green fluff

one of my favorite desserts that gram used to make was green fluff.  made from green jello and cool whip, it was a cool, refreshing treat during the hot summer.  the last time i had fluff was when i was in the hospital after delivering the boy.  gram gave me a small container of it, and i remember sneaking into the nurse's pantry in the middle of the night to retrieve it from the fridge.

i found mom's copy of the recipe in an old cookbook, and i stuck it in my mom's old plaid lunchbox with other loose recipes ages ago.  i dug the recipe out a few weeks ago and thought i'd try my hand at replicating a childhood memory.

first, follow the directions for making jello (i used two 3 oz boxes). use the juice from one can of crushed pineapple, drained (about one cup) in place of the cold water, allowing mixture to chill.  this is where's gram's instructions got fuzzy.  she had directions for a 6 oz box or a 3 oz box.  since i used 2 small boxes, i added 2 cups of boiled water and one cup of pineapple juice.  i probably should have added another cup of cold water.  the jello didn't "jell" quite right.  anywho...

cream together three tablespoons of confectioners sugar with an 8 oz package of cream cheese (i used neufchâtel cheese for fewer calories)...

use a mixer to whip the jello on high speed to double its consistency.  that didn't happen...more like half that.  it never did get frothy...


with the cream cheese combined with the sugar, add the frothy jello mixture and continue to whip at low speed to combine...


add a container of cool whip...

then add the crushed pineapple to the mixture.  i had to stop the mixer several times to pick pineapple out of the whisk.


pour into containers and allow to set in the fridge for a couple of hours...


fluff will have a light mousse consistency.



my gram always made green lime fluff, but i don't see why other jello flavors such as orange or strawberry couldn't be used.  if there's another jello flavor that tickles your fancy, try that instead.  fluff is a great dessert dish to share at a picnic - just keep it chilled.  enjoy!