My mother came from the era of 3×5 cards for her recipes. And when I was searching for just the right chocolate dessert to serve at the tea the other day (more about the tea later), this recipe floated out of the stack. It’s not an old-time recipe (probably it’s from the 1970’s), after the advent of Cool Whip and instant chocolate pudding anyway. I found some other versions on the internet, but none by this exact name. So I have no idea of the origin of this one. It’s basically a layered chocolate (and whipped cream) pie with walnuts.
The crust is a simple press-in bottom layer in a 9×13 pan (walnuts, flour, butter). Once that’s baked and cooled, you make a cream cheese layer (with powdered sugar, Cool Whip and the cream cheese), then a thick chocolate pudding layer. Then it’s topped with more Cool Whip and chocolate shavings and more nuts on top. This is a VERY simple and easy dessert. And it could feed a big crowd if you don’t cut very big pieces. It went well with the tea because I could cut it up into smaller pieces to look more like “tea” sized servings. We had ample leftover. It is best made the day ahead, and actually keeps for several days.
Chocolate Ribbon Dessert
Recipe By: Unknown, handed down to me by my mother in about 1980.
Serving Size: 16
PASTRY-NUT CRUST:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup walnut — minced
CREAM CHEESE LAYER:
8 ounces cream cheese — at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
8 ounces Cool Whip®
CHOCOLATE PUDDING LAYER:
6 ounces chocolate pudding mix — instant, regular or sugar-free
2 1/2 cups 2% low-fat milk
TOPPING:
4 ounces Cool Whip®
1 tablespoon chocolate curls — or more as needed
1/3 cup walnuts — minced
1. CRUST: Combine flour, butter, nuts and mix together. Press into bottom of a 9×13 pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 until just slightly golden brown. Cool.
2. CREAM CHEESE LAYER: Beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and Cool Whip. Mixture is a little stiff, so be careful as you slather it over the prepared crust. Gently push into corners without lifting up the crust. Chill if you have time; otherwise leave out while you prepare the pudding.
3. PUDDING LAYER: Mix the large package of instant chocolate pudding with the milk. Beat vigorously with a wire whisk until completely smooth. Pour over cream cheese and spread into corners. Cover and chill completely.
4. TOPPING: Once dessert is chilled, spread the Cool Whip over the pudding layer, spreading into the corners. Chill again. Sprinkle top with shaved chocolate and nuts (or coconut, if you’d prefer). May be made a day ahead, but not longer than that.
Per Serving: 348 Calories; 21g Fat (54.7% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 34g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 34mg Cholesterol; 106mg Sodium.
