A Perfect Ending

Growing up, dessert was not a tradition in my home. As such, when dining out, I will usually end my meal simply, with a cup of coffee. I am of the ( not popularly held) opinion, that cloying sweets, heavy pastries, cheesecakes, towering cakes and the like are meals onto themselves, deserving of having my full attention on their decadent surfeit. Such treats just cannot be fully appreciated on an already full stomach. The times that I do end a meal with a dessert, it is often a small portion of something light.

It's not much to look at and rather plain-Jane looking, as far as desserts go. But it's a simple, easy to make dessert that is not overly heavy or sweet. You can find the recipe for this in The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago. For those of you who are afraid of using the raw eggs called for in this recipe, here is a vintage version Pineapple Ice-Box Cake from a newspaper clipping dated 1962! The eggs are cooked in this recipe.

Yeah, I make this with raw eggs and have done so a gazillion times with no ill effects. You see when I'm in the kitchen there is oftentimes a toddler attached to one leg, a screaming baby in the background and a husband calling out for help - the real baby:-)... suffice to say I don't have time to stand around stirring eggs over a double boiler. Okay, okay, I'll come clean. I don't own a double boiler. To be sure the one time I tried cooking the eggs in my makeshift version of a double boiler they curdled. Hey it was either pastuerized eggs that day or save my genetic egg (now a toddler) who was about to curdle himself via the I wonder what would happen if I stick something in this socket method. Anyway the jury is out on the raw egg issue and there are arguments both for and against. Disclaimer: It should be obvious that I am not a medical doctor , so my opinion counts for squat. Do what is best for you and yours. What I can attest to is that, this is a perfect ending to a meal.