Valentine's Desserts with Twinkies

Thanks to blog reader, Marsha, for sending me this clever, cute, and pretty idea!

VALENTINE TWINKIE HEARTS

3 tablespoons seedless red raspberry jam

1 cup fresh raspberries

2 Twinkies snack cakes

Stir jam and 1 tablespoon water in a bowl until smooth. Add raspberries; toss gently to coat.

Cut Twinkies in half diagonally, starting about 1 inch down from top left to 1 inch from bottom of opposite side. For each heart, put 2 halves together on 1 serving plate. Sppon raspberry mixture over and around hearts. Garnish with mint, if desired.

And while we're talking about Twinkies, look at these cute Valentine treats - MINIONS!!  Visit HERE for directions!

And, finally....an original recipe I created....."Strawberries & Cream Twinkie Cake"

Strawberries and Cream Twinkie Cake

14 Twinkies (One box has 10, so you'll need 2 boxes)

2 small boxes (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding

2 cups milk

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

2 - 10 ounce containers of frozen strawberries in syrup (drained, but reserve juice if desired for topping)

1 cup sour cream

1 large carton whipped cream

Layer Twinkies in the bottom of 9 x 13 dish.  I turned the end ones upside down since the dish curved inward.

In mixing bowl, mix together 2 packages of instant pudding and 2 cups of milk.  Stir well until pudding dissolves.

Add 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand.)  Chill mixture in refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Drain strawberries to remove juice. I was excited to use this tiny colander I got from a Secret Pal a few years ago. Little kitchen gadgets are fun (I'm easily amused!).

Add 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup whipped cream to chilled pudding mixture.  Blend well.

Stir in drained strawberries.

The mixture might be prettier if you added a few drops of red food coloring to make a light pink color.  I didn't add any, though.

Pour strawberries and cream mixture over Twinkies.

Top with a thin layer of whipped cream.  Your casserole dish or pan might be more square on the ends, allowing room for more whipped cream.  Mine was very full!

Chill several hours...or at least a little while!  It would probably be best to chill at least 8 hours, but in our family, nothing is going to chill that long without getting sampled!

Serve with reserved strawberry juice, if desired.  One of our children thought it needed more strawberry taste, so this leftover juice would probably satisfy their taste buds.  You might like it that way, too.

My original plan was to add some sliced bananas over the cream mixture, but I ran out of room.  I have a larger casserole dish that would allow room for that and there's enough cream mixture I would have to add anything else.  It would just be thinner.  Also, I would probably add 2 more Twinkies to the dish, as well, if made in the larger dish. You could add other fruits, as well.