Sunday Dinner Dessert – Cannoli Cones

 

Since my 85 years have started to catch up with me, I don’t cook as often, particularly experimenting with new recipes that I can share. I do still cook the family holiday meals, though, and every Sunday fix lunch for my two daughters which features a favorite recipe and is followed by 3 hours of various kinds of needlework and chatting. For these lunches, I always make something they especially like from my blogs of over 10 years and I thought it might be fun to share my Sunday desserts each week.

Our Sunday dessert this week is a favorite summertime dessert – 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 …

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… 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.  Here is the recipe from my 2015 post:

https://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2015/08/26/easy-cannoli-cones/

Easy Cannoli Cones

• 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 or maraschino 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. 

 

Also served: Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad from my 2008 post: 

https://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/a-good-sunday-lunch/

 

Mist Mint Mousse

I first made this recipe from Family Circle Magazine in 1986 as a small pie.  The recipe at that time was doubled and placed in an 8-inch baked pie shell.  I noted in my dessert recipe binder:  “12/23/86 – Shannon loved this.”

Daughter Shannon was 16 years old then and loved rich desserts.  Now, she tries to avoid the extra fat and calories of pie crust, so I used the adapted recipe below and made four servings of light, refreshing mousse.  Using low fat cream cheese and whipped topping along with non-fat condensed milk helps trim it down a bit, too.

• Servings: 4
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• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)*
• 1/2 tsp mint extract
• One drop green food coloring
• 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1/3 cup Andes chocolate mint baking chips

*Save remaining milk in a covered jar and freeze for future use

4 dessert dishes

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and condensed milk.  Whisk in mint extract and food coloring.

Stir in whipped topping and Andes chocolate mint chips.

Spoon mousse into four pretty dessert dishes (about ½ cup each).

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4 servings 

Banana Rum Fluff

At the end of each week, I always seem to have a banana or two that should be used that day.  I have containers of banana puree in the freezer, I’ve made every kind of cake, muffin, pudding, cookie and bread.  I was looking for something different to use up some bananas and put together this chilled dessert which is very good with a strong banana flavor and a little kick of rum.  Easy and quick to make.

• Servings: 3
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• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 Tblsp. dark rum
• 2 ripe bananas, pureed
• 2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed (Cool Whip)
• 4 vanilla wafers
• 4 tsp. dark rum
• 1 banana for slicing

In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and 1 Tblsp. of rum until smooth.  Add pureed bananas ….

… and stir in the thawed whipped topping..

In each of four small dessert dishes, place a vanilla wafer and sprinkle each with 1 tsp. dark rum.

Spoon the banana mixture on top of the wafers and freeze for one hour or refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

4 servings.  Just before serving, add a few slices of banana to the top of the fluff.

A St. Patrick’s Day Doll and an Easy Dessert

On this St. Patrick’s Day morning, my daughter had my doll table all ready for the celebration.  The doll was decked out in a hand crocheted shawl and tam o’shanter and there was a new embroidered cover for the table.  The picture of the cover doesn’t do it justice – it only measures 2-½ x 5 inches, so you can imagine how tiny the stitches are.

We’re having our traditional Reuben sandwiches for lunch (corned beef and cabbage in a more palatable form for us) and a quick and easy dessert with a little green to honor the day.  This is a deliciously rich dessert.

ST. PADDY PISTACHIO DESSERT

• Servings: 6 to 8
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Crust:
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup butter, cut in small cubes
* 1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Filling:
* 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 8 oz. carton of Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed, divided
* One small package of instant white chocolate pudding (four ½ cup svgs)
* One small package of instant pistachio pudding (four 1/2-cup svgs.)
* 1-1/2 cups milk, divided
* Green sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

To Make the Crust:

Mix the flour, butter and pecans well.  Press mixture in a 9×9 baking pan.  Bake @ 350 degrees F for 15 minutes until lightly brown.  Cool

To Make Filling and Assemble:

Layer 1: Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.  Fold in 4 ounces (half of an 8-oz. carton) of whipped topping.  Spread over cooled crust.

Layer 2: Whisk one package of white chocolate pudding and 3/4 cup of milk until thickened.  Spread over Layer 1.

Layer 3: Whisk one package of pistachio pudding and 3/4 cup of milk until thickened.  Spread over Layer 2.

Layer 4: Spread remaining 4 oz. of whipped topping over Layer 3.

Sprinkle top with green sugar – maybe you’ll be more creative than I was in sprinkling the sugar.

Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

6 to 8 servings 

Honey Blackberry Creme

I made up this recipe for supper using what I had on hand.  It was really good.  The yogurt and cream cheese are smooth and creamy, the blackberry jam adds a nice sweet/tart flavor and the graham cracker crumbs are crispy.  My daughter and I really enjoyed it.

BLACKBERRY HONEY CREME

• Servings: 4
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• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 6 oz. container of  Greek honey yogurt (Yoplait)
• 3 honey graham crackers, crushed (about ½ cup), divided
• ¼ cup blackberry jam*

Blend the cream cheese and yogurt together until smooth – a small food processor works well for this.

