Grandma S. Angel Food Cake Pudding Interpreted

I am not a person comfortable in the kitchen, but I found this months challenge inspiring and thought I would give it a go to show my Mom and Grandma's all the time trying to teach me to cook wasn't completely wasted. For this recipe, I use the term cook loosely, I actually did not have to even turn on the microwave for this dish. My Grandma's Angel Food Cake Pudding is my favorite dessert, like a hug from the inside it is so delicious. As simple as it is, I decided at the last minute to make this dish, not giving myself enough time to actually call her and make sure I had the steps right, so I winged it and added a couple of modifications of my own.

I bought a mix with the intention of making an angel food cake, until I got it home and read the directions, got scared, and went back to the store and bought a pre-made cake. After talking to my Grandma today, I'm glad I did, I don't think I am ready to make something that has to be propped up and cooled upside down . Also, I left out the blackberries, I decided as I was mixing that it would be fruit overkill and ruin the coloring of the final product. If it doesn't taste good, it should at least be pretty. In an effort to make it less guilty, I used a small box of fat free lemon and fat free vanilla pudding, Fat Free whip cream, pineapple in natural juice (no sugar) and skim milk. Grandma's version is with Vanilla pudding, no lemon. Her version also has cherries, but I since fruit is so delicious right now, I decided to use Strawberries and Raspberries.

Simple to do: I made the pudding in a metal bowl and chilled; as the pudding chilled I found that I actually had a large rectangle glass dish (added by my mom at some point I'm sure) and tore the Angel Food Cake into small pieces and lined the bottom of the dish. Then fold into the pudding 2 tubs of whipcream, 1 20oz can of pineapple, and a random amount of strawberries and raspberries. Pour it over the AFC, and chill. I tried it after an hour in the fridge and it was ok; I tried it after 3 hours, and it was much better.

I spoke to Grandma today, after it was all done, and learned that I added the entire can of pineapple; juice and all, found out she drained it. Adding all the juice made it runnier, and too tangy with all the raspberries too. Definitely drain. Also, I will probably do just a large box of fat free vanilla pudding, the lemon was unnecessary and I think just served to dilute the creamy balance the vanilla would offer to the tangy fruit. I am happy with the strawberry raspberry substitute to maraschino cherries for the summer, it was delicious.

Final verdict: Tasty. Morgan who opted not to be photographed thought there was too much pineapple but liked it otherwise. Since I forgot she doesn't like pineapple at all and still ate it, it is a testimony to the goodness. Grandma also recommends for a Christmas dish use the red and green maraschino cherries. Yummy.

My version:

1 Angel Food Cake

2 Tubs Fat Free Cool Whip

1 Box Fat Free Lemon Pudding

1 Box Fat Free Vanilla Pudding

1 20 oz Can of Pineapple drained

Fresh Strawberries (I used 1/2lb at least)

Fresh Raspberries (I used 1 pint)

Grandma

Angel food Cake mix

1 Large tub Cool Whip

1 Large box Vanilla Pudding

1 20oz Can of Pineapple (drained) **Do not mix pineapple in pudding, spread on top before chill

1 Can Maraschino Cherries