Pink Fluff Dessert

So last year, the Mother's Day festivities were literally created around the paper plates and napkins I bought for the occasion.  The plates were half-circles and looked like lemon wedges.  The matching napkins made it so cute I just knew I wanted a lemon dessert to match, and I made my TWO-INGREDIENT LEMON BARS. This year, I was stuck for inspiration, so I did the same thing.  I went out and chose my cute paper plates and napkins and decided to build a dessert around that.  I found some really cute pink paper plates with pastel roses, and coordinating napkins.  When I showed them to my friend, she said, "You have to make my husband's grandmother's Pink Fluff recipe."  Now I had no idea what Pink Fluff was but I assumed it was one of those desserts that may or may not be called a salad, but probably contains marshmallows and fruit, and qualifies as a dessert.  The cherry pie filling in this dessert gives it the perfect shade of pastel pink.  The only change I made is using freshly whipped cream instead of Cool Whip and I always do in these kinds of recipes.  It's light and fluffy and chilled so it is ideal to serve all summer long.  Both my mom and aunt loved it, and asked for the recipe.  AND I took the leftovers to my friend, who gave it the stamp of approval!  

A quick and easy dessert that 
tastes as pretty as it looks.

Just a handful of ingredients...

Combine the pie filling, pineapple
and pudding mix.

Fold in the whipped cream and 
then stir in the marshmallows.
Allow to chill.

Now you have a beautiful pastel pink dessert.

Garnish with additional marshmallows and
some maraschino cherries.

Enjoy!

PINK FLUFF DESSERT

(1) 20-ounce can Cherry Pie Filling
(1) 20-ounce can Crushed Pineapple, undrained
(1) 3.4-ounc box instant vanilla pudding mix
1.5 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks
2 cups mini marshmallows (plus more for garnish)
maraschino cherries for garnis

In a large bowl, combine cherry pie filling, pineapple and pudding mix.  Allow to set up while you whip the cream.  Carefully fold in the whipped cream.  Once the whipped cream in incorporated, carefully stir in the marshmallows.  Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours.  When ready to serve, garnish with additional marshmallows and maraschino cherries.

Strawberries Romanoff

Strawberry season is upon us, and it's a great time to make this vintage dessert.  It's simple, but very elegant.  It was rumored to be Jackie Kennedy's favorite dessert and was served to Princess Grace of Monaco during a White House visit.  If it is impressive enough for a FLOTUS and Princess, then it is sure to impress your guests.  This classic dessert is ideal for any spring dinner party or luncheon. So easy to make, it is simply fresh ripe strawberries soaked in orange liqueur and orange juice for several hours.  To serve, you top it with a decadent vanilla whipped cream.  A perfect use for spring's abundance of fresh ripe strawberries.

This vintage dessert is simple to prepare,
but so impressive to serve.

The ingredients.

Soak your clean, hulled strawberries 
in a mixture of orange liqueur and 
fresh orange juice.

Cover and refrigerate several hours.

To serve, place some of the berries
and juice in a serving dish.

Top with sweetened
vanilla whipped cream.

So simple, and perfect for ripe
spring strawberries!

STRAWBERRIES ROMANOFF

1 quart fresh strawberries
1/2 cup orange liqueur (such as Grand Marnier)
1/2 cup fresh squeezed juice from an orange
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Wash and hull berries.  Place in bowl with the liqueur and orange juice.  Cover and refrigerate for several hours.  When ready to serve, whip the heavy cream with the confectioner's sugar and vanilla until stiff and pipeable.  Place the strawberries, with a little bit of the liquid in a glass serving dish (such as a parfait glass or individual serving bowls.)  Pipe the whipped cream decoratively on top with a pastry bag.  Garnish with mint leaves or candied violets if desired.

