I came up with this quick and easy dessert after wracking my brains about what my 7-year old could make for a small cooking competition. As it was a cold-cooking competition, where there were no hobs or electrical appliances allowed, anything other than assembling was not possible. Since the kid has not been introduced to any types of cooking or cutting and chopping and I didn’t have any kid-friendly knives around, I didn’t want to take that chance with salads and other laborious prep, so went with the quickest and easiest option. Didn’t turn out half bad! For Nutella lovers, this is a lightening quick and yummy dessert.
The kid didn’t win a prize for this, but I’m putting it down to a lack of good taste of the judges 😉. The only addition here was the chocolate sauce which will cut down the sweetness of the Nutella and add just that extra punch. This dessert has creaminess, crunch, chocolate hit and tart from the cherries. Overall a pleasing combination, and best of all, it’s so easy and quick, you can have your children make the dessert every time this is on the menu! My little monkey is planning to make this on a large scale for the whole family for Sunday lunch and has taken complete ownership of it.
It’s not gourmet cuisine, but it’s tasty and moreover an express dessert for when you don’t have time to labor over the more complicated preparations. It looks impressive and is also light on the tummy, so you don’t feel the heaviness that comes with eating a rich pudding. Am not going to talk too much about it now. Will leave the field open to you.
Ingredients (Serves 2)
4 tablespoons mascarpone cheese (80gm) (can also use cream cheese)
4 tablespoons Nutella spread (80 gm)
2 tablespoons fresh cream
6 small digestive biscuits (or 4 large ones) broken up into tiny pieces
40 gms walnuts roasted, cooled and roughly chopped
12 cherries roughly diced (I used canned cherries)
8 tbsp dark chocolate sauce (optional)
Dark Chocolate Sauce
50 gms dark chocolate broken up
100 ml cream
8 tbsp milk
Get Started
Chocolate Sauce
Heat the cream in a heavy bottomed pan and when it comes to boil on the sides, turn off the gas. Add the chocolate. Leave it for a minute undisturbed, then stir till mixed thoroughly. Add the milk and mix well. See if it’s runny. If not, add another tablespoon and mix. Cool and keep aside.
You will have more than enough left over. Can use it for making chocolate milk or make a larger batch of this pudding.
Pudding
In a bowl, mix the mascarpone cheese with the Nutella spread till you get a smooth, even paste.
Place one tablespoon of crumbled biscuit at the bottom of each of the serving glasses.
Then add two heaped tablespoons of the Nutella mixture over that. Smooth the mixture so that it becomes an even line.
Now sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the biscuit crumble over the Nutella mix and then sprinkle some walnuts all over that. Then add all the cherry over the walnuts in both glasses and drizzle chocolate sauce over that.
Add 2 tablespoons of cream to the remaining Nutella mix in the bowl, mix well and divide them evenly across the two glasses over the cherries.
Sprinkle more biscuit crumble and walnuts over the top. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and add a whole cherry on the top for garnish.
This dish can be enjoyed at room temperature or refrigerated.