Do you want a dessert that still has somewhat of a wow factor despite how easy it is?
Will there be other desserts besides the one you are bringing so people might want smaller portions but you'd still like to not bring home leftovers?
Do you like cheesecake?
Do you like pina coladas?
Do you want a dessert that involves almost no baking?
Would you like a dessert that involves your hair dryer?
If the answer to all of these questions is yes, I have a suggestion for you!
Reader - meet pina colada cheesecake tart with those classic pina colada flavors of pineapple, coconut and rum!
Pina colada cheesecake tart - meet Reader!
You could also do this in its original form, which is a full cheesecake as demonstrated by Helen Fletcher. That version might be a better fit if this would be your only Easter dessert.
If you click on that link and scroll all the way down to read the comments, you will see a comment from Deb. C. That's me. I first did this back in 2011 but hadn't done one since. This tart is simply a scaled down version of the original.
Excuse me. I need to ask you something. Does it count to post about a no bake cheesecake tart as a Baking Friday entry when the only baking is the crust? Or is this cheating?
No? It's not cheating? It counts. Oh good! Thank you! I was hoping you would agree!
The other beauty about this recipe? It can easily be modified to fit your palette. Don't like coconut? No worries! Leave it out. It will still be tasty. Prefer amaretto sours as your drink of choice? Can do! Leave out the coconut and pineapple and swap in lemon and lime zest and juice and use amaretto and triple sec. More of a strawberry daquari person? Cool. Use orange zest and juice, a few cooked and smashed strawberries plus rum in the cheesecake mixture and strawberries on the top.
Have I done all of those things? Nope, but I'm confident that they would work. As long as you keep the liquid ingredients generally in balance for the unflavored gelatin, you give it plenty of time to firm up in the fridge, and your fruit has been partially cooked to stabilize the natural juices and sugars, this can work to give you a tasty, easy cheesecake or cheesecake tart!
Ready to see how easy? Ok, here we go!
Begin with some crushed pineapple. I used a 20oz can and set it over an old measuring cup that has had all of the measurements worn off from so much use to drain. You could, of course, set yours over a new measuring cup that still has all of its measurements visible on the side. That would be better and come closer to proving that I got about 3/4 cup of juice from this draining. (PS - I did not use all of the pineapple or juice, so if you want some leftover crushed pineapple to use another way, buy the 20oz can. If not, look for a smaller size can. I have some ambrosia in mind soon, so I was happy with about half of the can being leftover!)
I gave it plenty of time to drain. I set this out Wednesday evening when I first got home and then made supper while it drained, so it probably took about an hour and a half to get that much juice.
I used the pineapple in two places. I started by making the glaze, but I could have done the glaze at the end, too. I used approximately 8oz. of the pineapple with about 3 T. of the juice in the pan. I added 1 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin to 2 T. more of the pineapple juice and let it soften for about 5 minutes. I combined all of this along with 1/4 cup of sugar in a saucepan and let it cook until it boiled for about a minute. I took it off the heat and let it cook to room temperature. Helen Fletcher suggests that you run the pineapple and juice through the food processor first, which is a good idea, and I'm sure you end up with a smoother glaze, but I didn't mind the texture, so I skipped that step. Oh, and I did one other bad thing that Helen doesn't. I added a splash of rum at the end. (Insert Deb hand slapping Deb's other hand here.)
Then I turned my attention to the cheesecake, beginning with the crust. Helen's original recipe calls for using macaroon cookies. I don't have any macaroons on hand, and I wasn't going to the store for any. (See below for another substitution because I didn't want to go back out to the store. I can be sooooo very lazy at times!) But back to the crust. No macaroons. Oh well, bother. So I ground up a few handfuls of coconut in the food processor for use in the crust as well as the cheesecake as well as the garnish, so I eyeballed it. I suppose I ground up about a 3/4 cup of coconut, and used 1/2 cup in the crust. This is really a matter of taste. I enjoy coconut, as does G, so I was ok to err on the side of a bit more pronounced coconut flavor. Here is what the ground up coconut looked like. This is about 1/4 cup of the coconut set aside for use in the filling and for garnishing.
To the coconut left in the food processor I added slightly over 1/2 an inner sealed package of graham crackers.
I crushed them all up and then added 5 T. of melted butter. (And yes, I could have simply sat down and ate this entire mixture right here! Yum!)