Irish Cream Cheesecake

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  This is one holiday Mr. Devilish Dish and I love to celebrate.  Sometimes we go the fun route and celebrate with something non-traditional like Shamrock Shake Pie, and sometimes we enjoy bacon and cabbage.  We both have Irish heritage - his roots are "Black Irish" which is clearly evident with his dark hair and olive skin.  My side is the stereotypical auburn haired, lighter skin tone version.  I even have a claddagh tattoo, which is an Irish symbol representing LOVE (heart), LOYALTY (crown) and FRIENDSHIP (hands).  It's safe to say we appreciate our heritage, although Irish Cream may not be something our ancestors enjoyed.  We definitely enjoyed this IRISH CREAM CHEESECAKE.  To be honest, I hardly ever make any cheesecake besides my New York Style Cheesecake, since that is everyone's birthday request.  I don't think I've ever made a cheesecake with a sour cream topping, but not only did it add flavor, it made the top absolutely perfect and smooth.  If you are looking for a WOW dessert for the month of March, or you simply love the flavor of Irish Cream liqueur, this cheesecake is a total winner.

Our new favorite cheesecake!

The ingredients...Though they seem
complicated, cheesecakes are usually
just a few ingredients and simple to
prepare.

Use a small glass or cup to get the 
crust tapped down evenly.

Bake that thing and allow to cool
completely before you prepare the topping.

Combine the topping ingredients.

Spread evenly over the top of the 
baked and cooled cheesecake.

Chill until cold and set.

Enjoy for a Happy St. Patrick's Day
or any day you want a delicious dessert.

IRISH CREAM CHEESECAKE

For the Crust:
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs
1/2 Irish Cream liqueur

For the Topping:
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup Irish Cream liqueur

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  To prepare the crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter.  Spread the mixture evenly across the bottom and partly up the sides of a 9 or 10-inch springform pan.  Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.  With a mixer combine the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.  Add the Irish Cream and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Pour into the chilled crust and bake for 25 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before topping.  To prepare the topping thoroughly blend together sour cream, sugar and Irish cream.  Spread mixture evenly on top of cheesecake.  Allow to chill and set until firm.

 

 

Shamrock Shake Pie

Mr. Devilish Dish loves the flavor combination of mint and chocolate.  He will always choose Junior Mints at the movies when I choose Milk Duds.  He loves mint chocolate chip ice cream, and he especially loves when the month of March rolls around and he can get a Shamrock Shake at McDonalds.  I'm not usually a fan, but when I saw the recipe for this Shamrock Shake Pie, I knew right away I would be planning a special meal for St. Patrick's Day.  We enjoyed Bangers & Mash (sausages and mashed potatoes) and delicious Creamed Leeks, which brought a beautiful, natural green to the dinner plate.  Rounding out the meal was this not so traditional but super tasty and fun pie.  It was colorful and truly tastes as good as it looks. I made things simple by using a store-bought graham cracker crust, and garnished my pie with chocolate mint candies.  The perfect dessert for any meal during the month of March.

This is the cutest, and tastiest dessert.

The ingredients.  Be sure to read my 
note regarding whether you want to use
Cool Whip or heavy whipped cream.

Garnish with whipped cream and 
mint candies.  So cute and tasty too.

SHAMROCK SHAKE PIE

1 Premade Graham Cracker Pie Crust
1 (3.4 ounce) box Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
2 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon green food coloring
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1 (8 ounce) container Cool Whip OR 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream - whipped*SEE NOTE

Optional Garnish Ideas: Additional whipped cream, mint candies, maraschino cherries

In a large bowl mix together the pudding mix and milk until well combined.  Add the food coloring and mint extract.  Fold in the Cool-Whip or whipped cream.  (*NOTE: I'm not usually a fan of Cool-Whip so I will substitute heavy cream that I have whipped myself.  While I think it makes a better flavor and texture, Cool Whip does contain a stabilizer that will keep your pie longer without weeping.  That being said, this pie lasted at least 2 or 3 days for us without getting melty or "weepy."  If you think you need to make this pie in advance - more than just the day before serving - you might want to use Cool Whip instead of whipped heavy cream.) Once this mixture is combined, pour into the premade crust a refrigerate until completely set, about 4 hours or overnight.  When ready to serve, garnish with whipped cream and mint candies or maraschino cherries.

