Zabaglione Marsala - © Food And WIne

Share A Retro Dessert: All Things Jello Instant Pudding!

There was only one thing as ubiquitous as Jello Gelly Dessert when I was a kid: Jello Instant Pie Filling. I think that must have been because there more ‘fancy’ desserts you could make with it than there were every-day ones. And there were some confections that seemed like sheer magic to the average six-year-old…

Jello Silky Chocolate Pie - © atreatsaffair.comJello Pudding and Pie Filling Silky Chocolate Pie: With deluxe OREO Crumb Crust…

Ah! Jello Pudding for dessert! Made you want to eat up all those wonky boiled veggies as fast as you could, so you could get to its velvety, squooshy perfection – one of those desserts you let melt in your mouth so it would last longer. I loved all the flavours and never quibbled with whatever kind Mom brought to the table. I particularly remember Chocolate and Vanilla – not Strawberry so much – and Lemon and Lime and Coconut.

Enter the first-level enhancements:

Shredded Coconut in and/or on the Coconut or Chocolate Puddings made it really special. Woo hoo!

Fruit on top was always a real bonus. Mom added was added most often was Sliced Strawberries or whole Blueberries, and only to the Vanilla Pudding, mainly because Dad loved them and was only leuk-warm about plain Vanilla.

I remember that, on occasion, we would get Vanilla Wafer Cookies with our Vanilla or Chocolate Pudding. That was a famous ‘Serving Suggestion’ from the Jello commercials and box-back recipes. When we were extra lucky and got the Finger Cookies, we were allowed to them as edible spoons and dip them into the pudding. Did we live a sheltered life? Maybe…

And we also hoped Mom would splurge and get some Mini Marshmallows, to suspend in the Pudding and sprinkle on top.

Real Recipes

Thee most common ‘real recipe’ Jello Pudding was used in was Cream Pie. Chocolate and Lemon were the leading flavours, followed by Coconut. Other flavours were also used in Pies and Tarts, but not so much. The scrumptious Pies were no-bake, which Mom loved, and the ‘Crusts’ were like magic to us kids.

The most common Crumb Crusts for a Jello Pudding Pie was simply fine Graham Cracker crumbs with some sugar and melted butter to bind it all together. Moulding the mix neatly and evenly into the Pie Plate was the real challenge. Mom and her sisters and neighbours also used a wide variety of other stuff to make Crumb Crusts: Corn Flakes, Sugar Frosted Flakes, Bran Flakes, Vanilla or Chocolate Wafer Cookie Crumbs. Whatever was even vaguely sweet and yummy and would stuck together in the plate. In a pinch, you’d even get a Cream Pie in a plain Short Crust Flour/Butter Pie Crust. Nobody cared.

Upper-tier Recipes

A secret that Mom learned from her best ‘Mom’ friend up the street was to add a few drops of Almond Extract to Vanilla or Coconut Pudding to create a sort of faux Pastry Cream.

That opened the way to all sorts of special desserts such as ‘Poor Man’s’ Boston Cream Pie and ‘Easy’ Tiramisu. This magical mixture was also the key to making Deluxe Fruit Cocktail Ambrosia (covered in a previous post).

Here – speaking as an adult, now – is my favourite application of Jello Instant Pudding: Easy Sabayon / Zabaglione. That’s the semi-liquid French or Italian Custard dessert usually spiked with a liqueur complementary to the flavour of the Pudding. Try the following combinations: Vanilla-Mint-Buorbon, Coconut-Rum, Lime-Tequila, Chocolate-Baileys, Orange & Brandy-Vanilla, Coffee &Vanilla-Tia Maria . Be careful not to use too much booze or the puddings won’t set up. Of course, these desserts are traditionally  not too perfectly set, but creamy textured. Top with something elegant that’s keyed to their flavours…

Novelty Desserts

Anybody remember getting Jello Pudding Frozen Pops in the summer? Every Mom had a plastics compartment in her pantry back in the day. And every one of these nooks, among the mismatched Tupperware, harboured two-piece home made Popsicle Moulds with reusable sticks. Use Pudding instead, and you have a really fantastic, super-lickable treat!

More contemporary (and arguably more gown up) are Jello Pudding ‘Shots’. Make these by adding a small amount (to taste) of your fave liqueur to the Pudding mixture and mould up in shot glasses, decorative ice cube trays or whatever small, single-serving vessels you may have. Place molds in warm water to melt just the surface of the pudding inside enough to turn out firm shots onto parchment paper. Serve ‘Shots’ inverted in mini corrugated Muffin papers or however you like.

My take…

Give some of the above ideas a try and see what what your family thinks. Encourage every member of your lock down group to suggest new ideas or new versions of the foregoing. Do remember to have fun! And don’t worry about getting something wrong. Whatever your creations look like, they’ll taste scrumptious!

~ Maggie J.