Recipe: Fill in the blank

I found this recipe over at Mel's Kitchen Cafe, and it was a fun blast from the past. Mel calls it Robert Redford Dessert, but said she wasn't quite sure why it was called that. Well, I know. ;)

My mom used to make this when I was a teenager, and I distinctly remember her laughing about women around calling it "Better Than S*x" or "S*x In a Pan." I had also heard it called "Better Than Robert Redford," who was quite the handsome figure back in the day. We would laugh about that, but at home we called it "Four Layer Dessert."

I hadn't had this in years and decided to make it last Sunday. (It is, after all, pretty darn good). The fam said they would prefer a graham cracker crust instead of the shortbread crust in the recipe, but I love the shortbread crust. I will probably make it again and use a graham crust just to please the hubs. It would probably be great with an Oreo crust too. And don't worry about making homemade pudding for it--I used good old chocolate pudding from a box because I'm not spending the time on homemade.

I pinned this recipe to one of my boards over on Pinterest, so if you click the link on the left you'll find it there, too.

Four Layer Dessert, or "Better Than _____ Dessert." (You fill in the blank!)
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Crust:
1/2 cup butter
1 c. flour
1 c. finely chopped walnuts

Cut the butter into the flour until it resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the nuts. Press into a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes, or until set and light golden brown. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese layer:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups whipping cream, with 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Whip the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until creamy. Set aside. Whip the cream with the powdered sugar (I add a little vanilla as well) until stiff. Fold about 2/3 of the cream into the cream cheese mixture until well blended. Spread evenly onto cooled crust.

Pudding:
2 small boxes of chocolate pudding--also good with pistachio flavor! Or lemon!
4 cups milk

Mix the pudding and milk according to package directions. Pour over the cream cheese layer.

Top the pudding with the remaining whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 30 mins to an hour. Cut into squares and serve.

**The original recipe, from my growing up years, used Cool Whip instead of real whipped cream, so go that route if you like. It's good that way also. Just use a 12 oz. size, mixing about 8 oz. with the cream cheese.