Oh, LJ-Land!

[ellenmillion]

I need to make a dessert for a modest evening affair. I'd like it to be something I can make ahead of time, but some assembly or baking on site would be fine. It needs to serve 5-6 people and contain no hot fruit. I find that last a particularly challenging criteria and I think it eliminates pretty much all of my standby recipes.

So!

What are your favorite desserts to make and/or eat, that don't take too much in the way of Mad Cooking Skillz or time, and that are yummy? Healthiness is totally optional - I think a dessert that doesn't use a whole stick of butter is generally not worth having, but I'm willing to be swayed by something delicious.



Bonus points for ubergeek themes, as this is for watching the last three episodes of Battlestar Galactica.

Comments

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

Blue jello in martini glasses! With grapes on toothpicks! Um ... ok, silly. Yes.

My favorite cake of all time is the butter pecan cake mix that these days I can only find at Walmart, baked in a bundt pan, frosted with canned cream cheese frosting after totally cooled. It looks pretty fancy, tastes so good, but is super easy.

My mother-in-law has a killer strawberry pie recipe that doesn't involve cooking the strawberries. It's crazy good. However, it is best with fresh strawberries which can be spendy (or impossible) this time of year. It's possible to use frozen, but not as good, and the thawing might be an issue. Hmm. Interested?

Then there's always fruit pizza .... MMMMM.

Homemade tapioca pudding!

Ooooo.... *bread pudding*. Drool. OK, must have bread pudding. NOW.

[nixjim13.livejournal.com]

you could be really boring and do something like fudge brownies or self saucing pudding (butterscotch or chocolate :) ) and ice cream. Are you seeing a theme here with the chocolate?

[laken-steeljaw.livejournal.com]

Look up Compote. It's a fruit salad that we always had growing up. Nothing is cooked in it (though you soak things with sugar for a bit, I think) and it was always a favorite. :>

[mersades.livejournal.com]

I could give you a REALLY YUMMY pineapple upside down cake recipe, if that isn't void by the 'no hot fruit' criteria. I usually let it cool before I serve, but you'll have to make the call on if it's a contender or not. :)

[renatus.livejournal.com]

Cupcakes? One takes a basic cake recipe and bakes it in muffin tins. It's not so much the recipe that matters, but the mixing method, which I could walk you through. Hm... I found a recipe for non-corn-syrup pecan pie that's awesome if nuts are your thing. I also have one for properly chewy, fudgey brownies that are so good a pan full never lasts through an evening. Sour cream coffee cake with chocolate chips in is heavenly.

None of these actually take very long--not much longer than those mixes that claim to be time-saving--and taste MUCH better. Really, if it's a baked yummy and not too far over to the side of pastry, I can probably hook you up with a recipe + method that'll get you something delicious. :) Just let me know.

[curvature.livejournal.com]

I have an excellent tiramisu recipe, also a very good chocolate cake one

My cheesecake is pretty awesome too

Pudding pies

[dollraves.livejournal.com]

If you want super easy and to make everyone feel five years old, make pudding pies.

Take a box of Jell-O pudding. Gradually add 1-2 cups yogurt (until you get the right consistency) while whisking like mad. Pour into pre-made mini graham cracker pie shells. You can either refrigerate them a few hours to set them, or bake them at 300 for half an hour. If you're feeling particularly silly, you could even bake them in an EZ Bake oven. :D

You can also use regular Jell-O like this, dissolve it in a quarter cup of hot water first. This is awesome because you can get some absurdly colored pies. Use the 9" Oreo pie shells for this one and bake for 30 minutes, then refrigerate a few hours to set.

Re: Pudding pies

[millennialhippy.livejournal.com]

I'm with the pudding pies. Peanut Butter pudding pie is the best (made with a layer of chocolate pudding and then a layer of peanutbutter + cream cheese + sugar whipped topping)

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Hmmm easy and fast... *thinks*

Home made icecream (extremely easy to make if you happen to have an ice-cream machine, otherwise it's a stirring pain)

Chopped up fruit with vanilla custard or vanilla cream (You can probably buy the custard or cream in which case all you need to do is to chop up the fruit)

Straight from the oven chocolate muffins with ice-cream.

And my favourite to do with many guests and a sure hit every time: carrot cake with walnuts and mascarpone icing.

(I have recipes if you want)

[hailerro.livejournal.com]

What is mascarpone?

[minor-architect.livejournal.com]

It's an Italian soft cheese, with much the same consistency as ricotta. It's often sweetened to make fillings and icings for pastries and cakes. :)

[frigg.livejournal.com]

It's a soft Italian, thick, creamy cheese. If you mix it with icing sugar and a few drops of lemon juice, you get a really tasty icing. It's also used for tiramisu desserts.

