Desserts: Raspberry Jello Salad with Sour Cream and Cream Cheese Topping

Desserts are one of man's greatest inventions. Really, it is. Imagine, the end result has no semblance whatsoever with the beginnings. Flour, powdered jelly, eggs, sugar -- these and other ingredients don't look at all like the tiramisu cake, or the baklava, or the sans rival cake that you get at the end. It's almost, ALMOST, like a creation in a miniature. Except of course, it's not making something out of nothing. But it does make something very different from other things. That's why some people who love baking call their end product MY CREATION, because the process of, and the end product of, baking really makes one feel like a creator (of sorts).

Eating bought desserts, specially if it's what one really, really loves and craves for, is heaven. But there is nothing more fulfilling, more satisfying, for one who loves to eat than to be able to make the food of one's affection. A person who loves to eat should, by logical extension, also love to cook and bake.

If I have a lot of money and time in my hands, I will cook and bake as much as I can. But both time and money are meager, and so I have to carefully choose that which I have taken upon myself to make. Essentially, one cannot try cooking or baking something which one has not even tasted yet. Pictures in cookbooks are appealing to the eyes, but food is a gustatory delight, and so one must have tasted something first before even attempting to make it.

And so, I searched for the dessert that I wanted to try making. I have not made much desserts lately, maybe because it is more important to cook the main meal as that gives my family, and myself, the necessary energy for our daily activities. Also, for some reason, I have not had much dessert that appealed to me. Most of the desserts are just too sweet, which I am not very fond of. Then, last Christmas eve, my family and I went to my aunt's house. Christmas eve dinner is always a feast wherever you go, but for us Filipinos, Christmas eve dinner, or any family gathering for that matter, means only one thing -- GOOD FOOD. People sometimes go to parties for the beer, or other alcoholic drinks, or they go for the fun, or they go for the dance (if it's a dance party, obviously), but when Filipinos go to a party by other Filipinos, they know it's going to be about food.

Anyways, going back to the Christmas eve dinner -- the food was, as expected, good. You have the regular Filipino dishes and desserts. And then, there it was, a dessert that I have never tasted before. It didn't really have a name, so I'm guessing the person who brought the dessert must have invented it. But even if the dessert didn't have any name, it was one of the best desserts that my husband and I ever had. It was a jello and cranberry sauce based dessert, with crushed pineapple and pecan. What looked like icing on top was made of sour cream and cream cheese. The dessert itself is a combination of tastes -- sweet, tart, and the texture was very rich. My husband and I almost finished half the pan, and so we had to ask for the recipe. Lo and behold. Not only was the dessert a delightful treat, it was also easy to make. And so, I share this delightful dessert with all of you. I hope you make it someday, and enjoy it as much and my husband and I did.

Recipe:

Jello Salad

8 oz pkg raspberry jello dissolved in 1 cup boiling water

15 oz cranberry sauce

2 cans of 8 oz crushed pineapple undrained

1 cup pecan pieces

2/3 cup apple juice

mix all ingredients together. pour in pan, and set aside to cool. when cooled, put in the refrigerator to chill.

Cream Topping

8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

8 oz. sour cream

2 T sugar

mix all ingredients. spread on top of raspberry jello

(makes 2 6 X 6 pans)