Raspberry Cream & Chocolate Wafer Pudding

Okay, pushing it on the 80% product of Ontario front again, but this is just sooo delicious - and frighteningly rich. Actually, my Mom made this at least a few times when I was a kid, and I think a lot of people my age will remember it - it's full of calories and nostalgia. The recipe is still on the wafer package, albeit they call for - sorry - Cool Whip, and no raspberries. Gack. Don't go there. Really; just don't. I think frozen berries would work for this pretty well, although in that case you might want to re-think the garnish.

Normally it is presented as a kind of cake, but I don't have the patience to sit there and glue wafers together. Just as well, as the wafers I bought seemed to have some kind of engineering flaw, and almost all of them broke down the middle as soon as they were picked up. Made like this, its relationship to trifles is quite clear, and I wonder about adding a little raspberry liqueur...

8 servings
2 hours 15 minutes - 15 minutes prep time

2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla, or maybe that raspberry liqueur
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 200 gram package Christie's chocolate wafers
another cup or so of fresh raspberries

Beat the whipping cream with the sugar and vanilla or liqueur, until stiff.

Lightly mash the 2 cups of raspberries and fold them in.

Smear a little of the raspberry cream over the bottom of a flat-bottomed dish. Lay as many wafers over it as will fit. Continue to layer whipped cream and wafers until the wafers are gone, and finish with a layer of whipped cream.

In order to have enough whipped cream at the end, you need to be as stingy with it on each layer as possible. Believe me, when you eat it you will notice no shortage.

Use your remaining raspberries to stud the top of the pudding. Cover and keep it in the fridge for at least 4 hours. During this time the wafers will absorb liquid from the cream, making the whole thing voluptuously soft. Even the most diet-conscious person is pretty much guaranteed to throw it all to the wind and fall into this face first.