Dessert in 5 minutes or less!

Another favorite from a Rachael show- I am tired of trying to find quick desserts. Again, while watching one of her shows, I noticed how quickly Rachael was able to pull this off!
Three simple ingredients:
Store bought dessert cake shell
vanilla or lemon instant pudding
Fresh strawberries
You can see just from the pictures how easy it is to assemble this~
Make the instant pudding according to the directions n the box. Place dessert cake shell in serving dish and spoon some of the pudding inside. Top with sliced strawberries and top with more pudding. You can add a garnish of a mint leaf or whipped cream. Voila!

Butterscotch Apple Pie Squares

On a search for something different, I came across this recipe on Mixing Bowl.com: Butterscotch Apple Squares



It looked similar to making that old bar called Hello Dollies, or 7 layer bar. This recipe also has 7 layers. With the Hello Dollies you don't have to press down on the layers as this recipe calls for that.
But it didn't help. The finished product looks good but try cutting into it! It really fell apart. I was going to put these on my menu for the week but not now. I did practice ( obviously) and took them to my friend Judy's house last night. To make them look presentable, fortunately I have these little 2" plates and mini forks left over from an event I did years ago.


I'm glad I never got rid of them. So, today I snapped a picture of one of these squares. Oh, I thought maybe these bars need to 'rest' overnight. Maybe they will firm up in the fridge. It didn't help. You can see how 'loose' they look.





I kept thinking, maybe I didn't press down hard enough on the layers but I thought I was as the milk starting oozing out of the sides in some places and almost over the edges of the plate.





Not all recipes turn out great. I'm sure someone out there can figure out how to make these turn out perfectly square. Here is the recipe:
1/4 c butter
1 1/2 c graham crackers
1 1/4 apples
6 oz. butterscotch chips
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 c flaked coconut
1 c chopped nuts
Directions:
In a 9x13 baking pan, melt butter in a 350 degree oven. Sprinkle crumbs over butter; top with apples. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt chips with the milk. Pour butterscotch mixture evenly over apples; top with coconut and nuts; press down firmly all over. Bake 25-30 minutes until lightly browned. ( I had to bake mine for 40 min.) Cool. Cut into squares. Store covered in refrigerator.

Imperial Hotel Sweet Cheese Dumplings

From my "Have to Try" file, I finally decided to try these dumplings last night. I'm partial to the Imperial Hotel in Vienna, Austria and after last night, with what I learned about making these, I really need to perfect them.
Source: Chef Stefan Hierzer
serves 4
Strawberry Puree
1 c fresh strawberries, hulled
1/4 c confectioners sugar

Coating
2 T unsalted butter
1 c dried breadcrumbs
1/4 c granulated sugar

Dumplings
2 c fresh bread crumbs
1 1/4 c Farmer's cheese ( may substitute ricotta; big pointer to be read at end of recipe!)
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 vanilla bean
1 egg
pinch of salt
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 c rum
Garnish
2 oz bittersweet chocolate
12 - 16 blueberries
4 strawberries, halved
4 mint leaves
confectioner's sugar for dusting

Make puree: Combine strawberries and confectioners sugar in a food processor and puree. Then push mixture through a sieve and set aside.
Make coating: Milt butter in medium saute pan and stir in breadcrumbs and sugar. Saute until golden and crispy. Set aside in a bowl/plate.
Dumplings: In a large bowl, mix the bread cubes, cheese and zests. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the tiny seeds into the mixture discard the pod ( or put pod in granulated sugar to make vanilla sugar). With a wooden spoon, stir in the egg, salt and sugar. Let rest for 5 minutes.
Bring large pot of water to boil and add 1/2 c rum. Form the dumplings into 2 inch balls and drop into boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. REmove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
* I used ricotta since I have so much ricotta here. But you really have to get the moisture out of the ricotta. Otherwise you'll get this:
To serve: Melt chocolate and either use a pastry bag or a small plastic bag and snip a tiny hole in one corner. Pipe a design on each dessert plate. Fill the design with the strawberry puree. Roll the dumplings in the coating mixture and place two or three dumplings on each plate. Garnish each plate with a few blueberries and split strawberry and a few raspberries and top with a mint leaf. Sprinkle dumplings with confectioners sugar. You'll see that I skipped a few garnishing steps!