These are really good. Just a tad different too.

Sex In A Pan

First Layer

1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup flour
½ cup butter, melted

Mix and press into 13x9-inch pan. Bake 20 minutes. Cool.

Second Layer

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup icing (confectionerÂs) sugar
½ large tub of Cool Whip

Whip cream cheese, icing sugar, and ½ tub Cool Whip together, and spread evenly over top of first layer.

Third Layer

3 cups milk
1 pkg chocolate instant pudding
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding

Beat above ingredients together until thick, and pour over cream cheese layer.

Top with remaining ½ tub Cool Whip, and sprinkle with 2 crushed Crispy Crunch chocolate bars.

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Pistachio Squares

Base:

2 cups flour
1 cup margarine
½ cup crushed walnuts

Combine all ingredients together and press firmly in 9x13-inch baking dish. Bake in preheated 325°F oven for 20 minutes. Let cool.

Filling:

2 pkgs pistachio instant pudding
2 cups milk
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese (room temperature)
¾ cup sugar
½ of a large container Cool Whip

Beat together the pudding and the milk until itÂs fairly thick. Set aside.

Cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Fold in the Cool Whip. Pour into the pudding mixture and stir until combined. Spread over cooled base.

Topping:

Spread remaining Cool Whip on top of the filling. Sprinkle with crushed nuts. Refrigerate until firm.

There's always a flan...or 2. You can make them the day before and then flip them in front of the guests for that OOH! factor.
Have a bowl of sliced and sugared strawberries to serve with the flan.
Don't know about kids and flan....might have some oreos for them.
Linda C

At this time of year nothing is more impressive than a huge bowl or tower of whole washed strawberries ready to dip into sour cram and then brown sugar. You could also have a bowl of chocolate sauce as well. And a plate of cookies or brownies would be a nice addition if you want more.

As much as I love Khandi's dessert (which I call "Better than Robert Redford") I think Granjan's idea of fresh strawberries would be awesome...I think I'd make a bowl creme fraiche or a flavored whipped cream.
What about a few cut up apples on popsicle sticks served with caramel sauce for the kids?
Or make some crepes, apple compote, strawberry compote and let your guests put together their own.

Panna Cotta

"Don't know about kids and flan....might have some oreos for them."

Don't try to keep my kids away from flan. You might get injured.

Strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar for dipping are incredibly good.

Jim

How about a nice big English Trifle.

To put those strawberries over-the-top, how about making a Pavlova or two? This goes very well with fresh berries, it's a light dessert if you think of whipped cream as light, and it is spectacular. I've made it w/o piping the meringue - just draw a circle on parchment and spread the meringue on forming slightly raised edges and a lowered center to contain the cream and fruit.

Pavlova from MaDonna Hartley by way of New Zealand

5 egg whites
2 TB sugar
1/4 t. vanilla
3/4 cup powdered sugar
scant 1/2 cup cornstarch

Filling
1 1/2 c. whipping cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar plus 2 TB
2 cups fresh fruit
1 TB cherry brandy

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Draw a 9-10-inch circle in the center of the paper. Preheat oven to 225F.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Beat in 2 TB sugar and the vanilla. Sprinkle 3/4 c. sugar and the powdered sugar over the egg whites and beat until dissolved. Sift cornstarch over the top and fold in by hand.

Spoon meringue into a pastry bag and pipe onto the drawn circle (or simply spread onto the circle). Using a large #10 tip, pipe a spiral to fill inside of circle. Pipe small balls around the edge to make a raised side. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until firm.

Puree 1 cup of the fruit in a blender or food processor. Pour into a bowl; stir in the 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Whip cream with 2 TB powdered sugar until stiff. Bold in the brandy. Spread the cream in the baked meringue shell. Arrange whole or sliced fruit on top. Spoon the pureed fruit over the whole fruit. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Serves 8-10.

Here's a fruit flan that I've made before. Not hard at all. I used the sponge flan that you buy ready made.

Fruit Flan

1 baked pie or flan shell (9 inch) or ready-made sponge flan
2 cups pastry cream filling (recipe follows)
4 cups strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced (you can use raspberries, blueberries, kiwi or a combination of these fruits)

Glaze:

1 pouch Knox Unflavoured Gelatine
¼ cup cold water
¼ cup boiling water
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. honey

Fill flan shell with pastry cream filling. Arrange strawberries over custard layer and chill.

Prepare glaze: in a small bowl, sprinkle gelatine over cold water; allow to stand until gelatine is softened. Add boiling water; stir constantly until completely dissolved. Stir in juice and honey. Chill, stirring occasionally, until mixture is consistency of unbeaten egg white. Using a pastry brush, brush with warm glaze over strawberries. Chill until set.

Pastry cream filling:

½ c. granulated sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
1 ¾ c. milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla (See Note below)

In a medium saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add milk and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat; add vanilla, and cool.

