Need a dessert for about 20 people

J

jdbee

Active member
I am looking for a great dessert to end a dinner, for aobut 20 people.. Any suggestions?

janei

 
no idea..

Someone else is provding.. Just need a good dessert to finish..
I have no clue, unless i do a "forgotten bread pudding..or date bars
I've thought about a trifle, but not sure.
hard to figure when you ahve no clue as to main course.
janei

 
I'm assuming you are transporting this dessert, so you can't have anything with ice cream in it?

 
How about a tiramissso, usually a winner, or upside down pineapple cakes, easy to transport...

or a lushious apple pie cake. It's made with a sponge base and cooked apple slices on top, baked and then a syrup of cream and sugar is poured over the warm cake, serve with fresh, unsweetned cream.

 
some of my tried and true favorites...

Strawberry Angel Dessert

1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup cold water
1/2 cup sugar
10-oz. box frozen, sliced strawberries, thawed
8 oz. container Cool Whip
5 cups angel food cake, cut in cubes (this is about 2/3rd of the cake)

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in saucepan. Let set 5 minutes then turn heat to low and stir just until dissolved. Remove from stove and stir in sugar until dissolved. Stir in strawberries. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until partially thickened. Fold in Cool Whip. Put cake cubes in a large bowl and pour the wet mixture over it. Fold carefully and pour into a 9” square dish.
Cut in squares to serve.


Baklava

**Remove package of phyllo from fridge so as to bring to room temperature, then make syrup:

Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 cinnamon sticks
2 whole cloves (NOT ground - whole!)
1-1/2 tbl. lemon juice
1 cup honey (12 oz jar)

Mix together first 4 ingredients in saucepan, bring to low boil and boil gently 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add honey, then let cool completely. Once cool, strain out cloves and cinnamon sticks.

2-1/2 cups (10 oz bag) walnuts, finely chopped
1 tsp. cinnamon (original recipe also calls for 1/4 tsp. ground cloves, but I leave this out)
1 cup sugar
3 sticks butter, melted
1 lb. package phyllo, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
1. Put walnuts, spice and sugar in bowl and toss together with hands. Set aside.
2. Brush some of the melted butter over sides, corners and bottom of large rectangular pan (15x10x2 or 20x14x2).
3. Unroll the phyllo and cover with damp cloth to keep from drying out.
Lay 1 sheet in bottom of pan and brush with melted butter. Do this until you have 10 sheets and this will form the bottom crust.
4. Sprinkle the tenth sheet lightly with some of the nut mixture and place a phyllo sheet on top. Butter lightly and lay another sheet on top.
5. Repeat sprinkling nut mixture, then topping with 2 buttered phyllo sheets, until nut mixture is used up, reserving about 8-10 phyllo sheets for top crust.
6. Using the reserved phyllo sheets, lay them on top one at a time, buttering each one as you go. When you’re done, roll down any edges and tuck them inside the pan.
7. Brush top of baklava liberally with warm melted butter (melt more if you need it), then sprinkle about 10 drops of cold water on top (I wet my hands then shake them over the baklava). The water keeps it from curling during baking.
8. Using a sharp pointed knife, cut about 1/4 of the way through phyllo (see pattern below).
9. Bake 1-1/2 hours, or until golden brown.
10. Remove baklava from oven and immediately pour half the cooled syrup all over it. Wait 20 minutes then slowly dribble rest over it.
11. Let pastry rest at least 4 hours, or overnight. Cut all the way through the pieces before serving. DO NOT refrigerate - this only makes it soggy.
Trifle
this recipe from Aunt Patty

There are as many different trifles as there are people who make them. Once you make this, you will see there are endless varieties possible, so don’t be afraid to experiment. The basics are cake, custard, liqueur and fruit.

Line the bottom of a large dish with ladyfingers or poundcake (a tall straight-sided dish is best). If you use ladyfingers, it looks nice to stand them up all around the inside of the bowl before filling.
Then sprinkle the cake with anywhere between 2 tbl. to 1/2 cup sherry or rum.
Next, spread the cake with jam or sweetened fruit or a mixture of each. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of toasted slivered almonds on this. Next, top with several cups of Rich Custard. Top it all off with lightly sweetened whipped cream and another sprinkling of almonds.
NOTE: it also looks pretty to make individual trifles in wine glasses.

Rich Custard

4 large eggs
6 tbl. sugar
2 tbl. cornstarch
2 cups whole milk
2 tsp. vanilla

In medium bowl, lightly beat eggs and set aside. In a heavy saucepan with wire whisk or wooden spoon, stir sugar and cornstarch until well mixed. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Bring to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. While stirring constantly, slowly pour about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the beaten eggs; pour egg mixture back into saucepan. Over low heat, cook stirring constantly 1 to 2 minutes - do not allow custard to boil. Immediately pour custard through a strainer into a medium bowl. Set the bowl inside a larger bowl of ice water. Add vanilla to custard and stir occasionally until cooled.
Pink Arctic Freeze

6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 can (16 oz) cranberry sauce -- whole or jellied
7 to 9 oz. can crushed pineapple -- drained
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup nuts, chopped
1 cup whipping cream -- whipped

Put cream cheese in a mixer bowl and blend together add cranberry sauce, pineapple, sugar, mayonnaise and nuts. Fold in whipped cream and freeze in an 8x8” baking dish or spoon into cupcake papers for individual servings.

Note: if you do these in cupcake papers for individual servings, it looks pretty to lightly press a drained maraschino cherry or strawberry on top before chilling.

 
Here's another - Brownie Trifle

This is good and easy.

Brownie Trifle

1 (19.8 ounce) package fudge brownie mix (or from scratch brownies that yield a 13x9 pan’s worth)
½ cup Kahlua
3 (3.9 ounce) packages chocolate instant pudding mix
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed ( I use sweetened whipped cream)
6 (1.4 ounce) Heath bars crushed

Prepare and bake brownie mix according to package directions in a 13 x 9 pan. Prick top of warm brownies at 1 inch intervals with a tooth pick, and brush Kahlua over top. Cool brownies and crumble into small pieces.

Prepare 3 packages pudding mix according to package directions, using a total of 4 cups milk instead of 6 cups, and omitting chilling procedure.

Place 1/3 of crumbled brownies in a 3 quart trifle, top with 1/3 each of pudding, whipped topping, and crushed heath bars.

Repeat layers twice using remaining ingredients, ending with crushed candy bars. Cover and chill trifle at least 8 hours.

Makes 16 servings. You can make ahead and chill up to 24 hours.

Recipe from Southern Living

 
Sorry the link won't work ... do a search above for the original post search for "Angel Cream Melba"

 
Have you any tips on sub'ing real whipped cream for Cool Whip?

There are so many great sounding recipes that require Cool Whip, but I just can't bring myself to use the stuff.

 
Susan, I whip 2 cups of heavy cream 1/8 tsp salt 1/4 cup confectioners sugar till stiff peaks form

I sometimes add 1 tsp. vanilla. I use this in any recipe calling for cool whip. I just add it till I think I have enough.

 
Susan the only time I've used heavy cream in a freezer recipe was for CathyZ's Strawberry Cassata.

The whipped cream was fine for the 6 hours it called for. I did notice that the left over piece the next day had a bit of an icey taste.

 
Thanks Gail, I just can't bring myself to serve "an edible oil product" but

I love the sound of some of the Cool Whip recipes.

 
I'm with you there! I usually just sub equal amounts of whipped cream smileys/smile.gif

That said, Cool Whip is usually quite adequate when used with other ingredients, like in the no-bake pies.

 
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