09 Other Desserts Recipes

09: OTHER DESSERTS

Steps:

• It's hard to conceive of a kitchen without a refrigerator and freezer, but not long ago refrigeration was a new technology. Ruby Razz Crunch, a 1956 Bake-Off® recipe, was inspired in part by the new refrigerators in middle-class homes, and it combines the then newly available frozen fruits with the idea of freezing whipped cream for a topping. It's also hard to remember a time without boxed mixes or refrigerated dough, but 1968's Cookie Cheesecake Squares depends on those once-new products. Peaches and Cream Crescent Dessert, from the 1978 contest, would have taken a whole day with rolling pins and pastry boards before refrigerated crescent dinner rolls became available. In 1990, Praline Pecan Cheesecake was inspired in part by the explosion in availability and variety of products such as candy bars and ice cream topping, which contribute to a decadent cake fit for a king.Who knows what the desserts of the future will be like, influenced by new inventions and combinations of ingredients? We have yet to imagine. Whatever evolves, these desserts will depend on the inspiration of creative cooks, for technology is all but useless without imagination to put it to work.From "Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off® Cookbook." Copyright 2004 General Mills. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.