But I did not. I was a good girl and pressed these into the bottom of my tart pan with a removable bottom, sprayed with a bit of baking spray.
And because I'm such a good girl, I also made a couple of individual mini cheesecakes for G to enjoy. How cute are these?! Got enough ramekins for your Easter party? These little individual ones could be enjoyed by your crew and you'd be all hip and cool and trendy since individual desserts are what all the cool kids are doing these days!
Now - for the most important step - so that I can post this recipe in a Baking Friday entry! I BAKED the crusts in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes!
Ta-da! We baked! The oven was preheated. It was hot. It was used. Crusts went in cold and came out hot. It counts. (I feel so much better now.)
While these were BAKING, I put together the filling. I began with softening 2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin in 2 T. of the drained pineapple juice (remember that?) and about 3 T. of rum. Or if you're like me and you used the last of your rum in the pineapple glaze, a combination of amaretto, triple sec and Jim Beam with honey. Now Helen uses 2 T. of dark rum, which is a bit stronger flavor (for a WHOLE cheesecake I might add vs. this scaled down version of about 1/3 of her original amounts that I was using!), so use your own judgment and modify to your taste preferences. But despite what I thought was a generous amount for the remaining proportions of ingredients, apparently one comment that was heard in certain sectors of the building was that there wasn't enough rum. Maybe it was a rough morning yesterday!
I heated this briefly in the microwave just to warm it. I didn't want it to get really hot, much less to boil, so I heated on a lower setting.
Now I'm about to tell you one other substitute because I didn't want to go to the store. Helen Fletcher calls for 3/4 cup of cream of coconut. Scaled back to 1/3 of the ingredients meant that I needed about 1/4 cup of cream of coconut. Surely I could make due with about 1/4 cup of heavy cream and 3 T. of coconut plus a dash of coconut flavoring. Right? Well, it's what I did anyway. Is it as good as if I had used the cream of coconut? Probably not, but it did work for this recipe.
I added them to the warmed gelatin mixture and combined well.
Then in my mixer I combined these ingredients:
1 - 8oz. pkg. of softened cream cheese
1/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of drained pineapple
1 egg
Splash of vanilla
Dash of salt
I beat those all together and then added the gelatin mixture at the end. Talk about easy!
It came together quickly enough that I felt like I needed to wait about 10 - 15 minutes for the crusts to cool before pouring this on top.
And don't forget about G's mini ones! Again, how cute!
I chilled these in the fridge for about an hour and a half and then spread the glaze on top before setting back in the fridge overnight.
I bet you're thinking that I've forgotten about the hair dryer comment above, aren't you? Either that or you think Deb is getting blog posts mixed up. Well, nope, I haven't forgotten and it wasn't a mix up. I used it the next morning for final prep! Ready? This is a great trick from Helen Fletcher that couldn't be easier! Want to take that tart rim off without messing up the filling? Give this a try!
Set the tart on top of a relatively large can. Oh, and make sure a pickle jar is nearby. This won't work without a pickle jar in your picture!
Turn on the hair dryer and gently blow the warm air all around the outside of the tart pan....
...until Voila! Almost like magic, the rim falls off!
Genius, huh?! And now I was ready to garnish with a few raspberries, and strawberries, a sprinkle of the ground up coconut and a drizzle of caramel sauce.
And it was Easter!
This our last Easter entry. As always, I hope you have found something to inspire you for your family and friends in our visits recently. And more importantly, I hope you have a wonderful Easter full of love and joy and hope and celebrating our Risen Lord! See you soon! Thanks for stopping by!
Dreams are one of the strangest elements of God's creation on this here planet. They can be vague. They can be vivid, especially if you're pregnant. They rarely have real beginnings and real endings. And even when they do have a clear beginning and a clear ending, rarely are those logical beginnings or endings.
At least that's the case in my dreams.
Like lots of other people, I have recurring dreams. The recurring dream from last night that prompted this post will be the one I share last. I will begin with a couple of the oldest dreams I remember that still come back now, even in my adulthood that is 35 years beyond the events that are the origination for these two dreams.
The first is from my Jr. high days. Yes, that phrase dates me right there, for today young adolescents attend middle school. But back in the dark ages, we went to Jr. high. Florissant Jr. High it was for me. The buildings that housed Florissant Jr. High (FJH) are no longer even a school any more. These buildings have housed the school district administrative offices for at least the last 15 years or so, I would say. But back then, the halls of FJH were filled with awkward, gangly, too cool for their own good 7th, 8th and 9th graders. That's right. 9th grade back then wasn't even at the high school.
