My mother-in-law cooked dinner for family and friends every Sunday evening, clear up until she passed away several years ago. Most often we had a roast cooked with potatoes and carrots and side dishes like pickled beets, veggies and dip, and bread. Ice cream was the most frequent dessert, but she occasionally made a dessert that I have been craving for many months now.

She called it Martha’s Lush. I finally started to put forth some effort searching for it online. There is a lemon dessert called Lemon Lush that is probably the original, or maybe because it looks like a Martha Stewart recipe, its just popular. I do like lemon, but the recipe wasn’t quite what I wanted.

I then just searched the ingredients and came up with something pretty similar so I thought I’d share my version of what my mother-in-law called Martha’s Lush.

Crust

All the crust recipes I looked for had pecans in it and my daughter doesn’t like pecans, so I opted for a simple shortbread recipe:

1 1/4 cup Flour

1/2 cup Butter, softened

1/3 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1/4 tsp Salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients. Then add the butter and vanilla and cut together with a pastry cutter or put in a food processor until it resembles coarse sand. Spread out in a 9×13 pan and press firmly. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely.

1st Layer

8 oz Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1/2 cup heavy Whipping Cream (or 1 cup frozen whipped topping)

If using the cream, combine all ingredients and beat with a hand mixer on high until thickened and smooth. If using the frozen whipped topping, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar, beat until smooth and then fold in the frozen whipped topping.

2nd Layer

2 banana’s

2 cups cold Milk

2 – 3.5 ounce (small boxes) Instant Banana Pudding Mix

Combine the milk and pudding to create a thick banana pudding. Slice the bananas just before assembly.

3rd Layer

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream or 3 cups frozen whipped topping

1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar (if using the whipping cream)

Whip the cream and sugar to stiff peaks. If using the frozen whipped topping, allow to thaw out.

Assembly

Using your cooled shortbread crust, Spread the 1st layer (cream cheese) over the cooled crust. Then slice the bananas and spread them out in an even layer across the cream cheese. Top that with your banana pudding, spreading out evenly over the bananas. Add the 3rd layer (whipped cream) and spread out evenly. Here you can decorate with swoops or just leave it smooth. Cut and enjoy!

I cut mine into 12 pieces, and I’ve already eaten 2. I don’t know why it just hit the spot today, but it really did taste good! This is a great anytime dessert, but especially good in the summer when you don’t want to have to bake anything very long and want something cool and refreshing to finish off a meal.

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