foodsandflavors ™ ~

Amanda Joyner

WRITER & PHOTOGRAPHER

Amanda Joyner owner

Manny J’s Bakery

Speciality cakes, desserts, wedding cakes

Facebook: @mannyjsbakery amanda9joyner@gmail.com

The ultimate do it yourself dessert is here! Cherry Yum Yum has been around as long as time itself. If you need a quick pie to take to a picnic, family gathering or just to eat for yourself, you can’t beat this recipe—and it’s also very budget friendly because it can be made for less than $10.

Cherry Yum Yum

1 9-inch pre-prepared graham cracker pie crust

1 (8-ounce) block of cream cheese, room temperature

3 (8-ounce) containers of Cool Whip (thawed)

1 small can of cherry pie filling

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Cream together sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add 2 containers of Cool Whip and combine. Spread mixture into graham crust-top with as much cherry filling as desired.

Trim with remaining container of Cool Whip!

Quick Tip

Flavorings

• Use flavorings and seasonings to enhance taste when fats and oils are eliminated.

• Lemon or lime juice and their zest are interesting on chicken, fish, veal and vegetables.

• For a spicy treat, Mexican salsa will add zest to anything!

One day while looking through a magazine, I saw a picture of Guava Quesitos. They looked really delicious and simply to make and I thought that I could make these but with my own twist. I thought about using cherry pie filling which has a lightly sweet and tart taste. Wow! What a pleasant surprise. I don’t remember if any made it to breakfast the next morning.

The cherry pie filling was a little syrupy, so I removed the cherries from the pie filling and mashed them with a potato masher. This made it less messy to work with when making the Quesitos.

Quesitos are one of the most popular pastries in Puerto Rico. Quesito means “little cheese” in Spanish. You can make these sweet cream cheese with and a variety of sweet and fruity fillings breakfast pastries wrapped in layers of light, crisp puff pastry for the whole family.