If you can't get hold of mascarpone, you can make the icing from the plain/neutral philadelphia cheese, but it won't be quite as good as the mascarpone icing.

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Whoops too late with the answer. Got to learn not to use the direct links. :)

[minor-architect.livejournal.com]

How about a nice fruit trifle? The fruit in these is served cold or at room temp, usually layered with pudding or whipped cream. Sometimes crushed cookies go on top, or chopped nuts, whatever you want! There are a lot of yummy trifle recipes on the Food Network site. :)

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yes! This was what immediately jumps to mind when I think "fast easy dessert" -- these were always a big hit when my mom would make them. She'd usually layer instant chocolate pudding, whipped cream, canned cherry pie filling and crushed graham crackers in clear glass bowls -- very quick and easily adjustable to any number of kids guests!

Lately I've fallen in love with a slightly less decadent version of this: you can use any kind of fruit, but I like it best with cut-up strawberries and canned pineapple, layered with granola and yogurt (sweetened & flavored works best; I like Yoplait). It's so tasty that it's hard to believe it's mostly healthy.

(Obviously if any kind of fruit is out, these won't work, though.)

[dulcinbradbury.livejournal.com]

Chocolate torte can be made ahead.

I particularly like it with a raspberry sauce.

[astein142.livejournal.com]

Curried fruit salad: combine 1/2 cup marmalade, curry powder to taste, and sugar to taste, with various fruits: pineapple tidbits, mandarin orange slices (or bite-size chuncks of fresh orange), golden raisins, banana slices, bite-sized apple chunks, and any other fruit that strikes your fancy. Let marinate for a couple of hours. Serve cold. If you feel the need to dress it up, serve over shortbread and/or with whipped cream.

[hailerro.livejournal.com]

A BSG party? You totally rock!
I'd make cake batter cookies. Basically you use cake mix and an egg and some butter and bake it the way you would normal cookies. They're soft and chewy and taste like whatever cake mix you use *ie. devils food, lemon, whatever* *You may want to google it to make sure the recipe is right since I'm going in details my friend gave me* *I hath eaten the cookies but can't remember the exact amount of egg used when I last tried to make them*
Or you could make 'poke cake' Basically you bake a cake and then poke holes in the top of it when you pull it from the oven. Then you pour stuff in the holes. You can use chocolate syrup or soda *we had one with dr pepper once and it was tasty* The cake absorbs most of the liquid in the bottom and it is a neat twist on a simple thing.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

I have the Star Trek cookbook at home! If this can wait till Sunday, I can give you all sorts of geeky recipes!

[metasilk.livejournal.com]

Cool apple pie with room temperature cheddar cheese.
Pumpkin pie.
(pie is gooooood)(I guess Lemon meringue is out).

Standby: Brownies a la mode. Chocolate chip cookies. Etc.

I have no ubergeek themes... ooh! This isn't doable, probably but ruthling's cakes:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rda/tags/octopus/

[hailerro.livejournal.com]

OMGosh. Teh Cute. *dies*
How does she make the shape of the octopus?

[metasilk.livejournal.com]

She's got an octopus-shaped cake pan! She's awesome (in many ways, not just her cakes).

ETA: Bet you can find the pan online!

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

These cinnamon cookies are ridiculously easy and fast. I heart them. Mmm, cinnamon.

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Oo! Oo! I'll put little red-hot cylon eyes on top! By your command!

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

What about fresh, hot chocolate-chip cookies? Everyone likes cookies. :D You could mix the dough ahead of time and then pop it in the oven shortly before you'd be wanting to eat.

[pixiewildflower.livejournal.com]

**hugs**

[meggybee.livejournal.com]

Cheesecake! Super easy and very yum

[meggybee.livejournal.com]

Der I should add, its just philly cream cheese, lemon juice, sugar and cookie crumbs for the base

[coldtortuga.livejournal.com]

http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/?s=chocolate

[shellstar-art.livejournal.com]

I made this the other day, and the uncooked mix alone sent me to culinary orgasm heaven...

Orange Cake (or muffins or cup-cakes, depending on what you bake it in)

2 oranges
6 eggs
1 cup castor sugar
2 cups almond meal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cardamon

• boil oranges whole for 1 hr then leave to cool (during which much tv watching can be done)


• cut in half, remove pips, then cut in quarters


• place in blender or food processor, blend til smooth


• put in bowl, add castor sugar and eggs, mix


• add almond meal, baking powder and cardamon, mix well


• place mix in cake tin/muffin tin/mini muffin tin/patty cases, bake 20-30 min (longer for cake tin)

serve with ice cream, and a dash of Grand Mariner or Cointreau if desired :)