*Note: Sometimes, I like to add or substitute some lemon extract or orange extract to add a little more flavour to the pastry cream.

Thanks everybody. So far, I'm liking the idea of strawberries, brown sugar, & a bit of balsamic. That's providing I can get good berries. In April...in New England...that's iffy at best. So, I'd better have a back-up Plan B.

/tricia

Here's another strawberry recipe from the Food Network Canada show Ricardo & Friends.

Strawberry and Balsamic Vinegar Sundae

Yield: 6

Strawberry Coulis

3 cups (750 ml) fresh strawberries with the stalks removed and cut in halves
1/3 cup (75 ml) sugar

Balsamic Vinegar Syrup

1/3 cup (75 ml) maple syrup
1/3 cup (75 ml) balsamic vinegar

Whipped Cream

1/2 cup (125 ml) 35% cream
1 tbsp (15 ml) sugar

24 fresh strawberries, sliced
4 cups (1 litre) vanilla ice-cream

Strawberry Coulis

In a pot, mix the strawberries and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring frequently.

Simmer 6 to 8 minutes.

With a blender, bring the strawberries to a smooth purée.

Sift and let stand until lukewarm.

Cover and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours.

Balsamic Vinegar Syrup

In a saucepan, bring the maple syrup and vinegar to a boil.

Cook until a candy thermometer indicates 225 °F (110 °C), about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and pour the syrup into a bowl. Let cool and cover.

Whipped Cream

In a bowl, whip the cream and sugar. Refrigerate.

In a sundae glass, put alternate layers of strawberries, syrup and ice cream.

Finish with a rosette of whipped cream and baste with syrup.

A siphon can be used to garnish the sundae with whipped cream.

Hint: Refrigerate the ice cream for 30 minutes before using.

Tricia, this is what I made for my Mom's Birthday dinner this past Friday, and it's the 3rd time I've made it, because everyone loves it so much. From Epicurious:

mixed berries with mascarpone-limoncello cream
Bon Appétit : July 2005

Limoncello can be found at most supermarkets and at liquor stores.

Makes 8 servings.

Every-Night Cooking

3/4 cup chilled whipping cream
1/2 8-ounce container mascarpone cheese
3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons limoncello (lemon liqueur)
8 cups assorted fresh berries (such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and hulled sliced strawberries; about 2 pounds)
3/4 cup raspberry preserves
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Combine whipping cream, mascarpone, 3 tablespoons sugar, and limoncello in large bowl. Beat until soft peaks form.
Combine all berries, raspberry preserves, lemon peel, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in another large bowl; toss gently. Divide berry mixture among 8 coupes. Top with mascarpone cream.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipe on Epicurious

Yum... that sounds really good!

I just want to note that I have been doubling the amount of the cream, and probably doing about 12 cups of berries, and that's for 7-8 adults and 3-4 kids. There's usually some leftover, but not much. I would recommend perhaps tripling the cream for that many people because it's so good, and doing 16 cups of berries at the minimum. Also, you can cut down the amount of sugar in the berries quite a bit, because they're so naturally sweet.

And Tricia, I'm glad I've inspired someone with my paella, even if my dinner prep was a fiasco! :-) Cioppino sounds delicious. My FIL made a really good one years ago and I should dig out his recipe. I love seafood.

Nancy

Nancy, I would make paella but my pan is only about 20" across & 2" deep. I'm sure it won't hold enough to feed everybody. So, I'm going to use my lobsta pot & make cioppino instead. It's so huge I have to stand on my little 12" step-stool in order to see into the pot. I should be quite a sight stirring...boil, boil, toil, & trouble! :)

Ya know, I'm loving all of these berry recipes. BUT, where the heck are you getting blueberries & such in April? Are you using frozen fruit? Our strawberries don't even come in until about the second week in June. I'd have to use 'foreign' berries of very questionable origin & flavor. What am I missing???

/tricia

Cute image you just gave me :-)

I go to Costco or BJ's to get my berries off-season. I try to buy Driscoll's strawberries since they're organic and they're from California. I just checked in my recycling, and the package of blueberries said they're from Chile, and the blackberries from Mexico.

Nancy

I like the idea of English Trifle too. My favourite Trifle recipe is in the Dessert Chapter I sent you. You can use frozen raspberries if you can't find fresh and if you don't want to make the cake, you could buy one. But the cake is what really makes this trifle and it is a very quick and easy cake to make. The Trifle could be made the day before. It is even better when the cake and custard has time to meld.

Ann

Tricia I make Trifle without fresh fruit. That's the way my English MIL made hers and I believe it is the more traditional way.

She used sliced pound cake for the cake layers, sprinkled with Sherry and slathered with fruit preserves, usually raspberry. She then added a layer of Devon Cream, more cake, more preserves, more Devon Cream and then topped with Whipped cream sprinkled with slivered almonds.

You can leave out the sherry but the English never would! LOL