http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Trifle/Detail.aspx This is kind of low brow, but it’s absolutely freakin’ awesome. Promise. And the presentation is nice.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tiramisu-Layer-Cake/Detail.aspx This looks amazing, but I’ve never tried it myself. Just wanted to throw it out there. If anyone makes it let me know how it goes.
Since you said Portable" I immediately thought of this pithivier recipe from Jacques Torres. There is a little rolling, but maybe you’ll be up for that for a future party.
Here’s what he says about it:
“If you invite me to your house for dinner, this is probably the dessert I will bring. I get around town on my Rollerblades. When invited to dinner, I put a frozen pithivier in my backpack and I’m out the door. My friends are usually pretty disappointed when they see this flat, unbaked disk of dough. I smile and tell them to be patient. As the pithivier bakes, its mouth-watering aroma interrupts the conversation. By the time we finish dinner, the pithivier is done. What comes out of the oven is a beautiful golden brown dessert that is eight times its original height. My friends cannot believe the transformation.”
I don’t go anywhere on roller blades but I do drive more than 2 hours to most family gatherings and have made this. So nice not to hold a cake plate the whole ride. What he says is true. It looks completely boring and I get looks of “oh how cute, she tried to bake” until it comes out and it’s beautiful and puffy and smells divine (to me and my almond loving family).
My specialty is Chocolate Lasagna. You can use premade noodles, and reheat before eating.
So, I am making the caramel pie! The cans are boiling merrily as we speak (1 hour 30 minutes to go). I plan to top it with meringue because of a fabulous caramel meringue pie I had at Salty’s restaurant in Seattle for my birthday a few years ago.
Some concerns about the meringue since I’ve never made one:
Apparently, to prevent weeping, it’s best to put the meringue on warm filling and then bake for 15 minutes. That’s not quite my plan, since I plan to boil the milk tonight and then let it cool all night before pouring in the morning. I think I will put the pie in the oven to heat up while I’m making the meringue in the morning, then put the meringue on the pie and bake it for 15 minutes to make the peaks turn golden brown. Then cool for 2 hours, then refrigerate until the party.
I thought I would stop at a gourment food shop (we will be in that area anyway) on the way there for something delicious to drizzle over the top of the meringue before serving - or do you think that will be overkill?
I think a little bit of a good chocolate sauce would be freaking *heavenly *with that. And pretty on top of the meringue, as well. Maybe stick it into a squeeze bottle and throw a swirl on the plates before serving, as well.
Damn, makes me wish I had opened this yesterday so I could have made this for the potluck this afternoon!
I poured the caramel into the shell last night and it is FANTASTIC. It tastes just like a melted Kraft caramel 
I’m going to make the meringue around 10:30, so it has a chance to return to room temperature before I chill it for 4 hours!
Thanks for reminding me about a squeeze bottle!
So, you really won’t assplode your unopened cans boiling them for 3 hours? That’s freaky. What should the water level be, relative to the cans?
ETA: I’m thinking about making this for tomorrow’s Easter Fete, maybe with a layer of chocolate ganache.
I did worry about explosions 
I boiled the cans for around 2 hours 30 minutes, with a lid on the pot. I have a HUGE cookpot, so I filled the water up to just over the tops of the cans. I checked the water level every 20 minutes or so and DID have to add hot water several times. I let the cans cool for almost 2 hours. At allrecipes.com, someone suggested turning the cans over halfway through the cooling process to reduce the risk of contents under pressure, so I did it, figuring it couldn’t hurt.
I did wonder about halfway through the cooking process if running my gas stove non stop for 2.5 hours was going to effect my power bill! We shall see
Several people at allrecipes had complained their pie was too runny, but my caramel was super super thick. Be more careful than I was when you pour it into your piecrust/shell, I was spreading the filling and managed to rip up part of the bottom on one side (a tiny bit). I figure it will be pretty unnoticeable when the pie is actually cut. Just spread gently! Licking the spatula was awesome.
The caramel is super super super sweet - the ganache sounds wonderful, but I’m going with meringue to try to balance out the super sweetness a bit.
Oh, that’s a good point. I bet that’s why it’s good with a raspberry sauce, as well. Hmmm, what to do…I don’t like meringue. Maybe a very lightly sweetened whipped cream (homemade, of course) with raspberry and chocolate drizzles.
I need to work pecans in here somehow, I can just feel it! 
Oh yeah, home made whipped cream would be awesome!!
I just made meringue for the first time - wow, that was like a science experiment. Pretty cool to watch 5 tiny egg whites turn into a fluffy white mountain. I followed Ogre’s advice and added the sugar very very slowly. I misjudged the size of the bowl, it looked huge when I started but I ended up completely spattered with meringue! It’s out of the oven now and looks BEAUTIFUL. Currently cooling on a wire rack!
Oh - boiling the cans left a brown ring around the top of my pan, but it scrubbed off no problem (just did all the dishes, heh).
I’m glad you liked it. It’s a surprising little recipe, isn’t it?
But yeah, my sister in law was making it once, and went to take a nap. She slept too long, the pan boiled dry, and the cans exploded violently. She had to have her entire kitchen ceiling redone. 
It ended up fantastic - I crushed a Heath bar and sprinkled it on top when I served it. The meringue was PERFECT, no weeping at all, the caramel was divine. Everyone pretty much licked their plates - thanks for all your help.
Awesome! I’m glad it worked out.