broke, bored, and hungry: Creamy Ladyfinger Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Ok, so this is the FINAL piece of my grandmother's birthday dinner.

She gave me this recipe and asked if I would try it out. I had never used lady fingers before so I was a little nervous. But she said that it tasted just how she remembered and everyone loved it!

It was basically like a very light version of cheesecake! The lady fingers make for a very light and fluffy crust and the filling isn't nearly as dense as cheesecake but is still fairly rich from the cream cheese and heavy cream. Because it's lighter, you can eat a big slice without feeling sick, which I love :)

This recipe looks very elegant but comes together very quickly because the lady fingers are premade, the filling whips up quickly, and the "sauce" is ready as soon as the carton of frozen raspberries in juice thaws. Hey, that's what the recipe called for! So for once it wasn't me being a lazy bum. Surprising, right?

The leftovers also hold up very well. I thought that the ladyfingers might get soggy but I ate it for 3 days after and it was delicious every time! Just keep the sauce in a separate dish and add it right before you eat it.

On a side note, I'm very glad that this dessert worked out so well because the other dessert was a total flop. At almost every single holiday, my family makes a chocolate pie. It's just a pie or graham cracker crust filled with chocolate pudding.

Now, given how often I have: 1) seen this pie made, 2) eaten this pie, and 2) made recipes far more complex than this simple pie... you would think that I would be able to make this with my eyes closed. NOPE. It came out like soup. Why? Because I cannot seem to read directions all the way through. I read the first part of the directions and followed them for pudding. If I would have continued to read, I would have noticed that the recipe said to use less milk if using the pudding for a pie. I've learned my lesson because the pie came out looking like this.

mushy pie

yeah, it looks like poop.

Everyone laughed at me. Ms. Expert-Chef-In-Training can't even make an instant pudding pie. Awesome. At least I'm not too ashamed acknowledge my epic failures.

I just think that my culinary skills did not want to be stifled but something so boring and simple so my brain just rejected the pie so that people would focus their attention the other creamy, tart, homemade, beautiful dessert. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Creamy Ladyfinger Cake with Raspberry Sauce (8 servings)

2 packages of lady fingers
1 8 oz cream cheese (I used fat free)
1 3 oz cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pint heavy cream
2 10 oz containers of frozen raspberries in juice

Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with lady fingers. Line the sides of the springform pan with ladyfingers (going up and down, the outside facing the pan so that they will show when the pan is removed).
Beat together the 2 packages of cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.
Beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently mix the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until completely combined. Do not over-mix.
Put half of the mixture into the springform pan. Smooth it over with a spatula. Place another layer of ladyfingers on top of the cream cheese mixture. Layer the other half of the cream cheese mixture on top of the lady fingers.
Chill the cake overnight. Serve with thawed raspberries in juice. We chose to add the raspberry sauce to each individual slice so that the cake wouldn't get soggy.