FJH was made up of five buildings, A - E. Four of the buildings were almost identical, two-story lined up across the front of the campus, and the fifth building was in the back and housed the gyms, art and the band and choir rooms. (I was a choir girl myself. It never even occurred to me to take up a band instrument, I guess because I played the piano?) Anyway buildings A - D, the front four, were all connected from one end to the other with walkways on the second floor, so you could stand on the second floor in D outside the science and home ec rooms and see all the way to building A where the social studies and English classes were held. Room numbers were basically a combination of the letter of the building and the floor as the first two characters and then sequential order after that, as in A201 would be the first room on the second floor of building A.
I have to stop right here and admit that I'm not totally sure I have the building letter designations quite right. I may have those backwards, but I'm sticking with A is where social studies classes were and D is where the science classes were for the sake of this post. Others may read this who were there and have much better memories than I of the building letters.
It was a fairly large campus for a 13 year old, and it must have been a bit scary for me, which is I guess why I still dream about being lost in those buildings. I am never in Building E for this dream. I am almost always in Building D on the second floor looking down the long walkway to Building A, and I have no idea where my next class is. I know what class I am supposed to go to (see other dream in a moment), but I have no idea how to get there. The walkway is almost always completely empty in this dream, and generally the dream begins and ends right there. Sometimes I will walk through the walkway, but most of the time, I simply stand there paralyzed in my fear of being late to my next class because I've forgotten where it's located or even the room number to help me find it.
The second dream is very much like it. In this dream - and again, it usually begins on the second floor of Building D - I have forgotten my class schedule. So in this case I have no idea what my next class is and cannot locate a printed copy of my schedule.
I guess you could say that both of these are versions of the classic forgetting to get dressed for the day dream; these just happen to be my versions. But does it make any sense that I still dream these 35 years after the fact?
Two other recurring dreams haven't happened quite so much as they once did. These two may be a bit of TMI, but I hope not. The first began shortly after I lost both of my parents. I will wake up in a panic, because I will be dreaming about being in their home for a variety of reasons. But the dream is so vivid, and seeing them again feels so real that I wake up thinking, "I haven't gone to see my parents in too long! I need to go by their house!" And then I get really awake and remember that they don't live in that house any more.
The other one concerns my first husband. In this dream we are still married, but my head swears we are divorced. Invariably, I am laying on the very edge of the large, king-sized waterbed we had a few lifetimes ago, and clinging for a way to escape. This dream would wake me up in an even bigger panic than the one about my parents. I was even known to be so shaken up by this one a time or two that I would look up the divorce papers one more time just to be sure. Thankfully this dream has become more and more rare since G and I married. And I hope it stays that way!
So here is the last dream that I had again last night that prompted this post. I have had this dream so many times, and it makes no sense to me whatsoever. The dream generally begins with me trying to get somewhere by foot. I am walking, but it feels very sluggish, so I try running. But that feels even more sluggish. So what do I do? I start walking with my hands. Yes, that's right, I walk with my hands. Because I'm so coordinated in real life like that, right? And this isn't where I am walking on my hands like a hand stand. No, in this case, I am swinging on my hands, rather monkey like if that makes any sense. In this dream, my arms are long enough for me to place my two hands in front of me and then swing my body between my arms before I place them down in front of me again. Don't ask me how I manage to balance all of this or where my legs are during this swinging action, but as soon as I start doing this, I start making REAL progress! I am just about flying around the streets of Ferguson! Last night I was hand walking like an Olympian up Florissant Road - and all the time I know that I am way late for work, and know I should be checking my phone for work emails plus contacting my boss that I'm either going to be way late or not coming in that day. But instead of doing any of those things, I am simply planting my hands and swinging my body and planting my hands and swinging my body and impressing everyone around me! And I never plant my body down after each swing. Nope! I somehow manage to suspend myself in midair while my hands move out in front of me again. If I could actually execute this action, it would be quite the sight to see, let me tell you! But in my dreams, in this dream, it feels like the most natural thing in the world and walking or running is like wading through quicksand.
And then the dreams end. And I wake up like this morning wondering, "Why did I dream that one again?"
Like I said at the beginning, dreams are some of the strangest elements of God's creation on this here planet.
