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| Our family, 1983, at the "old house" |
Here’s
a story appropriate for an election year that comes out of “grandma’s day.” You
can pick the “grandma” -- me or my mother.
It
was the early 1980s. My parents came to visit one Sunday and stayed for dinner.
Mother brought “Republican dessert,” a layered concoction of shortbread, cream
cheese filling, and chocolate pudding. Somehow it reminded me of a recipe I had on file.
For
some reason, my folks were with us again the next Sunday, and this time I made
dessert. Since we had enjoyed Mother’s pudding-based dessert, I thought it
would be fun to make mine for comparison.
After taking the first bite, Mother slowly said, “This-is-the-same-dessert-I-made-last-week,” carefully measuring her words. Perhaps she was undecided if
she should say anything at all.
And
so, as we compared the two desserts, we realized I had the same recipe under a
different name. Mine probably came from a magazine ad for Jello pudding.
I
no longer have my recipe, but I found Mother’s in my box. Hers came from “The
Gazette,” the Washington Water Power (WWP) bulletin that was enclosed with our monthly statement. The little flier
went away in 1988, I believe, but back in the day I looked forward to it. In
researching online, I discovered that Avista, as WWP is presently called,
proposes to post some of those recipes on their Facebook page. I left a comment encouraging them to do so, and they responded that they would.
For
the fun of it, I googled “Republican Dessert” and discovered several listings for this recipe and variations. Before I gave up, I also found it as “4-layer Cream Cheese
Pudding Dessert” and “Chocolate Pudding Dessert.” So – it’s still out there,
rich and delicious. Apparently it’s called “Republican Dessert” because it’s so
rich.
REPUBLICAN
DESSERT
½
c butter or margarine
1
c flour
2
T sugar
½
c chopped nuts
Combine
and mix as for pastry. Press into 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 until light
brown – 15 to 20 minutes. Cool.
1
8-oz. package cream cheese
1
c sifted powdered sugar
1
8-oz. container non-dairy whipped topping
Mix
powdered sugar and cream cheese; fold in half the topping. Spread on cooled
crust.
2
pkgs. (4 serving size) instant chocolate pudding and pie filling
2
½ c milk
Toasted
coconut
Beat
pudding mix with milk per package directions until thickened. Spread on top of
cheese layer. Top with remainder of whipped topping.
Sprinkle
with toasted coconut.
Note:
Best if made the day before.
[The trouble with posts like this is that they're hard to illustrate, especially if one doesn't want to make the large rich dessert in her cluttered kitchen. The picture above was taken with a timer in the dining room at the old house on Valentine's Day.] KW
Those are some pretty cute kids you've got there! I think I've made that dessert, too, but it was just called chocolate ... something, like chocolate layered dessert. I've also made it with vanilla pudding. Equally yummy. One of the gals at school used to make the vanilla version and called it Moon Cake. Now I'm hungry...
ReplyDeleteThe kids were one, three, and five when that picture was taken.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet I haven't made that dessert since that day in the '80s. The kids tended to like specific desserts and ignore others. And now that it's the two of us, we don't need a huge dessert to eat by ourselves. Jello and Pudding desserts don't keep well either.
Then you need to make an Instant Pot cheesecake! Delicious and small enough not to create total havoc with the waistline. The one I use is easy--let me know if you want the recipe.
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of things I need to make in my Instant Pot. I seem to be afraid of it. It's become the buffalo of the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteOh no!! It's so easy! Do we need an intervention??
ReplyDeleteIt all happened when I made rice pudding and left the thingy on top open. I had milk all over the kitchen. Frankly, I just think I'm in a rut. I'll step up to it . . . soon.
ReplyDelete