Strawberry Angel Lush Dessert

A layered no bake dessert, made with torn angel food cake, topped with a cream cheese layer sweetened with whipped topping and condensed milk and topped with a strawberry glaze.

Strawberry Angel Lush

So, I was going to remake this Strawberry Angel Cake dessert that hadn't received much attention since I first shared it years ago. You know, get some new extended step photos, a new header, update the post, that sort of thing, but then I thought...

I know, I know... I'm always fooling around with my recipes, especially the older ones, but I guess that's the beauty about being a developer and blogger of food recipes - and one who has been doing it for so long now!

Anyway, I thought instead of revamping that recipe, I'd combine some of the elements of it with various other similar desserts I've written over the years and write a whole new recipe and you know what? The result was excellent!

A few basic ingredients: cherry pie filling, crushed pineapple, sweetened condensed milk and Cool Whip make up the base for this old school frozen delight! From there, make it your own with easy add-ins.

Frozen Cherry Fruit Salad

I live on the Gulf Coast, and down here, the humidity is as important as the temperature. Maybe even more so! We've been under 100+ degree heat advisories here for awhile now because of that heat index. In June. Already. I pray we don't see a hurricane this year, well, ever again in my lifetime really, that knocks out power for long. Gotta have that air conditioning down here!

When the weather heats up like this, cooling foods are a steady in my house. Watermelon, cucumbers, grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries are consumed regularly around here! Of course, although they may mostly be relegated to those family gatherings more so these days, we have our icebox and freezer desserts too. This cherry salad is one of those that has been around for years.

Most often simply called a trifle today, punch bowls cakes were once all the rage in the South. Made here with layers of angel food cake, a creamy filling, strawberries and whipped cream, it is a delicious well-received and beautiful presentation for any gathering.

Punch Bowl Strawberry Lush Angel Cake

Punch bowls have a long history in the South and this dessert is a perfect one to ring in spring. Back in the day before hiring a caterer was the norm, families provided all of the food and labor for big parties and family events, and every family had a treasured punch bowl, almost always one that had been passed down a few times.

A slight crunch on the outside and chewy on the inside, these light and airy cookies are made with coconut, sugar, flour and beaten egg whites.

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons are another fabulous and super easy cookie to add to your Christmas sweets tray, but don't confuse them with French macarons, which, although meringue based, are sandwiched with some kind of a filling and a whole 'nother kinda cookie.

A quick and easy ice cream using chocolate milk, or Yoo-hoo chocolate drink, with sweetened condensed milk, chocolate syrup, and a small tub of Cool Whip. It tastes remarkably similar to those Wendy's Frosty milk shakes we all love.

Chocolate "Frosty" Ice Cream

I'm gonna tell you a secret.

Like with iced tea, we Deep South Southerners never really stop eating ice cream.

Even north Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama get a little bit of a winter most years, but except for a very few, and very temporary, winter cold flashes - that frankly exit just about as quickly as they showed up - the climate down here along the Gulf Coast is such that all of those frosty treats are pretty much a year-round thing.

Old Fashioned Martha Washington Candy

Another old fashioned heritage confection, Martha Washington Candy is a rich mixture of buttery coconut and condensed milk with pecans, rolled into a tight ball and dipped in chocolate.

Martha Washington Candy

These little scrumptious bite-sized confections have been a beloved Christmas favorite in families for years, often passed down for generations. People remember their mothers making them, and their grandmothers before them.

I don't know how they officially got their name, except perhaps for their namesake, who I've read was quite a good cook. Maybe they came from her own recipe collection - that's one cookbook I don't happen to own!

Original Magic Bars with Variations

No matter how you layer them, these classic Magic Cookie Bars are addictive. Most often they are layered with a graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and sometimes butterscotch, or even a combination of them, coconut and nuts.

Original Magic Bar

If you Google looking for 7 Layer Bar recipes, most of what you will find are bars listing these five basic layers - though many do also add another layer of butterscotch chips - yet they all seem to count the graham crackers and butter as individual layers.

Some recipes do melt the butter, and then simply pour the graham crackers on top, rather than mixing and pressing them in, so I guess that's one way to consider them separate layers.

An easy layered dessert, made with cake, pound cake or angel food cake and a filling made with strawberries, whipped cream, cream cheese and condensed milk.

Strawberry Angel Cake

Here's another recipe for the strawberry files, since all those delicious strawberries are showing up in the southern markets right now. Don't worry the rest of the country, you're not far off! Last weekend I made a fresh Strawberry Pie that was reminiscent of the Shoney's Strawberry Pie of my youth. Oh my gosh does that bring back some memories.

Lime Icebox Pie with Pretzel Crust

A super tangy icebox pie made with lime juice, lime zest and a packet of lime Kool-Aid. This one is made in a pretzel crust, but a homemade or commercial graham cracker crust works great too! Substitute lemon for lemon icebox.

Lime Icebox Pie

I love a super easy icebox pie!

This recipe is based on a pie from the Kraft Food & Family magazine a few years back. If you like tangy, you are gonna love this!!

And, hopefully this will invoke thoughts of summertime and the hot summer sun, swimming pools and beaches {and maybe even cabana boys} and little fruity umbrella drinks for those of you suffering the odd temperament of Mother Nature.