Mud Pie

Okay, seriously. This would be so good with pistachio pudding, or even banana cream. Mmmm....I have to make it. The recipe comes from Favorite Family Recipes.

1 cup flour
1 cube butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix thoroughly and press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 to 20 min, then cool.

8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
9 oz. cool whip (1/2 of carton)
Mix well and spread on first layer.

2 small pkgs. of instant pudding
2 1/2 cups cold milk

Beat for 2 minutes then spread on second layer.
Spread on remaining cool whip and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

The. Best. Frosting. Ever.

Seriously though. I LOVE this frosting, so I'm using my blog as a recipe book.

This comes from The Wilton Method of Cake Decorating Course 1 book, provided by Karly. :)

1 cup solid white vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon Wilton flavor (Vanilla, Almond or Butter)
2 tablespoons milk or water
1 lb. pure cane confectioners' sugar (approximately 4 cups)
1 tablespoon Wilton Meringue Powder
A pinch of salt (optional)

Cream shortening, flavoring and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend an additional minute or so, until creamy.

For chocolate buttercream: Add 3/4 cup cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted, and an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons water to recipe. Mix until well blended.

Makes 3 cups of Stiff Consistency icing (used for flowers with upright petals, etc). Add one teaspoon water to each cup of stiff consistency icing for medium consistency (used for stars, flowers with petals that lie flat, etc). Add two teaspoons of water to each cup of stiff consistency icing for thin consistency (writing words or icing a cake).

Flower Pot Treats

Jenifer put a link on her blog to this Web site that shows you how to make flower pot desserts. I've always wanted to be the type of Mom that makes cute little desserts for her children, (and NO, I'm not pregnant - I'm just sayin'). I may as well start practicing now so that by the time I do have kids they (& all of their friends) will think my treats are awesome! The ingredients for these cute desserts are as follows:

1. Ice cream (any flavor) softened
   
2. Pound cake (the recipe says that frozen works best)
3. Oreos
4. Gummy worms

You'll also need:

1. Small clay flowerpots
2. Straws
3. Fresh cut flowers

Using a serrated knife, cut the frozen pound cake into 1 to 1 1/2 inch slices. Find a biscuit or cookie cutter that fits in the bottom of the flower pot & begin cutting the slices into rounds. Drop one round of cake into each pot, lightly pressing to make sure it's all the way down.

Hold a straw up to the side of the pot & snip it so that it's about 1/2 to 1 inch shorter than the top of the pot. Use that straw as a guide to cut the rest of the straws. Stick a straw into the center of each pot, anchoring it into the cake. Spoon the ice cream into the pot, working around the straw, until it almost reaches the very top of the straw.

If you are making the ice cream pot for a boy, you might want to throw in some gummy worms about halfway through. Use a damp paper towel & run it along the inside of the top of the pot when you're done spooning in the ice cream to clean up the edges a little. After the pots are filled with ice cream, return them to the freezer & let the ice cream get very firm.

Put the Oreos in a food processor & crush them until they look like topsoil. You can put them into a Ziploc bag & crush them with a rolling pin if you don't have a food processor.

Once the ice cream is frozen, take the pots out of the freezer & begin spooning the crushed oreos over the top, trying to cover the ice cream completely. Then, if the pot is for a girl, stick a few flowers into the straw. After you stick in the flower, spoon more cookie crumbs up against the top of the straw. It the pot is for a boy, stick a couple more gummy worms on top of the cookie crumbs.