Black Forest Pudding Pie

I made two of these for a family potluck dinner. They were easy to make, didn't bother anyone's egg or nut allergies, and tasted pretty yummy. However, they were a little soft and sloppy when they were cut. If I made them again, I might try a little less milk so that the pudding becomes even thicker. 

Black Forest Pudding Pie

 
Ingredients:

Oreo pie crust (8-inch)
3 oz. chocolate instant pudding
1-3/4 cup cold milk
1/2 tub of Cool Whip
1/2 can of cherry pie filling

You can either make your own Oreo cookie pie crust or buy the prepared kind. If you make your own in a 9-inch pie plate, I'd recommend doubling the remaining ingredients.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the pudding mix and the cold milk for two minutes. Pour into pie crust. Refrigerate at least one hour.

While the pudding is setting, be sure to put the Cool Whip into the fridge to thaw it. Spread the Cool Whip on top of the chocolate pudding.

Spoon the cherry pie filling on top of the Cool Whip.

Yummy! You really can't go wrong with cherry and chocolate, can you?

Caramel Pumpkin Mousse Tart with Pecan Crumble

A few weeks ago, I posted an entry asking people to vote for what I should make for a special Thanksgiving dinner party with friends. After some fiercely close voting, the winner was . . . 

Caramel Pumpkin Mousse Tart 

with Pecan Crumble

 
I will not post the recipe here since you can easily find it on the Kraft website, and I didn't make any changes to it. Instead, here's a quick pictorial description of what I did. 

Step #1--Crush Nilla wafers. This is also called "Having fun with a rolling pin." 

Step #2--Press the crushed wafers and melted butter into the tart pan, and in a pie plate mix together the ingredients for the pecan crumble (basically: pecans, more crushed wafers, brown sugar, butter, pumpkin pie spice). Bake. 

Step #3--Beat pumpkin, cream cheese, more pumpkin pie spice, vanilla pudding and milk. Pour into tart pan and top with Cool Whip. Refrigerate. 

Step #4--Plate it. Before you serve it, top it with pecan crumble and drizzle with caramel sauce.

Yummy!

Halloween Dessert: Orange Jell-o Dream

Last weekend a friend gave me a book of Halloween recipes. I quickly picked out this dessert for a family dinner. The kids loved it. To the chagrin of my sister-in-law, they chose my dessert over the leftover birthday cupcakes she brought.  Sorry! But who can resist Cool Whip and Halloween sprinkles?

This is the book I received in case you're looking for more Halloween recipes. I made only slight changes to their directions.

Halloween Dessert:

Orange Jello Dream

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups of crushed Oreo cookies (I used the majority of a bag)
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter, melted
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed and softened
1 tub Cool Whip
1-1/2 cups boiling water
1 large (8 serving size) package orange Jello
1/2 cup cold water
ice cubes
Halloween sprinkles or candy

Set aside 1/4 cup crushed Oreos. Mix remaining 2-1/4 cups crushed Oreos, 1/4 cup sugar, and melted margarine with fork. Press firmly into bottom of 9x13 glass pan. I used a buttered spatula to help press the cookie mixture down. Place pan in refrigerator.

Beat softened cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. With a wire whisk, blend in half of the Cool Whip. Spread evenly over cookie crust. Return to refrigerator.

Stir boiling water and orange gelatin mix until completely dissolved. 

Fill a large measuring cup with 1/2 cup cold water. Then add ice until you have about 1-1/2 cups total combined water and ice. Add to gelatin mixture and stir until slightly thickened. If any ice remains, remove it from the mixture. Spoon gelatin over cream cheese layer.

Refrigerate three hours or until firm. Spread remaining Cool Whip over Jell-o. 

 Sprinkle with remaining crushed Oreos and candy. The original recipe used candy corn and candy pumpkins. Then they decorated oval-shaped cookies to look like tombstones. I decided simply to use Halloween sprinkles with little pumpkins.

Banoffee Pie Attempt #1

After my trip to the UK, my traveling companion and I both searched for recipes for Banoffee Pie (the tasty dessert mentioned in this blog post). Unfortunately, they all called for making a toffee layer by boiling sweetened condensed milk for a really long time--either on the stove top or in the oven. 