In each of 4 dessert dishes, place 1 tablespoon of graham cracker crumbs.  Divide the cream cheese mixture among the four dishes.

Top each with 1 tablespoon of blackberry jam.

Sprinkle remaining graham cracker crumbs over the top of each dish.

Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

Makes 4 servings 

*I used my homemade blackberry jam.  Click here for the recipe.  https://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/good-blackberry-jam/

Twinkie Tiramisu

My youngest daughter loves Twinkies and dropped a big hint when she saw a recipe online for a recipe for Tiramisu that used them as the base.  I borrowed the idea of the Twinkies but otherwise used my own recipe for Tiramisu.

• Servings: 6-8
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* 5-½ Twinkies
* 4 oz. light cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
* 15 oz. light ricotta cheese
* 2 cups light Cool Whip whipped topping
* 1/2 cup Kahlua or coffee liqueur (to pour over Twinkies)
* One Hershey chocolate Nugget

Place Twinkies in bottom of 9×9 inch dish.

Pour Kahlua or liqueur over Twinkies.  There will be some in the bottom of the dish which the Twinkies will soak up.

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

Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the top of the Twinkies.

A microplaner is good to use for grating the chocolate Nugget over the top of the dish.

Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Yield:  6-8 servings 

Since not everyone in the family is that fond of Twinkies, I also made a batch of my original version, using Italian lady fingers…

This recipe was first posted in November of 2008.  Click here for my original recipe.

For the big taste-off, only my youngest daughter and I were willing to try the Twinkie Tiramisu.  We found it to be very similar to the lady finger version –  a little bit sweeter.  My daughter said there was a faint Twinkie “aftertaste”, which I didn’t pick up.

The Italian lady fingers version would be lower in fat and calories, but for dyed-in-the-wool Twinkie lovers, there’s nothing like that jolt of sweet cream filling.

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.

Summer Strawberry Dessert

I had a small amount of strawberries to use and wanted something for a lunch dessert that wasn’t too heavy or rich.  This recipe, adapted from one on Allrecipes worked out quite well.

• Servings: 5
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• 1-1/2 cups cold milk
• 1 (1 oz.) package of instant vanilla pudding
• 4 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1 cup whipped topping, thawed
• 2 cups (1 pt.) of fresh strawberries, halved (divided)

In a large mixing bowl, combine milk and pudding mix.  Beat on low speed for 2 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

In another large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth.  Add whipped topping on low speed until blended.  Add the pudding mix and mix on low speed until smooth.

Fold in 1-3/4 cups of halved fresh strawberries.  Transfer mixture to a large bowl or individual dishes.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

When ready to serve, top pudding with reserved strawberries.

Makes 5 servings.

Easy and Quick Lemon Mousse

In 1976, I saw a cookbook at a reduced price in a book store and took a chance on it.  I’ve never regretted it.  The book was called The Garden Club Desserts Cookbook and this is the first dessert I made from it….certainly not the last.

• Servings: 4-6
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• 14 oz. can of condensed milk (I use non-fat)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 8 oz. (2 cups) lite frozen whipped topping, thawed

In a medium bowl, whisk together the condensed milk and lemon juice.  Fold in the whipped topping.  Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Serve in a pretty dessert dish.  Makes 4 to 6 servings. 

The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford

In 1984, I participated in a recipe exchange by mail and this is one of the recipes I received.  There are a lot of versions of this dessert with a lot of names, but since Robert Redford still looks good to me, I’m keeping it.  This is an easy dessert to assemble, should be made ahead of time and chilled, and is very rich and delicious.

• Servings: 9
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Crust:

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

Filling:

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 8 oz. carton of Cool Whip whipped topping, divided
• Small package of instant vanilla pudding (four 1/2-cup svgs.)
• 1-1/2 cups milk, divided
• Small package of instant chocolate pudding (four 1/2-cup svgs.)
• Block of Hershey chocolate bar or Ghirardelli milk chocolate bar
• Pecans for garnishing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

To Make the Crust:

Mix the flour, butter and pecans well.  Press mixture in a 9×9 baking pan.  Bake @ 350 degrees F for 15 minutes until lightly brown.  Cool

To Make Filling and Assemble:

Layer 1: Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.  Fold in 4 ounces (half of an 8-oz. carton) of whipped topping.  Spread over cooled crust.

Layer 2: Mix vanilla pudding and 3/4 cup of milk until thickened.  Spread over Layer 1.

Layer 3: Mix chocolate pudding and 3/4 cup of milk until thickened.  Spread over Layer 2.

Layer 4: Spread remaining 4 oz. of whipped topping over Layer 3.

Grate the block of milk chocolate over the top of the dessert and garnish with whole toasted pecans.

Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. 

This dessert won a ribbon at the Hamilton County Fair (Cincinnati) in 1984 and has been a favorite dessert in our family ever since.

I’m so glad I took part in that chain mail recipe exchange.

“Redford”, as we call it, was our dessert today when my daughters and grandchildren returned from swimming at Boomerang Bay (Kings Island, Mason OH).  We had another old favorite for lunch – Mom’s Tuna Melts.