Month-of-Mini-Desserts: Lemon Chiffon

Welcome back. I hope while you’re here you’ll go rummaging around in my past posts for recipes. I’ve been doing this Month-of-Recipes gig for a few years now. In 2012, I did a month of soup recipes; 2013, a month of chicken; and, in 2014 I posted recipes for appetizers. So go looking. I’ll bet you find some new and interesting recipes to try out.

How do I decide what my month-of-recipes will be? Each year my readers here, on Facebook, and Twitter cast a vote for the category I will post recipes for. It was a squeaker this year, but mini-desserts finally won the day.

Today’s recipe is in the extra-easy category like yesterday’s. The hardest part is waiting two hours to eat it! I’ve included a picture, but I am NOT a food photographer! (I didn’t really have to tell you that, did I?)

This time of year with my lemon tree laden, I look for ways to use them up. I found a package of lemon pudding in my pantry, and voila! A dessert was born!

Lemon Chiffon (four servings in half pint canning jars; or 8+ shot glasses)

1 ounce package lemon instant pudding

1½ cups milk

4 ounces Cool Whip (or homemade whipped cream, extra stiff)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

zest of one lemon

graham cracker crumbs

Whisk together the pudding and milk. When smooth, add whipped cream, lemon juice, and zest. Mix thoroughly. Let sit while you prepare the canning jars.

Put a heaping tablespoon of graham cracker crumbs into bottom of each half pint canning jar. Add two heaping tablespoons of lemon mixture spreading to cover crumbs.

Layer on two tablespoons graham cracker crumbs, spreading to cover lemon mixture. Divide remaining lemon mixture among the four jars. Top with a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs.

Cover with canning lid and ring and refrigerate for at least two hours to allow the lemon mixture to soften the crumbs. Serve in the jar for a rustic look.

NOTE: You can make this into a mini-dessert by dividing the crumbs and lemon mixture among liqueur or shot glasses.

Oops! I forgot my rating system yesterday. I use DH as my tester. Lucky guy, eh?

Tongues Up:

Yesterday’s Hot Chocolate Nuts and today’s Lemon Chiffon each got 5 Tongues Up! He’d give the Hot Chocolate Nuts more tongues if I let him because the man loves chocolate more than any other man I’ve met!

Month-of-MiniDesserts: Hot Chocolate Nuts

You won! Well, everybody who voted for mini-desserts for February’s Month-of-Recipes won. And I like to think that even if you didn’t, you still win because some great stuff is coming your way.

Interestingly, on my search for some new recipes for this month, I realized that a search for “mini-desserts” turned up two kinds of recipes: single serving and actual tiny desserts that are smaller than a usual serving. So, I am going to do both.

Also, cookies by definition are mini-desserts. Each cookies is a tiny serving. Now if you eat a dozen, I can’t help that! By the same token, cookie bars/brownies in a pan also can be mini-desserts. But you already do those. You came here for something a bit different. And, boy, do I have some that are a bit different for you this month!

I hope you have those cute shot glasses with tiny spoons and mini-muffin pans and half pint canning jars. We’ll be using those a lot!

So let’s start with something easy for a Super Bowl Sunday treat. You probably already have the ingredients, so if you need to throw something quick together for the party this evening, here you go!

I adapted a recipe from Good Housekeeping for their 2-ingredient chocolate almond clusters. We all know that dark chocolate and almonds are both on the good-for-you list, so these are practically a health food! And when I changed up the nut combo and added the red pepper flakes, well, almost a health food.

Hot Chocolate Nuts (makes 48)

8 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate, rough chopped

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ cup roasted almonds

½ cup pecans, rough chopped

½ cup walnuts, rough chopped

NOTE: You can use any nut combo you want adding up to 1 1/2 cups.

 

Arrange 40 mini-muffin/candy paper or foil cups in mini-muffin pans (to keep from spreading) or on a large cookie sheet. Alternatively, cover the cookie sheet with parchment paper and use that for each nut cluster.

In a glass bowl, microwave half of the chocolate for about 20 seconds. Stir and heat again until all the chocolate has just melted. This will likely take up to a minute and a half. But monitor it by using 20 second intervals. You don’t want the chocolate to seize up.

After the first half of the chocolate has melted, add the remainder and stir until all the chocolate is melted. Add the red pepper flakes.

Cool chocolate for about 3 minutes and then blend in the nuts thoroughly.

Working fast, drop teaspoonfuls into your mini-muffin/candy cups or on the parchment paper.

Cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or more until set up. These keep refrigerated in a covered container for about a month.