Archive for the ‘desserts’ Category

I just put my braniac pants on.

I looked up the word ‘trifle’ in the dictionary. Yes I did.

All the definitions pretty much said the same thing: Small, insignificant, of little value. . .

Then this, sticking out like a sore thumb:

English Cookery . A cold dessert of sponge cake and fruit covered with layers of custard, jelly, and cream.

What?? Not that I was surprised to see it there, but it’s just so different from the other definitions, you know there’s something wacky going on with the English language here.

So I turned to an etymology dictionary. Yeah. . . I know. Even using the word ‘etymology’ makes me feel all scholarly. Please tell me I’m not the only one who is pathetic like that.

And what did I find? Well, nothing. The etymology dictionary didn’t say a word about sponge cake and custard. Dead end.

So much for my braniac pants.

Want to know a secret? The only part I had in this trifle was helping to eat it. My husband, who is quite the accomplished trifle maker, put this thing together from start to finish. That’s his red apron, and his hand there, spreading those huge dollops of Cool Whip. Be still my heart.

I love trifles. They’re quick and fool-proof and delicious, and the glass dish means instant pretty. If you’re not in a hurry, you could do all of the ingredients homemade from scratch. As awesome as that all sounds, how could I resist a dish with Instant pudding, Cool Whip, and Oreos? Nope. Not today, at least.

Raspberry Cheesecake Trifle

Ingredients:

32 Oreo cookies, including the creme filling

1 large container of Cool Whip

2 packages of Instant pudding, cheesecake flavored

3 cups of raspberries, fresh or frozen

Directions:

Make up the pudding and put it in the fridge to chill. Meanwhile, chop or process the Oreos into small (1-cm) pieces.

In a glass trifle dish, put a thin layer of pudding on the bottom. Sprinkle Oreo pieces over the top. Gently spread some Cool Whip over the Oreos. Finally, sprinkle raspberries over the Cool Whip.

Continue layering the ingredients in that order — pudding, Oreos, Cool Whip, Raspberries — until you get close to the top of the trifle dish. Decorate the top with any remaining ingredients.

Refrigerate, and serve cold.

Quick tip: It will look prettier on the outside if you make sure that all the layers are showing through the glass on the outer edge of the trifle. For instance, I usually create a raspberry “border” around the edge before I sprinkle more raspberries in the middle where nobody sees.

Watch out, I’m getting all trendy and 21st century on you. Which is awfully pathetic, because we’re a good 10 years into the 21st century.

Sugar Duchess is now on Facebook!

I would be tickled pink if you hopped on over there and became a fan. Or Like. Or whatever it is you do on Facebook these days. It’ll be a party. Honest. Actually, friends, I’m feelin’ a little insecure about this whole fan business, and I’ll feel pretty darn silly if I only get one fan, and it’s my mom. Oh wait, my mom isn’t on Facebook.

Now, here’s the deal. Twitter. . . I’ve been having Twitter thoughts, but I need a little input. Worth it? Or waste of time? Any of you Twitter Kool-Aid drinkers out there want to give me a yea or nay?

Third item of business: These truffle pops.

My husband and some coworkers recently had a “Return of the Jedi” party, because two of them had never seen it. And as we all know, party = treats.

I had made cake pops for them before, so they were requesting cake pops again. I looked at my schedule and decided Oreo pops would be more prudent.

After all, these pops:

A) Come together quickly, no oven required, with only

B) Three ingredients. And one of them is cream cheese. And one of them is Oreos. And one of them is chocolate. You still with me?

C) And they’re bite-sized.

D) This is a no-brainer.

Oreo Truffle Pops

adapted from Bakerella

Ingredients:

1 (1 lb. 1 oz) package of Oreos, minus about 6-8 cookies

1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened to room temperature

Dipping chocolate

Directions:

Crush the Oreos (including the creme filling) in a food processor until finely ground. Or place them in a heavy duty bag and very finely crush them with a rolling pin. Cream together the Oreo crumbs with the softened cream cheese until completely blended. You may want to use your fingers.

Form into 1″ balls and place on a wax paper-covered baking sheet. Gently poke a sucker stick down into each ball. Freeze for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, melt your chocolate in a double boiler, or as directed on the package.

For the next step, only remove one ball from the freezer at a time. Dip it into the melted chocolate, lightly tap off the excess, and place it on another wax paper-covered baking sheet to dry.

Let the balls cool on the wax paper for at least 1 hour before very gently peeling them off.

Drizzle with white chocolate coating or decorate as desired.