Have a Lucky March,

BOOTY DIP/Fruit Charcuterie Board - National Snack Day!

It's National Snack Day!  My go to snack would probably be chips and salsa.  Or pizza rolls.  Mr. Devilish Dish makes some mean pizza rolls in the smoker.  He wraps them in bacon, puts fresh jalapeno slices on top and then drizzles them with hot honey and cooks them in the smoker.  I didn't know it was possible to make a pizza roll better, but you can.  It's a fact.  So yes, you could say we are normally into savory snacks, but a while back we were invited to a big Super Bowl watch party and I automatically started brainstorming something sweet.  When you think about typical ball game snacks, it's chili, buffalo wings, and queso.  This time I wanted to wow the crowd with something sweet for the kids in attendance and of course some fruit for those who didn't want a giant plate of cheese sauce.  I have my big round board I love to use for tailgates and get-togethers.  It's kinda big for just Mr. Devilish Dish and I, so I love to incorporate that for parties whenever possible.  BOOTY DIP went viral on social media awhile back.  Probably named that because if you eat a lot of it, your booty will get bigger.  It's so tasty it doesn't matter, and it makes a great dip for fruit and assorted cookies and crackers.  It was definitely a hit at the party with kids and adults alike.  All that was left was a couple of strawberries and a couple of grapes.  

A perfectly SWEET SNACK for 
National Snack Day!

The ingredients.

Whip together the cream cheese,
marshmallow fluff and brown sugar.

Fold in the whipped cream and
mini chocolate chips.

Serve with assorted fruit and cookies.

BOOTY DIP :)

This is such and easy and tasty treat idea.
Perfect for any occasion.
Makes such a fun grazing board.

Enjoy!

BOOTY DIP FOR FRUIT

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow fluff 
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 ounces whipped cream (2 ounces heavy whipping cream, whipped stiff)
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Whip together the cream cheese, marshmallow fluff and brown sugar until smooth.  Fold in the heavy whipping cream and stir in the chocolate chips.  Refrigerate until ready to serve, or serve immediately with assorted fruit and graham crackers or cookies.

Turtle Cookie Balls - Valentine: I Turtle-y Love You + Printable Gift Tag

I am a sucker for a corny Valentine.  Especially if a food pun is involved.  Even though Little Devil is grown up and we are far removed from the days of school Valentines, I think I will always celebrate the day by making something fun and silly for friends and family.  In the past I've done Coca-Cola Cupcakes (Valentine I SODA Like You) Copycat Beaver Nuggets (I'm EAGER to be your Valentine) and Banana Crumb Muffins (Valentine I'm BANANAS for you).  In fact if you search "Valentine" on my blog, you'll see a lot of Valentine inspiration.  Valentine's Day is right up there with my favorite holiday: Halloween.  It's January 6th as I'm typing this and I already put out my Valentine's Day decorations.  January is dreary and boring and I'm ready for fun!   Last year, I made Turtle Cookie Balls with the theme of "I TURTLE-y Love You" and they were a huge hit.  This made a large batch for sharing and the little no-bake cookie balls were surprisingly easy to make.  They had all of the flavor of  delicious turtle candy with chocolate, caramel and pecans in a fun and giftable cookie form.   I found the cutest little containers for gifting and designed a little gift tag to go along with the theme.  Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I'm already brainstorming ideas for this years punny, funny Valentine idea so stay tuned.  In the meantime, enjoy a batch of Turtle Cookie Balls! 

These cookie balls, reminiscent of a
delicious chocolate-caramel-pecan
turtle candy are great any time, and make
an adorable gift or dessert. 

Perfect for Valentine's Day with the
theme, "I TURTLE-Y Love You"

All bagged up in the cutest Valentine 
cartons with matching gift bags.

Boxed up and ready to go.
All they need is a cute gift tag!

