Cherry Delight

If there was ever a holiday worth mentioning, my mother was always there to celebrate it, generally with an appropriate dinner and equally appropriate decorations. My mother did love a good party. Initially this cherry dessert was served on George Washington's Birthday (you know, considering the whole cherry tree thing and all), but it later became the accepted Valentine's Day dessert (often made in a heart-shaped pan) because of the lovely red color, the succulent cherries, and probably because two parties right in a row was a bit much to handle.

My mother will have been gone three years this Thursday. I hadn't thought about this dessert in a long time, but when I did, I had to make it. There are a lot of Cherry Delight recipes on the web, but mother's differed because of the inclusion of the chopped pecans, and light flavoring of the cherry pie filling. It is a lovely, tasty, seasonably romantic dessert that holds a lot of good memories for me. I'm heading out to take a couple of pieces to dad.

Cherry Delight

Crust:

10 rectangular graham crackers, finely crushed

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

First Layer:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 (8 ounce) container whipped topping

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Second Layer:

1 (12 ounce) can cherry pie filling

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, and butter in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined; press into an 8x8-inch pan.

Whisk cream cheese, whipped topping, and confectioners' sugar in a separate medium bowl until smooth; spread over graham cracker crust. Sprinkle nuts evenly over cream cheese mixture.

Pour cherry pie filling into yet a third medium bowl and stir in the extract and cinnamon. Pour this over the cream cheese layer.

Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

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This post is linked to: Inspire Me Tuesday, Tuesdays At Our Home, Tweak it Tuesday, Tickle my Tastebuds, Two Cup Tuesday, Try a New Recipe Tuesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Wake up Wednesday, Moonlight & Mason Jars, Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday & Everything Else, Fridays Flash Blog, Friday Frenzy