Vote for my Thanksgiving Dessert!

Cafe Society
1

I’m going to my aunt’s house in Florida for Thanksgiving - she is having, at last count, 23 people, and I told her I’d make a couple of desserts. The first one will be, for sure, the Bete Noire, but I can’t decide what the second one should be.

Criteria: it can’t contain nuts (my cousin’s son is highly allergic, and is a toddler who gets into everything). My aunt doesn’t have the insane amount of baking infrastructure that I do, and I will already have to pack my springform pan and 2 lbs. of bittersweet chocolate in my suitcase, so I’d prefer that it not require any unusual bakeware or perishable ingredients that can’t be reliably purchased in a standard supermarket.

I’m thinking the second dessert should be a bit lighter than the Bete Noire, but can’t make up my mind what direction to go in; I’d like it to be something just a bit off the beaten path (one contender was a yummy-sounding pumpkin pie recipe with candied ginger). Something fruity, maybe? Suggest away!

2

A nice bread pudding seems to always go over well, and you can put pretty much anything in one. I have a recipe kicking around somewhere for a pumpkin one with orange-ginger custard sauce, that I haven’t tried but think sounds divine. I’ve got another one with apples and dried cranberries and lots of cinnamon and ginger and whatnot with a bourbon sauce that people just love.

3

I suggest pecan pie. It’s great for Thanksgiving.

And yes, I did read the OP. I just don’t care for giving in to people with allergies. It only encourages them.

4

Since the person allergic here is a toddler, I agree with the OP. No nuts. (It’s too bad though because my Pecan Pie is the bestest!)

Sooo… how about a Cappucino Trifle? Maybe an Apple Pie? Sweet Potato Pie? Cookies?

5

I would normally do Derby Pie, but I’d prefer not to kill my cousin’s baby.

CrazyCatLady, if you find the pumpkin bread pudding recipe, please do post it!

6

Butterscotch cream pie.

It’s been my tradition since 1988, and I’m hoping it will catch on in kitchens across the country. As Og is my witness, by the day I die I will have seen it completely supplant pumpkin pie.

7

Don’t know if this is particularly “lighter”, but Joy Of Cooking has one of the best recipes for Carrot Cake that I have ever had! Easy to make and holds well for a day or two in advance.

I made one once in Berlin. It became a legend and I was constantly having to make one for birthdays and other parties. People were throwing me money to make more…of course, it helped that I “Americanized” them by using wild frosting colors and sometimes made erotic versions for parties in bars, but that is another story.

8

I make a great frozen pumpkin-cream cheese torte. You can serve it right out of the freezer, or take it out and let it thaw, so it travels well. I will be glad to post the recipe if anybody wants it. It has a graham-cracker crust. For those who like cheesecake and pumpkin pie, but don’t like to decide!

9

This is the easiest crowd pleaser I’ve ever done:

I bought a few packs of those single serving sponge cakes.
A couple of packs of frozen strawberries.
A container of vanilla ice cream.
Canned whipped cream.

Let the strawberries thaw - dump them in a bowl - smush em - add sugar to taste and refrigerate to allow the syrup to develop.
Set up dessert station and let each person create their own masterpiece.

My order: sponge cake, syrup, ice cream, strawberries then whipped cream.

10

Any chance you’d share the recipe?

11

Well, I do have the book already, so that would be easy enough. I was just about to post that an erotic carrot cake might freak out my 92-year-old grandmother, but then I remembered that she does, in fact, own a black leather miniskirt. She bought it when she and my grandfather came to visit me in Spain when I studied there in college, but she doesn’t wear it much since the knee replacement surgery (you know, she’s shy about the scar and all).

And yes, Mom’s side of the family is…colorful. I’m hoping my poor boyfriend survives the trip, preferably without running away screaming - this will be the first time he’s met any of them.

12

The Carrot Cake recipe has a lot of vegetable oil in it making it very moist and that is why it can be made a day or two in advance. Not exactly low on calories, but hey - it’s Thanksgiving.