Feel free to use my Turtle
Valentine Gift Tag.  
Just click on the picture to enlarge
it, right click to save the image and
resize to your liking and print onto
cardstock.

Happy Valentine's Day!  
I would TURTLE-Y Love it if you made these
Turtle Cookie Balls.

TURTLE COOKIE BALLS

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
approximately 70 vanilla wafer cookies, crushed (2 and 1/3 cups)
3 tablespoons caramel ice cream topping
16 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate (or chocolate almond bark) melted for dipping
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, crushed vanilla wafers and caramel topping until well blended.  Shape into approximately 42 (1-inch) balls.  Place on a cookie sheet and freeze for 10 minutes.  (NOTE: I used my smallest cookie scoop to help me form the balls in the same size.) Remove the balls from the freezer and using a fork or dipping tool, dip into melted chocolate.  Shake off the excess and place onto a waxed-paper lined tray.  Sprinkle with the chopped pecans before the chocolate sets up.  Refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the balls to firm up before serving.

Coconut Cake

 So Mr. Devilish Dish and I have never been big fans of coconut.  In fact our food tastes are pretty similar.  We love most of the same things and our dislikes are similar as well.  Last year, two friends at tailgate had upcoming birthdays.  One of them said, "How about a lemon cake?" Great!  Easy.  I love lemon cake.  Whipped that birthday cake right up.  The other request was Coconut Cake.  That took a little more effort, since I'm not a coconut fan.  What I realized after eating this cake is I am in fact a Coconut Fan!  Since that tailgate last fall, I've made this cake for several occasions.  It is similar to a tres leches cake.  But it only has two milks.  I guess that makes it a dos leches cake.  It is a very moist cake and honestly gets better with age as it sits in the refrigerator.  I changed up the original recipe to a whipped cream "frosting" versus a store bought dairy topping.  I love the flavor and texture so much better.  That is the only thing that keeps this cake from lasting for days in the fridge is the whipped cream frosting might get weepy.  Honestly though, it won't last that long.  You'll eat this cake all gone before you have that problem.  It's an easy cake too, basically a doctored up cake mix style cake.  The secret to the crazy good flavor is the two milks:  Cream of Coconut and condensed milk.  It is so decadent, it's made coconut lovers out of Mr. DD and I for sure!

This is the best coconut cake.
You don't even have to like coconut!

The ingredients...

The secret is the Cream of Coconut 
and the condensed milk.
Whisk these together and set aside.

Prepare the cake.

Poke holes in the warm cake with 
the end of a wooden spoon.

Pour the milk mixture allover 
the cake.

Allow the cake to soak up the milk
mixture and cool completely.

Prepare the sweetened whipped cream.

Generously frost the cake with the 
sweetened whipped cream.

Top with toasted coconut.
This is optional.  I did this originally so
folks would know this was a coconut cake.
Mr. Devilish Dish doesn't like the texture
of the toasted coconut as garnish on this cake.

Chill completely.
Overnight is better.

Most recently I made this for my Dad's 
birthday fish fry.  Big hit!

Such a good cake.  Enjoy!

COCONUT CAKE

1 boxed white cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 small box vanilla instant pudding
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can cream of coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 pint heavy cream
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
toasted coconut- optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13-inch cake pan and set aside. In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer combine the cake mix, eggs, milk, vegetable oil, pudding mix and vanilla.  Mix until smooth and creamy and pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 32-35 minutes of until a toothpick poked into the center of the cake comes out clean.  

While your cake is baking, whisk together the cream of coconut and the condensed milk.  When you remove your cake from the oven, immediately poke holes into the hot cake with the end of a wooden spoon.  Pour the cream of coconut mixture slowly over the whole cake.  Let the cake cool completely and soak this mixture up.  

When the cake is cool, whip together the heavy whipping cream with the tablespoon of sugar until it is thick and spreadable.  Use this mixture to frost the cake.  Top with toasted coconut if desired.  Cover the cake and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.  Even better the next day.