Paradise Pudding

Our County Archivist Liz makes a Jell-O mould recipe from 1912 which ties in to her family's historical traditions as well.

By Liz Dommasch, County Archivist

Growing up, at every family function and holiday dinner, my grandmother used to make a Jell-O mould. It always had fruit, such as strawberries, pineapple and grapes, and vegetables such as shredded carrots and cucumbers. It also sometimes had whipped cream in it, to give it a creamy mousse consistency. I always just assumed it was a generational dish that was popular when my mom was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s and my grandmother continued to make it as part of our family traditions. However, it wasn’t until I was doing some research for our online exhibit 912, with the recipe for Paradise Pudding.

Now knowing some of the weird and curious concoctions that can be included in a Jell-O mould, such as cocktail wieners, stuffed olives, cottage cheese and mayonnaise, Paradise Pudding sounds like every child’s dream dessert. Not only does it have Jell-O in it as its base, but it also consists of whipped cream, mini marshmallows, maraschino cherries, almonds, macaroon cookies and for extra sweetness: MORE sugar. It also, sounded surprisingly really easy to make.

With that said, and knowing my boys have never experienced ingredients added to their Jell-O, it sounded like something I needed to try. Megan (our Archives Technician) and I had already attempted a few recipes from the exhibit and posted the results on the Archives’ Instagram page, but I thought I’d share the results of this recipe here.

Like I said, the recipe itself was pretty straightforward and most ingredient were readily available. I did have some difficulty finding macaroons, beyond the trendy French macaroons (though I don’t think that’s what the recipe had in mind in 1912), as they seemed to not be a popular cookie choice. However, after checking a few stores (keeping my social distance), I was able to find some coconut macaroons. From there it was a matter of following the instructions for the Jell-O (which included whipping it), adding in the rest of the ingredients and letting it set in a tin loaf until firm.

Overall it was surprisingly pretty good. It has a consistency of a sponge cake though creamier. My boys gave it two thumbs up, even though it had no chocolate in it and my youngest wasn’t a fan of the crunchy things in the middle (aka: the macaroons). They both enjoyed the marshmallows and were both surprised to learn that marshmallows were around over 100 years ago. The only negative I would give is, it is on the sweet side. If I were to make it again, I’d probably alter the ingredients a bit and omit the extra quarter cup of sugar the recipe called for. However, that’s more of a preference than a complaint. I think my oldest put it best: “It’s pretty good for a recipe that’s so old”. 

If you are looking to try out some century old recipes, please check out our online exhibit: