in his glory in all that beautiful snow.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Dessert

I developed this recipe using bits and pieces from other dishes.  The topping is Stabilized Whipped Cream from Veronica’s Cornucopia.

There are several steps, but easy ones, and this dessert goes together very quickly.  It is simply delicious – rich, cool, satisfying.

• Servings: 6
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Topping (PREPARE THE NIGHT BEFORE SERVING)

• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 24 miniature marshmallows
• ¼ cup granulated sugar

Crust:

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup butter, cut in small cubes
• ½ cup salted peanuts, chopped

Filling:

• 4 serving pkg. Jello instant chocolate pudding
• 1-½ cups milk
• ¾ cup peanut butter

• 1 Dove Pleasure Or Hershey Nugget for grating

To make topping:
The night before serving, in a medium bowl mix the cream cheese with a fork until smooth.  Gradually add the cream, stirring until blended.  Stir in the marshmallows and sugar.

Place bowl in the refrigerator (do not cover the bowl).  Place the beaters in the freezer to chill overnight.

In the morning, place the cream mixture in a mixer bowl and beat with the chilled beaters until marshmallows have dissolved and stiff peaks form.

To make the crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, place flour and butter cubes.

Mix the butter into the flour with your fingertips.  Add the peanuts and mix into the dough.  Place dough in the bottom of an ungreased 9-inch baking dish.

Bake @ 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack.

To make the filling:
Place instant pudding mix in a medium bowl and whisk in the milk for one minute.  Add peanut butter and continue whisking until smooth.

Pour pudding on top of cooled crust.

Spoon topping on top of the chocolate mixture.

Grate the chocolate candy over the top of the dessert.

Cover and chill for at least two hours.

Servings:  6 

I made an extra batch of the stabilized whipped cream to see how long it would hold up after being made.  Refrigerated, it will remain stable for 5 days.  It is also possible to freeze and thaw the cream with good results. It’s nice to make in advance and have on hand for when you are pressed for time.   Of course, you could also substitute regular whipped cream or a frozen whipped topping (thawed) in this dish.

Lemon Pecan Dream Cups

Every Friday, I fix lunch for my two daughters.  I leave lunch on the kitchen table for my oldest daughter (who lives with me and works at home) and pack a picnic basket with lunch for my youngest daughter and myself to take to her home.

I make four servings so she can have something extra to squirrel away for later.  Lunch is always simple – a main dish salad or casserole plus a light dessert.  I came up with this dessert today, using what I had on hand and basing it loosely on one of our favorites, The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford.  The crust is so good in this dessert and the lemon filling is light and tangy.  We all loved it.

• Servings: 4
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Crust:

• ¼ cup all -purpose flour
• 2 Tblsp. butter, cut in small cubes
• 1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Filling:

• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup frozen topping, thawed
• 3.4 oz pkg lemon instant pudding (4 servings)
• ¾ cup milk
• 1-½ tsp. lemon juice to enhance flavor (optional)

Topping:

• ½ cup frozen topping, thawed (divided)
• 4 pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Have four oven-safe custard cups at hand
To prepare the crust:

Place the flour and butter cubes in a small bowl.

Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips.  Stir in chopped pecans.

Divide this mixture between the four custard cups and press mixture down in the bottoms of the cups.  Bake @ 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Place cups on a wire rack to cool.

To make the filling:

Place cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl.

Stir until smooth.  Stir in ½ cup frozen topping until blended.  Spread this mixture on top of cooled crust in custard cups.

In the same medium bowl, place instant pudding mix and milk.

Beat until pudding starts to thicken – about one minute.   Stir in lemon juice.  Spoon the pudding mixture on top of the cream cheese mixture in the cups.

Swirl 2 Tblsp. of  topping on each cup and place one pecan half in the center.

Cover and refrigerate for at least ½ hour.

4 servings 

Margarita Mousse … with Leftover Cake

A few months ago, I made a cake with a thin glaze that used Margarita non-alcoholic frozen concentrate.  It was OK, but nothing special, so I cut the leftovers into slices and stuck them in the freezer.  For this past Sunday dinner, I decided to thaw the cake to use as both crust and topping for a delicious mousse, also made with the Margarita concentrate.

I adapted an old mousse recipe I have been using since 1976 and it turned out great.  I loved being able to make use of a rather ordinary cake and create an easy dessert that the family really enjoyed.

Although the Margarita-flavored cake added a bit of punch to the dessert, I believe any plain or lightly glazed cake would work just as well, since the mousse has a strong lime flavor.

MARGARITA MOUSSE DESSERT

• Servings: 6
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• 3 cups leftover plain or lightly glazed cake
• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand Non-Fat)
• 3 Tblsp. Margarita non-alcoholic frozen concentrate (Bacardi), thawed
• 2 cups frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip), thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Spray or butter a 9-inch baking pan and a flat baking sheet

Take 2 cups of leftover cake and crumble coarsely.  Place in the prepared 9-inch baking pan and press down.

Bake @ 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

Take the remaining 1 cup of leftover cake and crumble into fine crumbs.  Spread on the prepared flat baking sheet.  Bake @ 350 degrees F for 5 minutes, stir and turn and bake an additional 5 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

Note:  The two pans can be baked at the same time.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the condensed milk, Margarita concentrate and whipped topping.

Spread this mixture over the cooled crust in the 9-inch baking pan.

Sprinkle the fine toasted crumbs over the top.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Cut into squares to serve.  Makes 6 servings.

The mousse alone also makes a nice dessert.  Spoon into dessert dishes and chill.