This Classic Southern Dessert Has More Than 100 Names And They're All Hilarious
Whether you call it "Sinful Pudding" or "Striped Delight," this pudding-powered treat is love at first spoonful.
When it comes to Chocolate Delight, this beloved Southern dessert has as many names as it does admirers. We've encountered many versions over the years, but we recently fell in love with Erin Napier’s family recipe, passed down from her grandmother, Ouida.
If you have no idea what this “Chocolate Delight” craze is all about, here’s the skinny: Although it goes by many names and lends itself to endless variations (more on that below), it’s essentially a layered dessert that starts with a press-in crust, followed by layers of sweetened cream cheese, pudding, and whipped cream.
Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Styling: Christine Keely
Why Do Southerners Love Chocolate Delight So Much?
Besides the dreamy layers of absolute deliciousness, we can’t really know for sure why Southerners adore this dessert. However, I do have two hypotheses that I dare you challenge.
It’s EASY. No persnickety pastry, no complicated fillings. The crust is a stir-together, press-in dream that a 5-year-old could make. The fillings are just as easy, and call for store-bought shortcuts, like pudding mix and whipped topping.
It’s an icebox dessert. We Southerners LOVE our icebox desserts! When summer temperatures rise to just shy of Hell, we turn to icebox desserts for relief. Chocolate Delight can be made days ahead, stashed in the fridge, and brought out just in time to avoid a trip to your fainting couch.
Why Does Chocolate Delight Have So Many Names?
I think Chocolate Delight has a multitude of names because it’s the perfect recipe. Yes, I said what I said—and here’s why: Chocolate Delight is the perfect recipe because its simplicity makes it easy to customize.
Add nuts to the crust.
Stir in some cinnamon.
Love banana pudding? Use it.
Craving peanut butter? Treat yourself!
This dessert recipe is so easy to tweak to your family’s specific tastes and needs, therefore BEGS for you to rename it your honor. We’ve had many readers share their favorite names and variations—here are just a few of our favorites.
Jimmy Carter Cake
Inspired by one of our nation’s most humble and decent presidents, this version of the classic cake features a layer of peanut butter, which is a nod to President Jimmy Carter’s past life as peanut farmer.
And while they may not be serving this at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, perhaps they should consider it. To give it a try, substitute chocolate-peanut butter pudding for the chocolate pudding, and sprinkle some chopped peanuts on top.
Related: Jimmy Carter Cake
Mamma Mountain Mudslide
This hilarious name comes from a reader in Tennessee whose family owned a country diner in the 1980s and served their version of the dessert to delighted customers. Many other readers wrote in saying they recognize this dessert as Mississippi Mud Pie, but strangely enough, none of them were from Mississippi.
I don’t want to start a fight, but honey, I’m from Mississippi and Chocolate Delight and Mississippi Mud Pie are not the same thing.
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Husband’s Delight
Many readers commented that they’ve been making and loving this dessert for years, but they call it “Husband’s Delight.” One reader from Mississippi shared this funny story: "I served it at a Christmas Party years ago. I went into the kitchen and found my classy neighbor eating it out of the fridge with a fork—she even dropped some on her high heel!”
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Girdle Buster
I can't read that without giggling. Hold on; let me pull myself together.
Okay, so it’s no secret that this dessert is on the indulgent side. Cream cheese—good. Whipped cream—good. Pudding—good. Many of our readers have shared similar names for this dessert that allude to its decadent nature, including the insensitive but funny “Fat Man’s Delight,” “Piggy Pudding,” and the ironic “Dieter’s Delight,” (which is double-ironic [if that’s a thing?] because you can make this dessert with sugar-free pudding and zero-sugar whipped topping).
We also heard from many readers who know this dessert as the devilish “Chocolate Sin.” Which leads us to my favorite name for this dessert…
The Next Best Thing To Robert Redford
Yep, you “red” that right. And this wasn’t from just one reader—TONS of folks named their version of Chocolate Delight after the famously handsome movie star.
And if you’re thinking, "Wait, isn’t he like, 90?" No—he’s like 86, and still pretty darn good looking! But he was REALLY dashing back in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s when he was basically the Brad Pitt of his day (but a better actor, in my opinion).
Another reader chimed in, saying her family had always called their version “Better Than Robert Redford,” but her sons had recently updated the name to “Better Than Selina Gomez.” A little Millennial, sure, but pretty funny if you ask me.
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
What If You Don't Like Chocolate?
To all the non-chocolate lovers out there, we see you. We know it’s hard to not love something nearly everyone else does. So instead of whipping up some Chocolate Yummy, Chocolate Sunday Pie, or Striped Delight, try these delicious no-chocolate-invited variations: Lemon Lush, Strawberry-Pretzel Jell-O Salad, or even Pistachio Delight (made with pistachio pudding instead of chocolate and sprinkled with chopped pistachios.
Call it what you like—Cocoa Silk Pie, Chocolate Torte, or Chocolate Spectacular—Chocolate Delight (or any version thereof) is truly that—a Southern delight. Before I depart, I had to share one more funny name shared by a reader: “I have the same recipe from my Grandmother’s recipe box. It’s titled Fantastic Dessert but we always called it Goo.”
Okay, so maybe not everyone should be in the recipe naming business. In this case, I'd say that grandmother knows best. ;)
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