This post is for my kids, since the stories are about one of their grandmothers. They are stories that I don't remember hearing before today, so I thought I would pass them along so they could know their grandmother just a little bit better.
G and I went to a Spring Fling today that was sponsored by the retirement residence where Grandma N lives. We arrived today a little bit after noon. The Spring Fling included crafts and music (more on that later) and a little family of cats from Stray Rescue. So we started taking animals, and I mentioned that G will be fine to skip the kittens, because he isn't much of a cat person. And Grandma N mentions that G and her Grandpa R (now deceased) would have gotten along well.
Grandma N and Grandpa R were married a little over 20 years when Grandpa R passed and a full 3 years before G joined our lives. They met at McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing). According to the story we heard today, shortly after they began dating, she had Grandpa R over for dinner. Grandma N had two cats at that time - a white cat that was not very affectionate (to put it mildly) named Fluffy and a bit more affectionate gray tabby (if I remember right but she could have been black?) whose name I cannot recall at the moment. Grandpa R informed her early on that he was "not really an animal person, especially not cats." He grew up in farm country of Oklahoma, and animals belonged outside, not inside your home.
They married anyway - maybe both cats passed away in the meantime? - and Grandma N didn't try to add any additional four-legged family members.
Until...one day, her brother, D, and his wife at the time, C, needed someone to take care of their little 3-year old peekapoo named Mitzi for a few weeks. They were building a home in Chesterfield, but had sold their home in Fenton already and had to move into an apartment until the new house was ready. Grandma N and Grandpa R agreed to let Mitzi stay with them during that time. After a short time, Grandpa R was away for about a week on a business trip. When he came back, Mitzi won him over. Mitzi would follow Grandpa R everywhere in the house, so suddenly, she was his dog.
And so they kept Mitzi ever since. And Grandpa R's family gave him quite a bit of trouble about his now being a dog man.
But that wasn't the end of the story. Apparently there is a back story. Grandpa R was not only "not really an animal person." One time when he was still growing up, he say a man walking a poodle on a leash and uttered "Not me. Never." Something about a man and a poodle just went against his macho, testosterone-driven sensibilities.
One time when Grandma N and Grandpa R were going back to Oklahoma to visit his mother, they took Mitzi with them. They had just sat down for dinner, when Mitzi comes up next to Grandpa R's chair, asking to go outside. So Grandpa R puts her on her leash and takes her out to take care of business.
The rest of his family can't wait for him to come back inside to harass him, but when he comes back in the door and before they could said anything, he says "She's only half poodle!"
Grandpa R's mother, E, laughed and laughed, and told Grandma N that seeing him walk Mitzi was worth a million dollars to her!
Now we will get back to the music element of today's Spring Fling. The Ramblers were playing, and Grandma N loves listening to them. She says she could listen to them all day as they play bluegrass and country. While they were playing, stories of Grandma N's jitterbug days came up. So while you may have never seen it, kiddos, your grandmother has quite the jitterbug dancing past. She would even fly up on her partner's hips. She would not give us a demonstration today, but you might see if you can talk her into it sometime.
That's all. Just a couple of little stories about two of your grandparents that you might not have heard or known before. But stories that can help you know them just a little bit better.
It's April folks! Therefore I am on cake # 4 already! And this one is yummy! And E.A.S.Y. As in, it is uber easy schmeezy.
Deb Disclaimer - this cake begins with a cake mix. If you are anti-cake-mix, please feel free to stop reading now. But if you are not ashamed of using a cake mix, then please stay tuned. You could be really glad that you did!
Deb Disclaimer # 2 - I may or may not use the word "uber" a bit too much in speech. A certain friend, known heretofore in this here post as P, pointed this out to me recently. Since he and his family are featuring prominently in this cake and post, I have tried to incorporate the word "uber" in this post for his enjoyment.
Wanna see our Cake # 4? It's kinda purty....
Can you tell what it is? How about this?
I gotta tell ya. I was stumped on the cake this week. What says Easter? In a cake?
Yes, I could have done the lamb...
...or the bunny...
...or even an Easter basket.
All cute. Nothing wrong with these. Nothing at all. I just wasn't feeling it. I debated about carrot or lemon or orange or other somewhat springy flavors, and had finally decided I would do lemon cause I have lemons on hand.
Does that look like a lemon cake to you?
Nope. Even with my bad camera phone skills, I think we can safely say that this isn't lemon.
