Here’s my favorite dessert recipe - Jell-O Cake. I actually just made one today! It’s extremely simple, if you can make a cake from a box and mix up Jell-o, you’re good to go.
Make a white cake according to the recipe on the box, using the 9x13 inch pan or similar size.
About 5 minutes before the cake is done, mix up 2 batched of Jell-O, not the pudding kind but the clear gelatin kind. The Jell-O Jigglers kind that you have to mix with boiling water. Anyway…
When the cake is done, poke holes all throughout the cake, clear to the bottom. I find that using the end of a wooden spoon is easier than using a fork, and it makes bigger holes. A lot of holes are best but try not to demolish the cake in the process!
Pour the Jell-O over the cake, then refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Top with Cool Whip.
That’s it! For the one I made today, since it’s the 4th of July, I make a batch of blue Jell-O and a batch of red. Then I alternated color stripes along the cake.
It’s just a fun variation on the normal white cake, and it has a fun texture and flavor.
My kids went bonkers for this one this week, and it was soooo easy.
Make a layer of nilla wafers. Cover that with a layer of sliced banana. Add a third layer of chocolate pudding (instant). Repeat. Top with whipped cream.
My very favorite dessert for the summer is shaved ice topped with all sorts of fruit (you can just use canned fruit salad), a lot of sweet red bean paste, little confetti candies, marshmallows and a scoop of ice cream.
Don’t try making this on a warm day or you’ll end up with chocolate soup.
French Silk Pie
9" baked pie shell (you can substitute a graham cracker crust if you must but it’s really better with a real homemade pie shell)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened but not too soft)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate (melted, then cooled)
1 teaspoon vanilla
a pinch of salt
1 small package cooked vanilla pudding (do not use instant)
Whip the butter until fluffy. Gradually beat in the sugar until well blended. Add the chocolate, salt and vanilla and blend well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for three minutes after each egg. Pour mixture into the baked pie shell and chill until set. Spread the (cold) pudding on top and chill again. Top with your choice of refrigerated topping (Cool Whip) or whipped cream before serving.
Butter, sugar, chocolate and uncooked eggs. Mmmmmmmm.
oblong greased pan (grease with butter - trust me, marg won’t work for this particular dish)
Preheat oven to 350
Filo pastry (frozen or homemade)
1 lb unsalted butter
Handful of whole cloves
Pistacios (2/3 cup) finely chopped
Almonds (2/3 cup) finely chopped
Pecans (2/3 cup) finely chopped
Cinnamon (1/2 tsp or to taste)
Sugar (1/4 cup or to taste)
Sugar (2 cups)
Lemon Juice (from 1/2 lemon)
Water (~ 2 cups)
Cinnamon sticks (2 or 3)
Honey (2 tbsp)
Rose Water (~1/2 tsp or to taste)
To prepare:
Roast the nuts in the oven and then combine with the sugar and cinnamon (in sect. 2)
Prepare the syrup by heating the water, sugar, honey and cinnamon sticks in a pan on low heat. Completely disolve sugar. Add the lemon juice and rose water. Continue to heat until syrup thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Remove cinnamon sticks.
Melt the butter at low heat.
to prepare:
Place a layer of nuts in your pan. Put a layer of filo over and coat with butter. (Use a pastry brush.) Add a second layer of file and coat with butter. Add a third and do the same. Add a layer of nuts. Add 3 layers of filo as before. Continue until nut mixture is used up. Place a final layer of 3 filos and butter on top. Slice into diamond shapes. Insert 1 clove into the middle of each diamond.
Pour remaining butter over the top. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown. While the pastry is still hot, and the syrup is cool, poor the syrup over the whole mixture. Allow to cool.
Eat. A lot.
This is time consuming and a bit nit-picky, but the final product is well worth the wait.
I usually have to double the receipe because I eat so much when I’m done there’s not enough left for guests.
I can’t say this is my favorite (or favourite, as some of us would say), because I am an equal-opportunity sugar fiend. BUT it’s very simple and very good. My MIL and SIL have gotten me totally addicted to this. Here are the ingredients:
Basically, you get a bowl of ice cream, throw in some blobs of peanut butter, and drizzle a bit of chocolate syrup on top. It’s best if the ice cream is a bit soft. SOOO good.
BTW, congrats on your 1000th post. As an SDMB newbie, I can only hope to reach the same pinnacle of success someday.
You are all amazing! I am going to print these out and try them all. I’ll have to spread them out though, otherwise I’ll start posting as much as Q.E.D. since I’ll get stuck in my computer chair. (no offense to Q.E.D. of course. )
Thanks again! More!
Combine 1 can Eagle Brand milk, 3 egg yolks (save whites) and juice of 3 lemons. Pour into prepared graham cracker pie crust.
Beat egg whites while adding 6 T of sugar gradually, until stiff. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Chill.
I include the rest of my Mom’s e-mail below; she is obviously far more eloquent than I! And 10 days shy of her 65th birthday, to boot.
I don’t know if I ever mentioned to you that the William Williams who signed the Declaration of Independence is not our ancestor, after all. BUT, the William Williams who was our ancestor, owned the plantation called “Hanging Rock” in one of the Carolinas, and one of the revolutionary battles was fought there. His widow later received a revolutionary war pension. I do have quite a bit of information about him. Another very interesting story is about the 7 Gates brothers, who all fought side by side in the revolutionary war. Tragically, 4 of them fell in one day. We are descended from one of the other 3 Gates men who survived that day (lucky for us!) Helen Taylor Gates was my father’s grandmother. Her father, Bartholomew Gates, married Joyce Malone Hampton, who was a full blooded Cherokee or Choctaw, we’re not sure which. (The reason for her English sounding name is that the so-called civilized tribes, of which the Cherokee and Choctaw were part of, started anglicizing names and adopting Anglo-Saxon customs early on.
Not my favorite–I’m a fiend for killer chocolate stuff–but this one is easy and good:
Della Robia Dessert Pizza
Stuff: cheapy alumuinum pizza pan, 1 pkg. slice 'n bake sugar cookie dough, 1 block cream cheese, powdered sugar, the best fresh fruit available (or improvise / canned), jelly, lemony-stuff of choice, imagination.
Set out your block of cream cheese to soften at room temp. Spritz cheapy pizza pan with non-stick spray if you got it. Slice sugar cookie dough into rounds; smoosh (using your palms and knuckles) sorta evenly into pan for crust. Pop into 350 oven for 20-25 minutes until lightly gold. Take out, turn off oven and let cool thoroughly.
Meanwhile, grab yer cream cheese. Moosh a bit. Sprinkle in a bit
of lemony-stuff and mix well. Fresh-squeezed is good but let’s not get about this. Smoosh, smoosh.
Put a few globs of jelly (apple is good, but wing it) into small pan over very low heat to melt. Your chance to gild the lily will come soon.
Attack whatever fruit is available. Slice fresh grapes in half; same w/ strawberries. Sliver peaches and apples, but sprinkle w/ lemony stuff of choice. Slice oranges or pop open a can of mandrin orange slices. Wing it, okay?
Take cooled cookie/pizza and smear with cream cheese mixture. Artfully dob on fruit stuff, in somewhat concentric circles. Tuck in fresh berries, etc. at will. It’s an edible art project. Hell, sprinkle on some coconut shreds. Run amok.
Then lightly drizzle on the cooled jelly glaze overtop, just to gild the lily. (Cut w/ good rum, Cointreau, citrusy-stuff of choice.)
Cover w/ cling wrap and keep cool until ready to serve.
The whole shegang takes @25 minutes, start to finish.
