Saturday, May 25, 2019

PISTACHIO DREAM DESSERT

This past Christmas, my mom was trying to decide which dessert to have with dinner.  She wanted something quick and without chocolate.  (My SIL still does not like chocolate!  I keep thinking this will change some day because it is so insane, but so far, no.)  My mom asked me for my thoughts.  For non-chocolate, she tends to gravitate toward the Maple Glazed Brown Sugar Cake because it is so delicious, and because everybody loves it.  While I do love that cake, we needed to get out of that dessert rut, so I told her we should do something different.  And the rest of the conversation went something like this:

Pistachio Dream Dessert?  It did sound dreamy, but I honestly had no clue what she was talking about!  After all these years, was there really a dessert that my grandma used to make that I absolutely did not recognize?  How was this possible?  Dessert is kiiiind of my thing.  It had to be a mistake, right?  How could I not know of this Dream Dessert?  Was I living in some kind of alternate universe?  Was my mind that fried from grad school?

So, we did have the Pistachio Dream Dessert, and once I took my first bite, I remembered it very well.  Cool and creamy deliciousness!  The funny thing is that I remembered it very well with pistachio pudding, but not so much with lemon as apparently my grandma often made it.  Not sure why, but there it was anyway.  A simple, but delightful pecan crust covered in layers of smooth sweetness!  A very unassuming dessert, but one for which you can’t help but go back for seconds!

While I’ve always loved pistachio pudding, and it’s definitely the star of this dessert, I think my favorite layer of this dessert is the cream cheese layer.  It’s the underrated co-star!  If you are able to make this dessert and not sample that cream cheese mixture several times, you have more self-control than I, my friend.  I must admit that I ate a couple spoonsful of it.  Not ashamed about it, either.

So, there you have it. My grandma’s famous Pistachio Dream Dessert. . .even if I didn’t really remember it.  I certainly will never again forget it, and neither will you once you’ve tried it!



Ingredients
Crust

  • ½ cup margarine 1 stick, softened
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup chopped pecans
  • Bottom Layer
  • 8 ounces cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 8- ounce Cool Whip thawed
  • Middle Layer
  • 2 packages instant pistachio pudding 3.4 oz.
  • 2 ½ cups milk
  • Top Layer
  • 1 8- ounce Cool Whip thawed
  • 1/3 cup chopped pistachios

Instructions
Crust

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, stir together all of the crust ingredients until a smooth dough forms. Spread into the bottom of a 9 x 13 glass baking dish using your fingers.
  3. ........................................

for full instruction please see : www.worthwhisking.com