And after the shock of seeing a huge penis cake, let grandma explain to little Timmy, “Uh, it is a turkey leg with two big apples at the bottom…”

13

Black Sticky Gingerbread. Careful, it’s easy to screw up and make mediocre. But if you manage to make it just so, it’s transcendent.

14

Did pumpkin pie go out of style? It’s a classic and very delicious!

Also, I have never made one but it looks relatively easy to make.

15

I just made this a couple of weeks ago and I was shocked at how good it was. You might want to make 2 if you need to feed more than 6 people with it. Recipe my own, based off one in the Better Homes Cookbook. I used comice pears; the texture was amazingly creamy for a pear.

Browned Butter Pear Tart

Filling: 2 large ripe pears, peeled, cored, and sliced thinly (Comice worked VERY well)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp white sugar

Crust:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1/4 cup (half a stick) butter
enough ice water to make dough stick together

1/2 cup finely chopped or sliced almonds for topping (obviously, you would leave this off)

Oven: 375F

Prepare pears, gently toss with ginger/sugar and set aside. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. When butter has started to brown, continue to stir until butter is the color of brown sugar. Remove from heat and refrigerate until butter is solid again. Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients using pastry blender. Once butter is completely solid, cut into flour etc. until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water a few drizzles at a time and toss with a fork until the dough holds together OK. Transfer dough to a floured surface and gently press it out into a flattened circle with your hand, then roll it out enough to make approximately 10 inch circle. If you roll it out on waxed paper (like I do), you can lift it up and turn it over onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Pile pears in the center of the crust, then fold edges of crust over so they overlap the pears an inch or so. Top with almonds (except don’t). Bake for 30 minutes or until filling is soft and bubbly. Let it sit for a little while before you cut into it.

16

My wife makes the BEST Sugar Cream Pie. It always gets rave reviews.

17

You want lighter and fruity. How about a pavlova? It would work especially well if you can use the yolks in your Bete Noire. (I know some recipes would allow you to just use yolks.)

18

@DMark, re: carrot cake—one old trick is to substitute on the oil. If a recipe calls for a cup of oil, use half a cup of apple sauce and half a cup of oil. Still moist, less guilt :wink:

I have simplified the recipe I had for chocolate cream pie down to this:

Chocolate ice cream
Instant chocolate pudding (Instant…that’s critical)
Cookies
Cool whip or whipped cream
Optionals

You can make it as big as you want. The pan will dictate the other ingredients.

Let’s say you’re going 11 x 13

3 pints chocolate ice cream
3 small instant chocolate pudding
A couple Tb cocoa if you’re a chocoholic
Maybe 8 oz cookies (I buy cheap oatmeal cookies, crumble them)
16 oz cool whip

Put the crumbs in the bottom of your pan to form about 1/4" crust
In a mixing bowl, let the ice cream melt half way
Have an electric mixer handy
Add pudding powder, optional cocoa, and mix well.
Spatula onto crust immediately (the cold will make it start setting up fast)
Top with cool whip
Add optionals
Refrigerate or freeze till serving.

Remarks: You can use other combinations of ice cream and instant pudding flavors
Optionals might include dulce de leche, hot fudge, nuts (on part, in your case), cookie or candy pieces, M&Ms, etc.

Also you can vary the proportion of ice cream/pudding. Add less pudding and it becomes ice creamier, needs to live in the fridge. Add more pudding and it will be thicker.

You could make an enormous one if you’re feeding many people. And you could just about let the kids make it, crumbling the cookies and mixing it up, decorating it, etc.

19

I mostly bake from scratch, but one of my favorite recipes starts with a cake mix. This is a very light, but flavorful cake, and every time I make it I get asked for the recipe.

Pumpkin Orange Poppy Seed Cake

20

Can you go past a pavlova? I don’t think so! :smiley: