Gelati Cassata

This is such a wonderfully diverse dessert! The many times I have made it, I have always used sherbet because of the wonderful colors you can pick. And it makes a bright, beautiful, cool dessert during the hot summer months. But the beauty of this recipe is that you can use just about any frozen concoction: sherbet, frozen yogurt, ice cream. It uses 3 pints and you could, of course, use all of the same flavor. But I think it's much more fun (and tasty) to mix things up. When using sherbet, I usually use lime, orange or lemon, and raspberry for a lovely blast of color. Also, when using sherbet, I generally sprinkle mini chocolate chips on each flavor for an extra bit of crunch. For the first time, I used ice cream this time: vanilla, birthday cake (it had some colored sprinkles in it), and moose tracks (chocolate, caramel, nuts). It, like all the others, tasted great!

Have fun and use your imagination!

GELATI CASSATA

In food processor, process the following together:

1 stick butter, cut into 8 pieces

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup pecans

3/4 cup coconut

Spread on a baking sheet (I line mine with aluminum foil for easy clean-up). Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, stirring at about 10 minutes. Let cool.

3 pints sherbet, frozen yogurt, ice cream

Mini chocolate chips (optional)

In an 8" springform pan, spread 1/3 of the coconut mixture and half of each pint of frozen dessert (I put big clumps all around so the ice cream is mixed up when cut. Kind of smush down the ice cream until you have a smooth surface. Sprinkle with chocolate chips if desired. Layer another 1/3 of the coconut mixture, then the remainder of the frozen dessert, again smushing down to make a smooth surface. Again, sprinkle with mini chocolate chips if desired. Top with remaining coconut mixture.

Let freeze until dessert is frozen hard.