Angelic retro puddings and delightful sweet shop treats

Sweetie shop specials 

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It seems all things retro are trendy now - is it even ok to say trendy or does that make me really stale and old ? Never mind. As you were. So, it appears that not only are the clothes from my childhood back in fashion - and don't think that isn't painful when it's stuff I threw out long ago ! - but the 'old school' sweets are too. You remember those ones that were in big jars and you bought by the quarter from a kindly shopkeeper who knew your parents and would know if you were supposed to be at school and not scoffing strawberry bonbons like a starving chimp. So with all things vintage in mind I was delighted to hear that not only is Angel Delight still around, but it's now available in a brand new flavour that is pretty retro in itself - Bubble gum !

It really does smell like bubble gum !!

When I was a kid there were only a few desserts that we had on a regular basis. Tinned fruit when my parents had guests - me and my brother would fight for the cherry in the tin - served with ice cream. Only vanilla ice cream though, not the luxury ones you get now with salted caramel and cookie dough in them. There was jelly - which I would eat straight from the block then claim it was mice who had taken it - and of course Angel Delight. I'm the oldest of 4 siblings so I was the one who was trusted to actually make it for the younger ones as it's possibly the easiest dessert in the world to make and is ready quickly for hungry and impatient little people. 

Candy coloured whisk optional

In my desire to make it more interesting than just whipping up the Angel Delight with milk then popping it into the fridge to 'set' I developed a method to make it more 'posh.' I would set the jelly first at an angle then top with the Angel Delight and it looked fancier than it really was. In fact it appears that TV chef Lorraine Pascale has stolen my idea for this fancier version of my classic two-tone dessert. This used to be my favourite 'looks difficult is really easy' dessert to prepare for my younger siblings. I made it again with strawberry jelly and bubblegum Angel Delight (and some random sweeties of course). Now doesn't that look... erm, sweet ? 

The updated 'two-tone' pudding

While everyone else used to go on about butterscotch flavour we rarely had it as it wasn't a flavour that anyone in my family liked much. We went for traditional ones like Strawberry or Banana that even young kids would eat happily. Now that there's a new kiddie friendly flavour I thought I'd branch out and be creative once more. The question was how would I jazz up the flavour of bubblegum ? Well, the whole retro thing gave me an idea. Why not recreate the sweets we loved and make a pick 'n' mix dessert combo ?

Made to make your mouth water :) 

To start with I made mini jellies in Opal Fruit flavours. If you need to Google to find out what these are then do please go ahead - I will wait here for you. Caught up now ? Good. So I made orange, lime, strawberry and blackcurrant jellies and mixed up some lovely new Angel Delight. The 'opal fruit' cubes were popped on top of the fluffy Angel Delight and voila ! I'm not quite Willy Wonka, but I think these are pretty kiddie friendly puddings. What with the fresh milk in the Angel Delight and sugar-free jellies I'm pretty sure I can pass these off as 'healthy.' (the sweeties in the dish not so much).

retro sweet dessert

It's Hubbie's birthday today so this is especially just for him because he loves milkshakes, especially the extra thick ones you get in American diners. The new packets come with instructions to make a dessert or a milkshake, so you can enjoy the fab flavour of bubble gum in a yummy drink too. We were sent a pretty sundae dish and spotty straw so guess what I'm making for Hubbie as a birthday treat. I know, wife of the year right ?

This post is an entry for #AngelDelightMoments Linky Challenge.

Disclosure: We were sent some Angel Delight to try for this review post.