Friday, April 19, 2024
If heaven has a bakery, surely the treats below fill the bakery cases. The two culinary angels featured in this column are coworkers Gwen Wakefield and Cher Thompson. Several times a year we have office potluck parties, and there is always recipe sharing after the feast. Gwen, who works part time in our insert room, is known as the “Queen of Desserts” in the office. “Everything she brings up here is tremendous,” coworker Phil Stephens said. “I keep telling her she needs to open up her own shop.” Gwen said she loves to bake and started making cookies years ago. “I used to make them for my husband all the time,” she said. However, she makes a lot more than just cookies. Gwen made Pineapple Coconut Cake for our most recent potluck party in October, and it was a hit. Gwen said her good friend Jean Kuykendall shared the recipe with her about two years ago. Now Gwen is sharing with it with HCN readers. Everyone in our office raved about the cake, and our editor said, “Nancy, you have to get that recipe from Gwen. That cake is absolutely delicious.” I think you will agree. Cher is our human resources director, bookkeeper, page builder and other duties as assigned superstar. She is also known for her desserts. My favorite dessert she makes is an Oreo Peanut Buster Parfait. Over the years she has made it for coworkers’ birthdays. The chocolate, ice cream and peanut combo takes me back to my childhood in Austin, Minnesota. A group of us would ride our bikes to our small-town Dairy Queen on summer evenings after dinner. My favorite treat to get there was the Buster Bar. It was a perfect combination of flavors and textures mimicking Cher’s parfait recipe but didn’t have the Oreos or the marshmallow cream. Those two ingredients added to the ice cream, etc. put the Buster Bar to shame. Sorry for the digression... Cher said she got the recipe from her sister, Jeanne Vinson, at least 15 years ago. Jeanne, retired from the deCordova Power Plant, used to make it a lot for her coworkers, and they all loved it. I think you will too.
PINEAPPLE COCONUT CAKE
1 box yellow cake mix 1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk 1 cup shredded coconut 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained 1 container (8 ounces) Cool Whip Prepare yellow cake per instructions on box in 9”x13” pan. While cake is hot, punch holes in cake with wooden spoon handle. Mix cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk. Pour over cake and let cool completely. When cake is cooled, top with Cool Whip and then shredded coconut. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to three days.
OREO PEANUT BUSTER
PARFAIT
1 regular (14.3 ounces) package Oreo cookies, crushed 1 stick (1/2 cup) margarine or butter 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream 1 jar (11.75 ounces) hot fudge 1 jar (12.25 ounces) caramel topping 1 jar ( 7 ounces) marshmallow cream 1 can (12.5 ounces) Spanish peanuts 1 container (8 ounces) Cool Whip
Lightly spray bottom of a 9-by-13 pan with cooking spray. Melt margarine or butter and mix with 2/3 of the crushed Oreo cookies. Pack into bottom of pan. Slice ice cream into about 3/4-inch slabs and layer on top of Oreo crust. Spoon dollops of marshmallow cream on top of ice cream. Drizzle hot fudge and caramel topping on top of that. Spread Spanish peanuts over top of hot fudge and caramel topping. Cover with Cool Whip and sprinkle remaining Oreos on top. Freeze for several hours or overnight. Note: Cher said to use the old-fashioned carton ice cream if you can find it because it is easy to slice with a knife and lay it in the dish.
npricer@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 226
Seeking sweet recipes for the holidays? You can’t go wrong with these two desserts.
