Orange Cream Gelatin Dessert is an easy dessert that you can make from a few items in the pantry and freezer at any time of the year. It works well for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother's Day, bridal or baby showers, etc. It is sweet and rich, yet somehow also seems light and refreshing. It is a rather nostalgic dessert as it reminds me a little of an orange push-up ice cream treat from my childhood. Plus, it is a molded gelatin dessert, which always reminds me of the past. As with other gelatin and fruit dishes, someone might call this a "Jello salad" in the United States. However, this recipe uses an entire quart of orange sherbert in addition to gelatin, so I can not bring myself … Continue Reading about Orange Cream Gelatin Dessert

Easy Lightly Lemon Cheese Bars
These Lightly Lemon Cheese Bars are the very tasty result of a cookbook mistake. A collection of recipes had what I think was suppose to be a traditional bar recipe using a crumbly cake on the bottom, a smooth soft-baked mixture in the middle, and another layer of the cake mixture crumbled on top. I mean the instructions even called the cake mixture a crumble in more than one place. Of course, I did not notice that until just after I poured an entire cup of oil into the cake mix-filled bowl. In my defense, I must say I read the ingredient list several times prior to making the recipe because I thought a cup of oil was WAY too much.
As I am not one to waste food if it can be avoided, I went ahead and baked the cake mixture to see what would happen. To my surprise, it actually worked! It was not too dense, rich, or oily (like I feared it might be).
I did make some changes to the original recipe to increase the lemon flavor and off-set some of the sweetness. The result was a yummy bar that was super easy to make.
Easy Lightly Lemon Cheese Bars
Ingredients
- 1 yellow or butter cake mix
- 1 c. canola or similar oil
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1/2 granulated sugar
- 1 lemon (zest and juice)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Stir cake mix, 1 egg, and oil together until uniformly combined.
- Take out one cup of the batter and reserve it for later.
- Put the remaining batter in a greased 9 X 13-inch baking pan. (I recommend a cooking spray with flour)
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, sugar, remaining egg, lemon juice and lemon zest until smooth.
- Spread cream cheese mixture over the top of the cake upon removing it from the oven.
- Drizzle or drop the reaming cake batter on the cream cheese layer.
- Return the baking pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes longer or until the cake is lightly brown and cream cheese layer is set.
- Cool some prior to cutting.
Notes
To make these bars more lemony, use a lemon cake mix.



