Chocolate Pistachio Icebox Cupcakes

As you may know by now, I gave up baking for Lent, which has since passed, but I have yet to have a moment to update my blog. That's not true; I just haven't felt interested in sharing lately. But I'm back and in generous form!

So as usual, I threw a birthday party for four of my coworkers, and although I ordered the majority of the food from LaSalle Bakery (OMG YUM!), I simply could not let a party pass without bringing something in. Add to that, the fact that the celebration took place two days before St. Patricks's Day, which meant that I felt compelled to make something green. Predicament #1: I had a sneaking suspicion that my coworkers (who think I'm crazy anyway) would not appreciate me blending up spinach smoothies. Predicament #2: I could not bake. What's a girl to do, what's a girl to do?

I pondered this for several weeks (hours, actually), and then it hit me. Icebox cake... in individual form! I'll admit that I was so excited about this idea that I bought the wafer cookies with which I would construct my masterpieces, one month in advance of the party. And there they sat in my cabinet, longing to be eaten. Worst month of my life, really.

So anyway, these are ridiculously easy, and would actually make a great kid-friendly kitchen project. I'll have to keep this in mind for when I have a slew of children running around my home.

Ingredients:
A box of thin wafer cookies. There is a Swedish brand that makes them.
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 box pistachio pudding (Or you can use whatever you want)- Do not buy sugar free unless you enjoy the taste of chemicals.
Food coloring, if desired
Stuff to sprinkle on top. I wish I'd had rainbow sprinkles, but it seems as though mini CC's were all that were taking up residence in my food decoration pantry.






Method:
1. Combine heavy whipping cream and pudding in a large bowl.

2. With a hand mixer, beat the cream mixture for about five minutes, or until it reaches a thick, creamy consistency. This is actually how I make frosting the majority of the time!

3. Determine how high you want your cupcakes to be. These were made with three cookies. Then, count your cookies and divide them up!

4. Arrange wafer cookies into single layers and pipe or dollop whipped cream onto the bottom cookie. Press another cookie on top of the cream, and repeat.

5. Pipe one more dollop on the top cookie and sprinkle with fancy stuff, if desired.

6. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours so that the cookies get soft. I let my chill (ha ha... I love puns) overnight, then brought them to work in the morning, and served them around 1pm.











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Wicked Easy and Super Delicious Frosting

Step 1. Go to grocery store.

Step 2. Buy can of frosting that is on sale.

JOKING!

So if you're anything like me, your favorite part of a cupcake, or any cake for that matter, is the frosting. I make some UH-MAY-ZING chocolate frosting, but it's not very helpful when you want to serve up pink, blue, or green cupcakes. I've tried many butter cream recipes, and some of them have been pretty good and one has made its way into my recipe box, but they all seem to lack that little something. Yes, even the 5-star recipes on allrecipes.com and the Food Network website just don't make the cut.

The frosting I'm about to introduce to you is slightly sweet and is oh so creamy! Every time I have iced a cake with this, I have been SHOWERED (well maybe not showwwered) with compliments because seriously... it's the best! It pipes really, really nicely out of a bag and holds onto sprinkles and other candy pieces impressively well.

So, I have developed an extremely simple recipe that will replace all other frostings! Ready?

Ingredients:
1 package instant vanilla pudding (not sugar-free... unless your taste buds are completely shot?)
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Method:
1. Pour heavy whipping cream into a cold bowl. I like to pop my bowl in the freezer for a few minutes before making whipped cream.

2. Empty pudding packet into bowl.

3. Get out your hand mixer and mix like hell until you get a nice rich creamy frosting.

4. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring to make this extra special!

Notes:
* I almost always use vanilla pudding, but I'm sure you could play around with different flavors. As you know, I am a huge fan of pistachio, so maybe I'll try that next!

* Make this recipe with chocolate pudding for a quick variation on chocolate mousse. Like the vanilla version, this is slightly sweet and doesn't leave you feeling weighed down. Pin It