A tasty, easy dessert strata
Here is one of my all-time favorite dessert: It looks and tastes like a dessert casserole, but it spends no time whatsoever in the oven. It is an icebox cake composed of layers of graham crackers and fresh, homemade vanilla pudding, topped with fudge frosting. When it sits together in the fridge overnight, it melds into a luxurious cake-like texture.
Yes, you can use pudding mix from a box and chocolate frosting from a can, and if you do it makes this dessert extremely fast and easy. However, I do not like the weird aftertaste of pudding mix, and, honestly, it’s very easy to whip up your own vanilla pudding from scratch.
Even if you make your own pudding from scratch, this recipe doesn’t take more than an hour to put together, and then it is all done. Since it needs to be refrigerated before serving, it’s the perfect thing to make ahead of time for a dinner party. I love making this the night before a big party, or even the morning of. People always go wild for it.
As for the graham crackers, I don’t usually recommend specific brands of ingredients for recipes, but here I’ve had the best results with Honey Maid graham crackers. Less expensive brands tend to be lighter and not as substantial, and I find that they get too soggy.
Having said that, Honey Maid (from Nabisco/Kraft) does have partially hydrogenated oil in some of their products, as well as high fructose corn syrup. This may have changed recently in their graham crackers, but check the ingredients carefully, if you want to avoid such things. If you don’t use Honey Maid, do look for the heaviest, heartiest graham crackers you can find.
No-bake Boston Cream Pie Strata
Serves 6
Ingredients:
About 20 ounces (4 sleeves) graham crackers
For the custard:
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 large eggs
3 egg yolks
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups half-and-half
2 teaspoons vanilla
For the chocolate frosting:
Dessert Recipes with Bill & Sheila
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