Any suggestions for dessert

[Mitchdoggy]

I'm having an distant relative for dinner tomorrow night. I'm serving Chicken Parmesan. Any suggestions for dessert?

[noni liedtke]

There's never wrong with ice cream. Have you ever tried lime sherbet with broken up pretzels on top?must have skipped a word inthe first sentence. good luck, gnoni

[KristaMB]

People have been raving about how easy the Eclair Cake is to make. I haven't tried it, but it sounds yummy and easy! We had a dessert contest at work and the gal who won made something very similar.

[kwormann]

Having just made it last weekend, I agree with the eclair cake!

Kim

[Ohioan]

As usual, I jump in here with my three cheers for fruit, fruit, fruit! (Can this be why some people have called me fruity, do you suppose? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif) Anyway, try a nice big punch bowl filled with mixed fresh (and maybe canned and/or dried) fruits, natural fruit juices to moisten, topped with chopped walnuts or coconut flakes, and maybe with a bit of cointreau or cherry brandy stirred in?

After fried, starchy, and/or high-flavored main dishes, cooling and moistening desserts are often just the thing. Of course, for inveterate cookie monsters, cookies can be served alongside the fruit as well. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

Cheers,
Phoebe

[emilycat]

I agree with Phoebe's fruit idea. Italian's after all, often follow up a meal with a very light dessert, often fruit.
Something like pears poached in port would be delicious, I think.

[BetsyF]

Fruit would be great but if you wish to offer something a bit richer, zabaglione is great. Or just gelato or sorbetto with biscotti. Or a very Italian solution, vin santo (dessert wine) with biscotti for dipping.

[Grace]

I vote for Tiramisu, CL's gingered pear tart, or as Betsy mentioned, sorbet with biscotti....

[Jessica]

I posted a recipe for poached pears a while back-- a wonderful, easy and light dessert. You could serve biscotti with the pears, or another light, crisp cookie.

[lorilei]

Fruit would be lovely -- you could certainly fancy things up by soaking berries in liquor and serving them with shortbread... or serve a fruit bowl with a dollop of cream cheese whip (cream cheese, milk or whipped cream, sugar, vanilla) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif The latter is reminiscent of cheesecake, but much lighter and less filling.

[Kristi]

For another suggestion-- I had this recipe recently and it was absolutely wonderful!! Much lighter than it sounds...

Mocha-Chocolate Trifle
This spectacular dessert serves a crowd and can be made ahead of time.

1 (18.25-ounce) package light devil's food cake mix
11/3 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
Cooking spray
3 cups cold fat-free milk
1 (5.9-ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix
1/2 cup Kahlua (coffee-flavored liqueur) or 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1 (8-ounce) carton frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup chopped reduced-fat chocolate toffee crisp bars (about 4 bars) (such as Hershey's Sweet Escapes)


Preheat oven to 350`. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350` for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Combine milk and pudding mix in a medium bowl; prepare according to package directions. Tear half of cake into pieces; place in a 3-quart bowl or trifle dish. Pour half of Kahlua over cake pieces; top with half of pudding, whipped topping, and chocolate bars. Repeat procedure with remaining cake, Kahlua, pudding, whipped topping, and chocolate bars. Cover; chill at least 4 hours.
Yield: 16 servings (serving size: about 1 cup).

CALORIES 269 (14% from fat); FAT 4.2g (sat 1.3g, mono 0.7g, poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 4.1g; CARB 48.4g; FIBER 1.10g; CHOL 16mg; IRON 1.0mg; SODIUM 476mg; CALC 93mg