Spumoni – Part 3 – A Delicious Easy Recipe

Well, I’m sure by now you’ve decided that, while spumoni might well be a delicious Italian Dessert, it’s WAY too much work. I wanted to provide a reasonably authentic recipe for this delicious dessert for those who wanted to hone their cooking skills. However, the tedious and time-consuming recipe listed in the previous post is not one that everyone will care to try.

With this in mind, I sought out an easier, more user-friendly recipe that would enable more people to try spumoni without the huge investment of time, energy and skill. The recipe I’m bringing to you today will be easier and faster to prepare and offers the opportunity to be selective in the ingredients for those who are fat, calorie and carb conscious.

Easy Spumoni

• Divide one half gallon of vanilla ice cream into 2 parts, 1 quart each.
• Need 1 quart of chocolate ice cream
• 1 bottle of Maraschino cherries
• Rum flavoring
• 1 pkg Instant Pistachio pudding
• Almond flavoring
• sliced almonds

For the first layer:

• Slice the maraschino cherries thin and line the bottom of a square pan with them.
• Add the rum flavoring to your personal taste to one portion of the softened vanilla ice cream.
• Spread this mixture over the thinly sliced cherries in the square pan.
• Freeze this mixture.

For the second layer:

• After the first layer has frozen for several hours, take the remaining portion of the vanilla ice cream and allow it to soften.
• Mix 1/2 of the package of Pistachio pudding into the softened ice cream.
• Spread this mixture on top of the cherry-vanilla mixture and allow to freeze several hours.

For the third layer:

• Add almond flavoring to taste to the softened chocolate ice cream.
• Spread this chocolate mixture over the two vanilla mixtures.
• Place the sliced almonds on top of the chocolate ice cream.
• Allow the whole mixture to freeze for several hours.
• Serve as you would for regular ice cream.

Enjoy this easier recipe for this delicious Italian Dessert. Feel free to substitute reduced fat or no added sugar ice creams if desired to meet the dietary needs of your friends and family….or if you feel brave….if you feel REALLY brave….try the REAL recipe….either way, you’ll marvel your guests when you serve this pretty and tasty Italian Dessert. Have some real fun with this recipe and create your own variations and add your own touch to it. The fun of cooking lies largely in your ability to use your imagination to make it “yours”. I’ve found that once you start “improvising”, you’ll get hooked for life!

One note-Spumoni usually has claret sauce drizzled on top. I found the following recipe:

Boil 1 c sugar and 1/4 c water 8 minutes; cool slightly, and add 1/3 c claret or light red wine.

Bon Appetit!