Cherry Mallow Dessert

Catering week. Brianna's week with the kids, which was a small mercy because I worked from before sunrise to after sunset Friday and Saturday. Friday I brined the ribs at 5:30 AM in two coolers with apple juice and salt and brown sugar and a little garlic. Drove to Restaurant Depot at 7. Picked up the bulk supplies. Drove home, prepped the mac and cheese assembly in three hotel pans, par-cooked the macaroni, made the cheese sauce in a giant pot, mixed it all together in the pans, covered with foil, into the fridge. Greens went into the giant stock pot with smoked turkey wings, garlic, onion, broth, seasoned with salt, pepper, vinegar, a little sugar. Simmered all afternoon. Cornbread batter mixed dry ingredients only, kept separate from wet. Loaded the van Friday night.

Saturday at 5 AM I was up. Smoker on at 6 with hickory pellets, holding 225. Ribs went on at 7 — five slabs spread across the grates. Three hours of smoke. Wrapped at 10 in foil with apple juice and a little butter. Two more hours wrapped. Unwrapped at noon, lightly sauced, back on for forty-five minutes. By 12:45 they were done — pulled clean off the bone, smoke ring three-quarters of an inch deep, bark crackling.

Drove to Southfield at 2:30. Vanessa's sister's house was a three-bedroom ranch with a kitchen made for a family of four, not a catering operation. We made it work. Cornbread baked first — four pans, twenty-two minutes each, rotating in pairs. Mac and cheese into the oven at 350 for forty-five minutes to heat through and brown the top. Greens into a hotel pan to stay warm in the chafing dish. Ribs sliced on a cutting board on the kitchen counter — two ribs per person standard, three for those who wanted more. Set up the chafing dishes on a long table in the dining room. Lit the Sterno. Stood back at 5:00 PM as Vanessa's son and his fiancée walked in, and the bridal party clapped, and the food spoke for itself.

By 5:30 the line was forming. By 6 the food was disappearing. By 7 the mac and cheese was empty, the greens were empty, the cornbread was eighty percent gone, and there were exactly six ribs left. Vanessa hugged me in the kitchen. She had tears in her eyes. She said, "You don't understand. This was the best food I've ever served at a family event. You have to keep doing this." I said thank you. I said thank you about thirty times. Her sister gave me a fifty dollar tip on top of the seven hundred. Vanessa pre-booked me for her cousin's graduation party in June. Two more guests came up to me asking if I had a card. I did not have a card. I'm getting cards.

Drove the empty van home at 9 PM, exhausted in a way I haven't been since basketball two-a-days. Came home, ate two ribs I'd held back for myself, drank a beer on the back porch, called Mama. She said, "How'd it go?" I said it went perfect. She said, "Of course it did." She didn't sound surprised. She sounded relieved. She'd been worried for me. She just hadn't said so.

Sunday I slept until 9, which is an unimaginable luxury. Drove to Mama's at 1 with leftover ribs (the six). Pop ate four. Cheryl ate one and pronounced them "almost good enough." That is, from her, the closest thing to a Michelin star a man can earn in this family.

I’d spent two days cooking for other people’s families, and when Sunday came and I drove to Mama’s with those six leftover ribs, I wanted to bring something that wasn’t smoked or braised or labored over — something cool and easy and sweet, the kind of thing you eat when the work is finally done. This Cherry Mallow Dessert is what Mama used to make for every family Sunday that mattered, and showing up with it felt like the right way to close out a weekend where I’d finally started to believe I could really do this thing. Pop got his four ribs. Cheryl got her backhanded compliment. And everybody got a slice of this.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes (includes chilling) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling

Instructions

Make the crust. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and granulated sugar. Stir until the mixture resembles wet sand. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
Whip the cream. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with a chilled bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Make the cream cheese layer. In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat until fully combined and no lumps remain.
Fold in the marshmallows and cream. Gently fold the mini marshmallows into the cream cheese mixture. Then fold in the whipped cream in two additions, using a rubber spatula and a light hand to keep the mixture airy.
Assemble the layers. Spread the cream cheese and marshmallow filling evenly over the chilled graham cracker crust, smoothing the top with a spatula.
Top with cherries. Spoon the cherry pie filling evenly over the top of the cream layer, spreading gently to cover edge to edge.
Chill until set. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight. The marshmallows will soften slightly into the filling and the layers will firm up cleanly for slicing.
Slice and serve. Cut into 12 squares and serve cold. Keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cherry Mallow Dessert — Something Sweet for the People Who Believed in You First