Summer Desserts for Hot Days

This week and last week has been hot and humid in Michigan. I broke down and made homemade pizza one of the days because everyone was tired of eating hamburgers, brats and hotdogs. We overbought for my son's graduation open house last weekend, and ended up with a lot leftover in the freezer. I'd much rather grill in the summer, but some days the heat has even made that uncomfortable. I have great respect for those of you who live in states where it's hot like this all the time.

I'm rambling a bit to get to the recipes for today. I was looking through my recipes for refrigerated desserts to make this week, and thought I would share a few of them.

Frozen Mint Dessert

Ingredients:
25 Oreo cookies, or store brand
1/3 cup melted margarine
1/2 gallon mint chocolate chip ice cream
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 tbsp. butter
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate or 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Crush the cookies and add melted margarine. Press into a 13x19 pan and cool. Add the ice cream to the crust and place it in the freezer. Bring the sugar, evaporated milk, butter and chocolate to a boil in a saucepan. Set aside to cool completely. When cool pour it over the ice cream layer and put back in freezer until frozen. Serve.

Mandarin Dessert Salad

Ingredients:
60 butter crackers, crushed
(Save out 1/4 cup for top)
1 stick margarine or butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 (6 ounce)can frozen orange juice, thawed
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 8 ounce tub frozen whipped topping
2 small cans, mandarin oranges, drained

Mix the sugar and melted butter with the crushed crackers. Press into a 9x13 inch pan. Blend the milk with the orange juice, stir in whipped topping, then fold in oranges. Pour over the crust, sprinkle with the 1/4 cup crumbs. Chill until ready to serve (at least a few hours).

Frozen Lemon Mousse Cups

Ingredients:
1 quart frozen vanilla yogurt, softened slightly
22 ounce can lemon pie filling
12 (2 1/2 inch) Foil cupcake liners

Spoon the yogurt into a large bowl; add the lemon filling. Beat until well blended. Spray the liners with no stick pan or baking spray. Spoon the dessert into the liners, and place in the freezer until firm (about 60 minutes). Garnish with whipped cream and a small slice of lemon. Makes 12.

Raspberry Dessert

Ingredients:
1 purchased or baked pound cake
2 packages (10-12 ounces) frozen raspberries
2 tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 cup milk
2 small packages vanilla instant pudding
8 ounce thawed frozen whipped topping

Place slices of pound cake on the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan. Top with frozen berries, separating them as needed. Sprinkle with the sugar evenly. Whip together the pudding and the milk until smooth. Fold in one cup whipped topping. Mix gently. Spoon mixture over the raspberries. Top with remaining whipped topping. Chill until ready to serve.

On OFL we also have recipes for watermelon treats:
http://oldfashionedliving.com/watermelon.html

~Brenda