Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
We heard from several Alley Kats regarding Jean Berg's request for a 1950s-style dessert featuring a graham cracker crust topped with a pineapple-cream cheese mixture.
This recipe from Roberta Belviy, credited to allrecipes.com, best fits the description provided by Berg.
Pineapple Cheesecake
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 (15-ounce) cans crushed pineapple, drained
1 3/4 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (9-inch) prepared graham cracker crust
In a large bowl, mix cream cheese and sugar together. Stir in 1 can of pineapple and whipped topping to cream cheese mixture. Mix until smooth.
Pour mixture into crust and top with other can of pineapple. Cover and chill for 2 hours.
Makes 1 (9-inch) pie.
The other recipes, though not exactly what Berg requested, sound too delicious not to share.
This one is from Nina Broussard.
"Mine does not use cream cheese, but it is quite delicious, not too sweet," writes Broussard.
Pineapple Refrigerator Dessert
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs, about 16 crackers
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 egg (see note)
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1 (20 1/2-ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained
Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press 1/2 of this mixture in bottom of an 8-inch square pan.
Beat the 1/2 cup softened butter, confectioners' sugar and egg until mixture is light and fluffy. Spread over graham cracker layer.
In a chilled bowl, beat the chilled whipping cream until stiff. Fold in drained pineapple. Spread over above mixture.
Sprinkle with remaining graham cracker crumbs. Cover and chill 12 hours before cutting into squares and serving.
Note: This recipe contains uncooked eggs, which sometimes contain salmonella bacteria that can cause serious illness.
This one is from Janet Tate.
"This is in response to the request from Jean Berg (April 29, 2015) for a pineapple/cream cheese pie. Her request made me remember a Pineapple Ice Box Pie that has been in my family for at least four generations. Although it's not the same as Jean asked for, this pie is really good, especially in the summer," writes Tate.
Cook's note: For firmer, drier cake, add more wafers; for more moist and more pineapple taste, decrease wafers.
Pineapple Ice Box Pie
1 (14-ounce) package vanilla wafers, coarsely broken
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 (15-ounce) can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup nuts
In a large bowl, combine and mix ingredients in order listed.
Pour into a 9-inch square serving dish. Refrigerate until firm.
Corn pudding clarification: The recipe for corn pudding that ran in last week's column should have 2 (15-ounce) cans whole kernel corn and 1 (15-ounce) can cream-style corn.
Send recipe requests, contributions and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; email:
kbrant@arkansasonline.com
Please include a daytime phone number.
Food on 05/06/2015