In this summer's record-breaking heat, I really didn't want to turn on the oven or stand over the stove top for a long time, so I tried to find a way to cheat. I melted toffee bits (which I found near chocolate chips in the store) with a little corn syrup. 

The toffee bits melted fine, but they completely hardened in the pie, so that I had a hard candy layer in the middle. Needless to say, I'll need another attempt at this, but I may have to wait until the outdoor temperature comes down!

Banoffee Pie Attempt #1

Here's some photos from my attempt. First, you need a cookie crust. You can use crushed graham crackers or shortbread. I used a combination of vanilla wafers and gingersnaps (pretty tasty, actually).

Then you need the toffee layer. On top of that, add sliced bananas.

Finally, top the bananas with some whipped cream. You can make your own from heavy whipping cream or use Cool Whip.

If you want, you can also sprinkle a little cocoa on top.

Raspberry-Filled Lemon Cupcakes

Cupcakes are good, but cupcakes filled with something sweet are even better.

Raspberry-Filled Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients:
Lemon cake mix with ingredients listed on box
Raspberry Pastry and Cake Filling
Cool Whip

Tools:
Melon baller
Decorating bag

Bake the lemon cupcakes as directed on the box.

Use the melon baller to scoop out a portion of the top center of each cupcake. Save these scooped-out sections.

Mix some of the raspberry filling with the Cool Whip. Place the mixture into a decorating bag and pipe a small amount into the hollow section in each cupcake. Replace the scooped-out portion.

Ice and decorate the cupcakes as usual.

Chocolate Truffle Pie

I made this for a friend's party over the holidays. The dessert is very rich, so I suggest small pieces and add the Cool Whip topping. As with many of my recipes here, this one is from the Kraft website.

Chocolate Truffle Pie

Ingredients:
10 squares (1 oz. each) semi-sweet chocolate
1/2 cup whipping cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
Cool Whip and powdered sugar (optional toppings)

Preheat oven to 325. Melt the chocolate and the whipping cream in a bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes. The chocolate will retain most of its shape, so stir it until it's thoroughly melted and smooth. Let it cool for a bit, and then whisk in the eggs, sugar, and flour.

Spray pie plate with cooking spray and pour in the batter. Bake for 35 minutes. Center of pie should still seem a little on the soft side. Cool.

If desired, sift powdered sugar over the top of the cooled pie. If you want a cool design, place a stencil down on the pie first. Sift the powdered sugar over it and then carefully lift the stencil from the pie. I made my own stencil by finding some fun paper snowflake templates on this website.

Don't forget to add the Cool Whip when you're ready to serve!

Yields: about 12 servings

Summertime Dessert: Frozen Chocolate Cheesecake

This is adapted from another Kraft recipe. My niece and nephews said it tasted like "an awesome chocolate cheesecake." So there you have it - another awesome summertime dessert!

Frozen Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:
16 Oreos, finely crushed
5 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
2 tubs (8 oz. each) cream cheese spread
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cup thawed Cool Whip

Line 9-inch square pan with foil. Leave some extra hanging over the edge for easy removal later.

Mix crushed Oreos with melted butter. Press into bottom of pan.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese spread until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Melt chocolate and mix into cream cheese. Fold Cool Whip into mixture and spoon over cookie crust.

Freeze 6 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before you want to serve. Use foil to lift cheesecake from pan.

Summertime Treat: Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes

I came up with this quick dessert idea when I was looking for a way to use up some supplies around the kitchen without having to turn on the oven.

You can serve these straight from the fridge or freeze them. However, the refrigerated version is creamier than the frozen version.

Chocolate Pudding Cupcakes

Ingredients:
10 Oreos, crushed
6 Oreos, whole
2 tablespoons butter
2 chocolate pudding snack cups
1 1/4 cup Cool Whip, thawed and divided

Finely crush 10 Oreo cookies. I like to put them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter and mix them with the crushed Oreos. Push these into the bottom of muffin tins that have been lined with paper or foil cups.

In a small bowl, mix the 2 pudding snacks with 3/4 cup of the Cool Whip. Spoon over Oreo crusts.

Top with an extra dollop of Cool Whip and one of the whole Oreos.

Yields: 6 servings

How to Make an Easy Ice Cream Cake

I got this idea from a co-worker and turned it into a treat for a friend who was expecting a baby (hence, the baby-themed candles on top).

This ice cream cake is easy to make and super sweet so be sure to share with friends. :)

Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients:
9 ice cream sandwiches
hot fudge sauce
Cool Whip, thawed
Peanut Butter Frosting (2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons peanut butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2-3 tablespoons milk)

On a large sheet of aluminum foil lay down two ice cream sandwiches side-by-side. Take a third sandwich and cut it in half. Place the two halves down so that the first layer is the length and width of a loaf pan.


Make the peanut butter frosting (originally posted in the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake post. (Basically, you mix the ingredients listed above.) Spread a layer of the frosting over the ice cream sandwiches.


Then spread a thin layer of hot fudge sauce over the peanut butter frosting.
Repeat those three layers (sandwiches, peanut butter, fudge sauce). Finish with one last layer of ice cream sandwiches.

Wrap the cake with the aluminum foil and freeze for a couple hours. When you're reading to serve, frost with Cool Whip.

The cake has some pretty cool layers when you cut into it.

Serves about 10.

Fourth of July Dessert: Berry Brownie Shortcake

I know I'm posting this recipe too late for this year's Fourth of July, but you can keep it in mind for next year. :) Or you can do the Fourth of July Shortcake I made last year. That photo is still one of my favorites. I swear the blueberry in the lower left corner is smiling at me.

This recipe is yet another adaptation of a Kraft Food recipe. The original version was called Easy Brownie Shortcake Dessert. It called for strawberries and kiwis on the top. I switched the fruit to strawberries and blueberries to give it a Fourth of July flair. After tasting the frosting, I also added more powdered sugar because I was tasting too much of the sour cream and not the Cool Whip.

Berry Brownie Shortcake

Ingredients:
1 package brownie mix (plus the ingredients listed on the box)
8 oz. sour cream, divided
1 cup Cool Whip, thawed
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
about twenty-five strawberry slices and at least fifteen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350.

Make brownie batter according to the package direction, but add in 1/2 cup of the sour cream. Pour batter into greased and floured 9-inch pan. Bake for 40-45 min. Cool 10 minutes before removing to wire rack. Allow cake to cool completely before frosting.

For frosting, mix remaining sour cream with Cool Whip, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

Cut brownie horizontally in half. Put one layer on cake plate and spread with some of frosting. Gently top with the other layer. Frost again and then decorate with the strawberries and blueberries.

To go with the patriotic theme of the holiday, I arranged the strawberry slices into five-pointed stars and then placed the blueberries in the middle.

Serves about 12.

Cookies and Cream Dessert

Confession: I think I've become addicted to the Kraft food website. That's where I found the recipe for this dessert. They call it "Cookies and Cream Freeze."

This is the second dessert I made while down in Atlanta. The original recipe called for a loaf pan. Since we didn't have one down there, I improvised a smidge so that I could use a lovely white bowl my sister-in-law had. The base of the bowl was a square perfectly sized to fit 9 Oreos. I think you could use whatever size pan or bowl you'd like, just make sure you adjust the proportions accordingly and remember that the bottom of this dessert will become the top since it gets flipped upside-down before you serve it.

Cookies and Cream Dessert

Ingredients:
about 14-20 Oreos
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tub (8 0z.) Cool Whip, thawed
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Line your pan with foil. Leave enough to hang over the edges. Then put one layer of Oreo cookies on the bottom. As you can see from the finished product, I made 3 rows of 3 cookies each because that's what fit this bowl. If you use a loaf pan, you'll probably use 4 rows of 2 cookies each.

In a mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Fold in Cool Whip. Take out 1-1/2 cups of the cream cheese mixture and reserve it in another bowl for the chocolate layer.

Spread remaining cream cheese mixture over top of Oreos as shown in picture to the right.

Crumble 8-12 Oreos and sprinkle over cream cheese mixture. (The original recipe called for only 6 Oreos, but I think I could have used a bit more cookie in my dessert!) Press down lightly so that cookie crumbs sink slightly into cream cheese.

Melt the four ounces of chocolate and stir into the reserved 1-1/2 cups cream cheese mixture. Spread over cookie crumb layer.

Freeze for at least 3 hours.

Remove from freezer 10-15 minutes before serving. Invert onto serving plate and remove foil.

Serves 8-10.

Fudge Butterscotch Cake

This recipe is a variation of the Betty Crocker poke cakes. You can find many poke cake recipes here.

Fudge Butterscotch Cake

Ingredients:

1 German chocolate cake mix (plus eggs, oil, and water as specified by recipe on box)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 jar of fudge sundae topping
1 tub of Cool Whip, thawed
1 cup butterscotch chips

Bake the German chocolate cake in a 9x13 pan as directed on box. Allow to cool for twenty minutes. Then poke top of cake with end of wooden spoon. Holes should be about 1 inch apart.

Pour sweetened condensed milk over top of cake. Allow to soak in. Heat fudge topping and drizzle over top of cake. Refrigerate cake for two hours.

Spread thawed Cool Whip on top of cake and then sprinkle with butterscotch chips.

Citrus Cream Cake

If you are seeing this blog post before 7:00 P.M. on May 8, 2011, you are seeing my mother's "Mother's Day" cake before she does. :)

The recipe comes from the Kraft food website. I made no real alterations to it. In place of the orange zest, I did use some fancy dried orange peel that my sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. Based on the directions on the orange peel, I used 1/3 of the recipe's original amount.

Citrus Cream Cake

Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1 small package (3.4 oz) Lemon Instant Pudding
1 1/3 cups sour cream, divided
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup oil
3 eggs
2 tablespoons orange zest (or 2 teaspoons orange peel)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed
1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour two 9-inch cake pans.

Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, 1 cup of sour cream, water, oil, eggs, and orange zest/peel in large mixer bowl for one minute on low speed. Then beat on medium speed for two minutes.

Pour into prepared pans and bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Then remove to wire racks to cool cakes completely.


Beat remaining sour cream (1/3 cup) and powdered sugar in large bowl with whisk until thoroughly blended. Stir in Cool Whip.

Place one layer of cake on cake plate or cake board. Spread half of Cool Whip mixture on top. Spread a little less than half of mandarin oranges on top.
Then place second layer on top and repeat with remaining Cool Whip mixture and mandarin oranges.


Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Banana Pudding Dessert

I had some leftover vanilla wafers from the rum balls recipe, so I decided to make some banana pudding. I combined a few different recipes to come up with this very rich and creamy version.

Note: This recipe is basically egg free, but if you are really trying to avoid eggs because of allergies, be sure your vanilla wafers are egg-free. I've found some with eggs and some without.

Banana Pudding Dessert

Ingredients:
70 vanilla wafers, crushed
1 stick of butter
4 bananas
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 package (5.1 oz) vanilla instant pudding
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups cold milk
1 tub of Cool Whip, thawed
a few extra vanilla wafers for garnish (optional)

Be sure to thaw the Cool Whip in the refrigerator and soften the cream cheese before starting.

Preheat oven to 350.

Crush the vanilla wafers. (I just use a Ziploc bag and a rolling pin.) Put them in a 13 x 9 inch pan. Melt the stick of butter and mix it into the crushed cookies. Press into bottom of pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Beat the softened cream cheese until fluffy. Add the sweetened condensed milk, pudding mix, vanilla, and cold milk. Beat for 2-3 minutes until creamy. Fold in half of the Cool Whip.

Slice the four bananas on top of the baked cookie crust. Smooth pudding mixture on top of bananas. Finally, top with remaining Cool Whip. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

If desired, garnish with extra cookie when ready to serve. (I wish I had taken a picture of this because the slices looked really cute with the little vanilla wafer sticking up on top.)

Serves about 20 people.

Perfect Icing for Piping

Last weekend, I was looking for a new kind of icing to do the lettering on the Chocolate Layer Loaf Cake. I was hoping to find a knock-off recipe for the icing used on Mrs. Field's giant cookies online. However, no one seemed to have one. The closest I came was an icing that was used for sugar cookies.

So I decided to come up with my own idea. Instead of adding milk, cream, or water to the icing, I used a dollop of Cool Whip. The result was just what I wanted! A yummy icing that pipes letters and borders beautifully and dries to a semi-hard finish--strong enough to hold its shape, but not as rock hard as royal icing. You can see the result on the finished Chocolate Layer Loaf Cake below.

Perfect Icing for Piping

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
2 heaping tablespoons Cool Whip
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Then add the Cool Whip and stir until combined. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add food coloring, if desired.

