Vintage Eats Recipe: 1955 Frozen Christmas-in-July Dessert

It’s Christmas in July!

Before the month is over, I wanted to share a darling dessert that also qualifies as a craft. And a very cute one!

Frozen Christmas Tree Dessert is light, easy to make and just the right touch at the end of a meal.

I found it under the title of ‘Frozen Dessert’ in the Volunteer’s Favorite Recipes Cookbook compiled by the Volunteers Class of Craigville E.U.B (Evangelical united Brethren) Church of Craigville Indiana. The red spiral-bound copy has 40 pages filled with recipes contributed by members of the church.

It so happens that Esther Pease, the contributor of this dessert, was the mother of my friend, Janet Heyerly. Esther has been gone for many years, but Janet remembered her mother fixing this dessert each year for the Christmas season. I asked Janet for tips in making this dessert. Isn’t this photo of them wearing their Christmas aprons adorable?

The results as you can see were great! What makes the dessert particularly fun is that rather than pouring it into a flat dish to serve, Esther created individual servings in the form of Christmas trees with the help of Sno-Cone cups. She then fashioned stars from toothpicks and gold star stickers for the top of each tree.

I used red hot candy to adorn the trees like ornaments. Maraschino cherries halves may have worked too.

Thanks to Janet for providing the tips and decorations.

Don’t wait for December to make this yummy, adorable Frozen Christmas Tree Dessert. Get the kids involved and it will be a homerun, I guarantee!

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My friend Alan Daugherty who is a local historian provided this bit of information about the EUB Church:

In 1898 the United Brethren congregation of Craigville, purchased two lots to begin construction of a church structure inside of the small town. It later merged with another local congregation. Today, the EUB Church is no longer in existence.

Alan recently wrote a book about Craigville as a fundraiser for the Wells County Historical Society. Books can be purchased through the society’s museum on West Market Street in Bluffton, IN.

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1955 Frozen Christmas Tree Dessert

No. 1

1 can Maraschino cherries, drained, chopped (you may want to keep some halves for decorating the trees)

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 20-ounce can pineapple, crushed, drained

Combine in large bowl. Set aside.

No. 2

In medium saucepan cook on low heat for two minutes, stirring constantly:

2 eggs, beaten

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons vinegar

Cool 30 minutes.

No. 3

1 pint (2 cups) whipped cream.

Few drops green food coloring

Stir together until blended.

Gently stir cherry mixture with cooked mixture.

Fold in green whipped cream.

Using long-handled spoon like used for iced tea, gently spoon the mixture into Sno-Cone cups. Level off at top of each cup.

Place each ‘tree’ into a glass and cover with plastic wrap (I had not yet covered them in the photo above). Freeze for eight hours.

Yield: 8 ‘trees’