So how did I end up here? My friend and coworker, P, the one who "appreciates my use of the word "uber" in speech. Not to be confused with my Sista, P, or the Dutch Apple P from last night. This is a different P. He only joined our team at work about a month ago, but alas he is leaving us due to some family needs. He is actually moving all the way to Ohio. I am sad about this folks. I love this man's wife, S, too, and they have little K, who is only about 9 months old. S used to work for our company as well, and they are quite simply a delightful young family. I was so happy that P had joined our team, because then I would get a chance to see S and K every once in a while.
But alas....that is not to be. It's all good. They are doing the right thing for all the right reasons, and I respect them for that. But that doesn't mean I'm not a wee bit sad about it.
So Monday night. I had decided on lemon cake with homemade lemon curd and a cream cheese frosting. I hadn't decided on how I would decorate it, and I wasn't uber excited about it, but I at least knew it would taste good and be Easterish. (Uber and Easterish are words, right? I thought so. Thank you.)
Enter Tuesday stage right. Scene: work. Small-ish cubicles. Pan the cube farm with "Working 9 to 5" playing in the background before focusing in on Deb's cubicle, Deb's Baking Thursday cubicle, P's cubicle, C's cubicle (an interested observer with an easy laugh and mother of two of Deb's favorite little twin taste testers) and S's cubicle behind Deb's. Fade background music.
Deb: So P, what is your favorite cake flavor? Or your top 3 favorite cake flavors?
P: (pensive, pregnant pause) I don't have a favorite flavor. Cake isn't about the flavor.
Deb: Really? (I'm also wondering now if P is as anti-favorite as my daughter, B, and wondering if this is going to get me anywhere.)
C: He didn't say lemon, did he?
Deb: Nope. No, he didn't. Very true.
P: Lemon is fine. But cake is really about texture...and moisture...the feel on my tongue. The flavor doesn't matter if texture and moisture aren't there. Chocolate chips...
S: Angel food?
P: Angel food is good. It has that whole melting on your tongue sensation thing going on.
S (addressing Deb): There, do angel food.
Deb: I don't have a tube pan. And I don't want to go buy one, because I just don't do tube cakes that much.
S (returning his attention to P): How about nuts?
P: Yes, nuts are good. Nuts are ok. (P pauses, continuing to think.) You know, my dad would make a cake with pudding and sour cream and chocolate chips! It would bake for like 3 hours and it was so yummy!
Deb: 3 hours? Really?
P: Yea, I remember him baking it a real long time, but it was really moist and good.
Exit scene with a gradual fade and musical interlude. Return to Deb's blog narrative.
I quickly decided that P's recall of the cake baking for 3 hours to be an exaggeration of childhood longing for cake or the time he had to wait until the cake was cool enough to eat. But surely I could find a recipe for chocolate chip cake with pudding and sour cream on line, right?
Sure enough! It is a twist on the somewhat classic cake mix pound cake with a box of pudding and 4 eggs. I sent P the link from allrecipes.com and asked P if he thought this looked close to what he remembered. Come to find out, he had done the same search and printed this out to hand to me before I had sent him my email.
Yep, love when great minds think alike!
I was starting to get excited about this! But I needed a twist on it. And this is not only in honor of P before his last day at work but it was also for Easter. What could be more American Easter flavor than chocolate and marshmallow? Anyone seen these before?
Oh yea! Chocolate chip pound cake from P's childhood with a twist of a marshmallow glaze! This now has promise!
But wait. I didn't want to end with just marshmallow glaze. I wanted to toast the marshmallow! Kind of like this...
..but not really. I didn't want a classic cooked egg white or 7-minute type frosting. I wanted a glaze made with marshmallows.
But wait. I'm getting way ahead of myself. Let's bake this cake first. Preheat your oven to 325.
I never take the picture of our "cast of characters" like is common in food blogs, so I thought, why not do it this time?
We have a yellow cake mix, a box of instant chocolate pudding, 1/2 cup of sugar, 4 eggs, 3/4 cup of water, 3/4 cup of oil, 1 cup of sour cream, 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and a splash of vanilla.
And the final character is our bundt pan sprayed with baking spray. (I will tell you that I am a Pam fan. I do a lot of private label for things, but I use Pam for Baking when spraying pans.)
Everything except the chocolate chips goes into the pool (as Guy Fieri likes to say) and is mixed for about 2 minutes until nice and creamy.
Add the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and fold them in. But make sure you stop and ask yourself if 1/2 cup is really enough or not. Debate for a moment and then decide that you'll go with 1/2 cup - this time anyway - but next time? You may throw caution to the wind and use a full cup! You wild woman (or man as the case may be), you!
After mixing in the chips, pour it into your pan and bake at 325 for 50 - 60 minutes. (I went 55 in my oven.)
A toothpick came out clean for me and was just pulling away from the sides of the pan, but I tried my best not to over bake it.
I let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turned it out onto a cake plate. I removed the pan to be sure it would release and then I did what I started doing years ago. I put the pan back on the cake to trap the steam while it cools. Now lots of famous people will tell you not to do this - that the steam makes the cake too soggy, but I haven't ever found that to be the case. So I'm just telling you what I do. Ya might try it sometime...see what you think...
While the cake was cooling, I got to thinking about that marshmallow glaze. I couldn't really find a recipe online that excited me, so I decided to start with the same base as Rice Krispy treats. I wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it was a starting point. I also have some marshmallow creme on hand, so I got it out in case I needed some of it. (I did.)
I melted 1/4 cup of butter with 1/2 cup of half-n-half in the microwave on low/soften melt power.
I wondered if there would be enough heat to melt the marshmallows, so I threw in 8...
...and stirred. It didn't...
...but that's ok, I put the bowl back in the microwave for another 20 - 30 seconds and voila! We had melted marshmallows. But it was too thin, so I added about 3 cups of powdered sugar, a splash of vanilla, a dash of salt and about 2/3 cup of marshmallow cream, until I had a glaze...
...that tasted marshmallow like, and dripped, but not too much... Please note, this is a glaze, so there is a bit of personal preference in play with the desired thickness. Glazes can be a balancing act of milk or half-n-half and powdered sugar, so a light hand with either ingredient is generally a good guideline.
(Please note: This is G's finger - his index finger. Just in case this is not clear from the picture.)
It tasted right. It had the right consistency. But would it toast?
Wait - I haven't told you how we planned to toast the marshmallow glaze yet, have I?! This was almost the funnest part!
Have you ever made creme brulee and then caramelized a sprinkling of sugar on top with one of these kitchen blowtorches?
These are cute and all, but Alton Brown says that they are a waste of time and money. That's right, baby. Good Eats says to visit Home Depot and not Williams Sonoma for all of your kitchen blowtorch needs!
G's blowtorch happens to be packed away, but P knew where his was! So he brought it into the office to let us borrow it! He even included a backup tank, just in case we needed it. How cool is that?!
Now back to our glaze. We needed a test to see if it would toast. I spread some on a cookie...
...and G agreed to be my Blow Torch Man. (Please commend G on not cussing the next time you see him despite his struggle with lighting matches. They just don't make matches these days like they used to...)
It seemed to be just a tad too thin, so I added a bit more powdered sugar ready for another coating.
I put the cake in the fridge for about a half hour to let the glaze harden before we toasted!!
And look! We didn't want to over toast, so we just sort of highlighted the ridges...because there is no such thing as burning, charred, black marshmallows in Deb's world. Marshmallows need to be warm, and gooey and golden brown, roasted slowly over the coals and not in the fire. Wait, I am getting off topic here. Back to cake...
Just look at those pools of glaze just waiting for a finger to scoop up. Oh yea, baby!
P is right! This really is a yummy, moist, homey comfort cake with a bit of texture from the chocolate chips! Yep, it starts with a cake mix, but if you can get past that, you won't be sorry. As G said, he has never had a bundt cake taste like this before.
S (from the scene above) said that this was his 2nd favorite cake that I've ever made, the Guinness being his most favorite cake from me.
Another friend, S, who I must say sent me the most amazing note today and who I hope will be a guest poster on here sometime because he is quite the Girl Scout Cookie expert, said that he figured out what this cake reminded him of. You know those chocolate cakes that KFC sells? They are good and one of his favorite commercial cakes. But this cake is what one of the KFC chocolate cakes wishes it could be. How sweet is that?
This cake went really fast. I asked S (from our scene above) if I should wait to send the email until P had arrived at work, since this cake was in P's honor. But S simply said "P knows what day it is."
So we cut him a large enough piece to share with his wife and set it on his desk. And someone may or may not have come along after the rest of the cake was gone and stolen a bit from the plate. But I'll never tell.
This couldn't be easier, and would make a great addition to your Easter table. Which takes me to my final story to share to close out this post.
One of my friends who gives great feedback is part of a large family. They get together for every holiday, and Easter is a big one full of family traditions from cabbage rolls to one of those Easter lamb cakes like we see above. After tasting this cake, she wrote to me that this was the most intense chocolate flavored pound cake and super moist, with the chocolate chips giving it an extra explosion of chocolate. She is going to have to try using this for the lamb mold (an EXCELLENT idea!), because nobody really likes the vanilla pound cake they usually bake up for the lamb.
She tried red velvet one time, but it was too soft and somehow...the family didn't like it when they cut the lamb open. Apparently the teen girls in the family offered lots of "gross!" comments, and folks felt like they were eating the sacrificial lamb.
This made me laugh out loud! Anyone else have images of Steel Magnolia's and a red velvet armadillo?
I do love families! I hope you enjoy yours this Easter!
Deb: Oh I remember the great
Deb and P in unison: Pie Night of 2012!
<insert fits of hysterical laughter here>
P: OMG when C danced on the piano!
Deb: Yes and then B ate whipped cream on her pumpkin pie!
P: Ha ha ha ha ha I almost forgot about that!!!
P and Deb: (reminiscent sigh) ah yes, that was a good year
The End
Do you remember the Great Pie Night of 2012?
If you say no, that can only mean one thing. You weren't there. Or you were there and you don't recall any pie night prior to "when the whipped cream fairy comes" from last year, which is true among 63% of those surveyed so far.
I guess it could mean one other thing...I DIDN'T POST ABOUT IT!!! That's right, folks. I never posted about The Great Pie Night of 2012! It took place. I have pics to prove it, but I didn't write about it? Check it out. It's true. There is no evidence of The Great Pie Night of 2012 on this here blog or FB either one. A very observant reader pointed this out to one of the Sistas, who informed me, so it is my civic and Morrison Family Pie Night hostessing duty to remedy this! Now! Tonight!
And since EVERYONE who was there remembers so much about that night, I will add some colorful commentary of events along with the pies. And every word you read below is absolutely true. Just like the conversation that opened this post above. <wink, wink>
This is G and C - the one who danced on the piano.
C may not look like the piano dancing kind of guy, but trust me. He can dance a mean jig on your nearest piano once you fill him up with Banana Cream pie. It is downright inspiring!
It must have been the little gingerbread boys that were swimming in and around the edge of her pumpkin pie, but I swear I remember B having whipped cream on her piece that year. It was almost as crazy as C's piano dancing.
You may have noticed the Christmas-y decorations surrounding the pies. This because The Great Pie Night of 2012 took place on December 6 that year. I remember that for two reasons. One, that is R's birthday. And two, it says so on my Pie Night 2012 spreadsheet.
And speaking of birthdays, this was one day after A's, so we put a little candle in her Baked Strawberry. And yes, I do need to keep playing with the chocolate and strawberry idea some more....good reminder!
K had Oreo pie that year, and if memory serves right, the Oreos caused K to start laying under the Christmas tree and howling like a real wolf. K is just like that sometimes.
This was also the year of the battling apple pies. P had standard apple. This was before we started making apple pies with hand prints on them for P.
D had Peanut Butter Apple (not a keeper) but the candy canes on top were cute!
And P, not the same P as the above P but P nonetheless, had Dutch Apple, which is just to the right of the bottle with extra peanut butter sauce in it. We are almost positive it was the Dutch Apple that made P and G start talking politics. Or not...(D, I do love our husband's and their mutual love of politics!)
Oh! And do you see those cute little gingerbread whoopie pies! These were a delight to make for the little ones! Christmas in April anyone?
S asked for a decorated crust pie that year with a Blackberry peach filling, which would be a keeper...
...and after C's display on the piano, she took it upon herself to stand guard over the piano the rest of the night. She was carrying J-man at this point after all, and she couldn't count on K to stand guard, seeing as how he was howling under the tree and such...
J (not J-man since he wasn't born yet) asked for Turtle pie, and this was pretty yummy guys. I believe it is what inspired him to finish med school.
What else should I share from that night? This was the first year G chose French Silk and decided he wanted to marry it...
...and I was hopeful to fall for this Cafe au Lait, but alas, it was prettier than it was tasty. Sigh..
Ah yes, The Great Pie Night of 2012. It was a very memorable year....
