Cool It

I made sure to do an hour of cardio before going to brunch at Cafe Luxembourg yesterday because I planned on ordering the burger. That was until I heard that the special of the day was a grilled prosciutto, gruyere, and caramelized onion sandwich extravaganza. With fries. Um. Yes, please. I will have to try to recreate it at home one of these days. Without fries.

In the meantime it was too hot and muggy to make much of anything else later in the day (and I was still pretty full anyway) but for some reason I decided that I needed to make a childhood dessert fave. Because that's healthy. And no-bake, so perfect for summer.

This is the kind of assembled dessert that I grew up on. I've never liked pudding, but somehow the lady fingers and Cool Hwip (the original recipe calls for store bought whipped topping) make it ok. And that fluorescent green color that comes to life when you add the milk to the powdered pudding mixture? How could you not love it? The original recipe is double the size of the recipe below, so fits in a standard 9 x 13-inch pan (in case you decide to make a double batch for a late night snack), but I found it extremely difficult to find enough of both the lady fingers and the pistachio flavored pudding in NYC (and I don't really need to eat an entire ginormous dessert) so I cut the recipe in half.

You could make this with any flavor of pudding, and actually make it from scratch, but that would sort of miss the point, wouldn't it? If you want something a little more gourmet, make tiramisu. Otherwise go for the green. And Cool Hwip.



Pistachio Delight

1 (3.4 ounce) package pistachio flavored instant pudding
1 1/2 cups cold milk
8 ounces heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 (3 ounce) package lady fingers
1/4 cup chopped pistachios

1. Prepare the pudding in a large bowl according to the package directions, except using only 1 1/2 cups of milk. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer (or whisk) whip the heavy cream and sugar on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Add half of the whipped cream to the pudding and stir to combine.

3. Split the lady fingers and layer half in the bottom of a small casserole dish (approximately 7 x 10.5"). Cover with half of the pudding mixture. Repeat with the remaining lady fingers and pudding mixture. Top with the remaining whipped cream and garnish with the pistachios. Make at least two hours before serving. Serves 6.