This Dame Cooks A Collection of Recipes from Alaska to the South Pacific and Caribbean

When you need a quick dessert for a summer dinner, try this one using a homemade or store bought pound cake and a jar of homemade or store bought raspberry jam.  Start with a puddle of chocolate raspberry sauce, place the pound cake in the puddle, imbibe it with Amaretto liqueur, add a nice big scoop of chocolate pudding made with ricotta cheese, and top it with whipped cream and shaved almonds.  You can change the sauce and the liqueur, add your favorite nuts and coconut flakes, or just a dollop of whipped cream to make it your own creation.  The whole family will love this one. 

Chocolate Ricotta Pudding

Mix together in a bowl until smooth

• 15 oz. ricotta cheese, pressed through a fine-mesh sieve
• 1 oz. square bittersweet chocolate, grated
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioners)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp almond extract

Raspberry Sauce

Cook and stir over medium heat until sauce thickens:

• 1/4 cup raspberry jam (seedless)
• 1/2 cup water with 1 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Assembly:

1. Spoon 2 – 3 Tbsp of sauce onto individual serving plates.
2. Place 1 slice of pound cake on sauce.  Drizzle 1 Tbsp of Amaretto over cake.
3. Top with large spoonful of pudding.
4. Garnish with whipped cream, chocolate curls and/or almonds