Puddings - 2

As promised, here the next two puddings I indulged in this weekend. This one is Mango Cream. It's absolutely delicious. It's also very simple to make. I really hope you give it a go.

Mango Cream Pudding with Almond Cookies

1 recipe mango cream*
1 box almond flavored cookies (I used ANNA’S Almond Cinnamon Thins)
1 mango, peeled and sliced or chopped into small cubes
½ cup whipped cream or Cool Whip

In individual dishes, layer cookies, fresh mango slices and pudding until you reach the top. For garnish, add a topping of whipped cream or Cool Whip and a mango slice. (I also added a couple of Pocky sticks. Mine were Almond Crush Chocolate Covered Biscuit sticks. They’re quite tasty.


MANGO CREAM

2 cup mango puree
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 cup heavy cream
1 tblsp unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup sugar

How to make mango cream:
Sprinkle the gelatin on 1/3 cup cold water, then dissolve, stirring, over low heat. Cool.
Mix the mango puree, sugar, lime juice and gelatin.
Whip the cream until stiff, then fold lightly but completely into the mango mixture.
Pour into a mold, rinsed out with cold water.
Refrigerate until set.
Unmold and serve plain, or decorated with slices of mango.


This next pudding is a Piña Colada lovers delight. It's coconut pudding layered with fresh pineapple.


Piña Colada Pudding

1 (3.4 ounce) box Jell-O Coconut Cream instant pudding and pie filling
1 ¾ cups cold milk
¼ cup light rum (or 2 cups cold milk and ¼ teaspoon rum flavoring)
1/2 cup shredded coconut, lightly toasted
1 small pineapple, peeled and sliced thinly (or use 1 eight ounce can of sliced pineapple)
small shortbread cookies (I used Keebler Sandies Shortbread: 100 calorie Right Bites)
½ cup whipped cream or Cool Whip
Pineapple wedges and maraschino cherries for garnish, optional

Whisk Jell-O pudding and milk/rum combination for 2 minutes. Allow to set for 5 minutes. Fold in ½ cup Cool Whip or whipped cream. Chill while preparing remaining ingredients.

Peel pineapple and slice thinly. Layer cookies, pineapple and pudding. Top with whipped cream or cool whip. Garnish with pineapple wedge and cherry if you want to. Give it a dusting of the toasted coconut too.

Mango-Walnut Cake

I woke up this morning with my mother on my mind. I don’t know if I was dreaming of her or what, but I do know I had this overwhelming feeling of her presence. This really isn’t unusual, I talk to my mother everyday even though she’s been gone for 11 years.

She was my inspiration in wanting to learn how to cook. Well, she and my grandmother. Both were excellent cooks. They never wrote anything down so if you wanted to learn, you paid attention.

My mom worked as a head cook in the El Paso Public School system for 25 years. If she didn’t know it, she improvised and people always came back for more. This was the cake I baked for her on her last Mother’s Day with us. I hope you enjoy it.

Actually, I made something similar for my daughter once, but I made it with strawberry Fanta soda and chopped strawberries.

Mango-Walnut Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 small box vanilla instant pudding
1 16-ounce container of sour cream
4 eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup mango nectar
1 cup chopped fresh mango pieces
1 cup walnut pieces plus whole walnut (or pecan) pieces for decoration

Preheat oven to 350°.
Grease and flour bundt cake pan. Mix all ingredients except chopped mango pieces and walnut pieces until well blended and smooth. Fold-in mango and walnut pieces. Pour into prepared pan and bake in for 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto a cake plate and allow to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8-ounce package cream cheese (room temp)
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter (room temp)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, blend cream cheese and butter with mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time, until all sugar is thoroughly incorporated. Add vanilla and increase speed on mixer to medium and mix until frosting is fluffy. If frosting mix is too thick, add a teaspoon of mango nectar to thin it out.

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 cup of the cream cheese frosting over low flame until semi-melted and can be poured easily. Pour over bundt cake to cover. With remaining frosting, decorate around bottom edge of cake. Place mango slices and whole walnuts around cake to decorate.

(c)2008
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Mexican Word of the Day: WAFER
I wanted to go to the movies with my friends, pero los
mensos didn’t “WAFER” me.