Sadie's Dessert

A week or so ago I posted a how-to on chocolate curls. This Sadie's dessert here, is one of my favorite desserts to top with these decadent chocolate curls. This dessert has been around for ages, and is known by several different titles (Robert Redford Dessert, Mississippi Mud Pie, Layered-Chocolate Pudding Dessert, Chocolate Torte, etc.). This recipe is one I got handed down from my mother, who got it from her mother. I am sure if you've lived in America all of your life you've come across this dessert at some point. It seems that a simple dessert couldn't be so good, but it is. And that must be why it's been around for so long.

I emailed Mel, from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, a few months ago telling her that I made this dessert with her homemade pudding recipes with amazing results. Since she is more on top of it than me, she posted her version of this recipe last week. The original recipe from my grandmother calls for boxed pudding mixes, which work, but the homemade pudding adds so much more! The boxed pudding doesn't set up as firm as the homemade pudding so when you cut a piece it kind of slops and droops. But this amazing recipe from Mel for homemade chocolate and vanilla pudding was a hit. I especially loved the chocolate pudding it was so thick and rich (you melt chocolate chips into it....ummm!). This pudding can be made a few days in advance if you are wanting to make less work the day you want to serve it. Or if you absolutely refuse to make homemade pudding then use the small boxes of pudding mix.

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Sadies Dessert
Printable Version

Crust:
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts are best)

Place flour in a small mixing bowl and cut in butter with pastry blender or fork. When butter is distributed through stir in chopped nuts. Press crust mixture into a 9x13 size pan and bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes, until set. Let cool.

1st layer:
1 cup powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup whipped cream (or you can use cool whip as a substitute - I prefer whipped cream)

In a medium size bowl whip cream until stiff peaks. In a separate bowl whip cream cheese with powdered sugar until there are no lumps. Mix in whipped cream until smooth. Spread this mixture over the crust.

2nd Layer:
2 cups homemade chocolate pudding (or 1 small pkg of instant chocolate pudding - mixed with 2 cups milk)
2 cups homemade vanilla pudding (or 1 small pkg of instant vanilla pudding - mixed with 2 cups milk)
(Note: if you don’t feel like making 2 kinds of homemade pudding use 4 cups of just chocolate pudding.)

I like using the homemade pudding because it sets up more firm, resulting in a prettier served piece of dessert. Mix the chocolate and vanilla homemade pudding (at room temperature) together and spread over the cream cheese layer. (Or if you’d rather use instant pudding for a quicker process mix the chocolate and vanilla instant pudding packages with 4 cups milk and spread over cream cheese mixture).

Finally, top with more sweetened whipped cream, about 1 ½ cups is good. And top with chocolate curls for a more gourmet look (or chocolate sprinkles or just plain, it will taste great whichever way you pick)

Recipe Source: My grandmother, Rosella B.

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