As with other icing recipes, feel free to add more powdered sugar if the icing seems too thin. If it's too thick, add more Cool Whip.

Icing will start to harden fairly quickly (faster than normal Wilton icing recipe but not as fast as royal icing). If it hardens on you, stir until it softens again. You might try a few seconds in the microwave, too.

Chocolate Layer Loaf Cake

The inspiration for this came from the Kraft foods website. The original recipe was for a cake roll. However, when I attempted it, I ended up with a mess that fell apart in my hands.

Now if you’ve followed my blog since last October, you know I’ve made one cake roll before (the Pumpkin Cake Roll), and that one turned out great. So when I had difficulty with this one, I went to the online reviews for the Kraft Chocolate Cake Roll. Although a lot of people said it tasted great, they also had problems rolling it.

So for attempt #2, I decided to forget rolling the cake. Instead, I layered it into a very yummy, chocolatey, loaf cake.

Chocolate Layer Loaf Cake

Ingredients:
6 squares semi-sweet chocolate
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 cup flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup water
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar, divided
3 cups of Cool Whip, thawed (You'll need to buy two tubs.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a jelly roll pan (10 x 15) with cooking spray. Line the pan with waxed paper, and then spray it again.

Microwave three of the chocolate squares and the 6 tablespoons of butter in a medium bowl for 1½ minutes. Butter should be melted. Stir until chocolate is also melted and well blended. Add white sugar and mix until no lumps remain.

In large bowl, beat the four eggs about 3-4 minutes on high speed until thickened. (I recommend really making sure you have the eggs thickened before proceeding.) Beat in the chocolate mixture.

Add the baking soda and ¼ cup of the flour. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Then alternate adding in some of the water with the rest of the flour. Beat well after each addition. Spread evenly into prepared jelly roll pan.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly.

As soon as you’ve removed it from the oven, sprinkle it with ¼ cup of the powdered sugar. Place a piece of nonstick aluminum foil over the pan and immediately invert onto a cooling rack. Remove the pan and slowly peel off the wax paper. Allow cake to cool completely.

When the cake is cooled, cut into three equal pieces (about 10 x 5 inches).

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and the remaining ½ cup of powdered sugar. Gently fold in 1½ cups Cool Whip.

Place one slice of cake onto your cake plate. Spread one half of cream cheese mixture evenly onto cake. Place second slice on top. Spread remaining filling on this layer. Set final cake piece on top.

In medium bowl, microwave remaining three chocolate squares about 1½ minutes on high. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Fold in 1½ cups Cool Whip until thoroughly blended. Frost top and sides of cake evenly.

Orange Dream Cupcake

I almost made these for Cattapalooza, but the chocolate cupcakes won out. :) This recipe was adapted from a full cake recipe. The frosting was the best part. With some dark chocolate decorations, these cupcakes could be really fun for Halloween.

Orange Dream Cupcakes

Cake Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding
¾ cup orange juice
½ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons orange zest

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the cake. Beat on medium speed for two minutes. Scoop into muffin pan. Bake for 16-20 for full-size cupcakes. Bake for 10-13 minutes for mini cupcakes.

Icing Ingredients:
1 cup cold milk
1 small package vanilla instant pudding
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 cups Cool Whip

Whisk milk, pudding, and orange zest for two minutes. Fold in the Cool Whip.

Chocolate Cool Whip Icing

This is the second recipe from "Cattapalooza." This icing made a really nice topping for the cupcakes. I put it in a decorating bag with a star tip and just made a rosette on top of each mini cupcake.

Chocolate Cool Whip Icing

Ingredients:
1 small (3.9-ounce) package of chocolate instant pudding
3/4 cup milk
1 8-ounce container of Cool Whip, thawed

Mix the milk and pudding together. I ended up using the wire whisk on my mixer. Then fold in the Cool Whip. (I had a little problem with the pudding not blending well with the Cool Whip because the smaller amount of milk made the pudding thicker than typical, so I used the mixer with the wire whisk to really smooth out the icing.)

The chocolate cross decorations were made with Wilton Candy Melts. I simply melted about 10 of the chocolate candy pieces in a decorating bag in the microwave. Then I snipped off the end and piped the crosses onto a sheet of parchment paper. An hour in the fridge was enough to harden them.