Recipes

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Unfortunately, I am unable to attribute this recipe. I made a few changes to the original recipe to suit our holiday tastes.

For Christmas: Use raspberry Jello with thawed raspberries; and, lime Jello with thinly sliced canned pears.

For Easter: Use Peach Jello with thinly sliced freestone peaches which have been drained and patted dry; and, lemon Jello with thinly sliced canned pears.

The following is for a Christmas Mount (my basic recipe):

1-10 oz pkg frozen raspberries in syrup

1-3 oz pkg raspberry Jello

1 sm can sliced pears

1-3 oz pkg lime Jello

1/2 c. sugar

1 envelop unflavored Knox gelatin

1/2 c milk

2 eggs, separated

2-8 oz pkgs cream cheese, softened

1-2 tsp finely grated lemon peel

Day ahead: thaw berries in frig. Meanwhile, in a bowl, dissolve lime Jello in 3/4 c boiling water. Pour 1/8" layer into an 8 cup mold; refrigerate until almost set. Refrigerate remaining Jello until it mounds. Slice the pear slices into thin slices. Arrange on the gelatin in the mold in a spiral fashion. Spoon the rest of the lime Jello on top of the pears.

In a 2 qt saucepan, stir sugar and unflavored gelatin. Beat in milk and egg yolks; cook over low heat, stirring until thickened. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl with mixer at low speed, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in gelatin mixture.

In a small bowl with mixer on high, beat egg whites until stiff. Fold whites and lemon peel into cheese mixture; pour over pear layer. Refrigerate til firm.

In a bowl, dissolve the raspbery Jello in 3/4 c boiling water. With a tablespoon held up-side-down over the fluffy cream cheese layer, gently pour the raspberry Jello onto the spoon and let the Jello drizzle onto the cream cheese layer. With your fingers, place thawed raspberries into raspberry Jello. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours (overnight is better).

To serve, unmold onto a platter. Makes 16 dessert or salad servings. 205 calories per serving.

Clearly, this cannot be made in 5 minutes; however, it tastes great, adults and kids alike will enjoy it and you can custom color it to your occasion.

Note regarding the mold used: If the empty mold were placed on a counter, the bottom would be about 5" in diameter (flat). The sides flare up from there to a wide opening at the top. My mold has sides that are fluted, which makes this look even prettier.

Enjoy!