Spiderweb Dirt Cups Recipes

QUICK AND EASY DIRT CUPS

Steps:

• Beat milk and pudding mix together in a bowl until well blended and slightly thickened; let stand to thicken, about 5 minutes.
• Stir whipped topping and 1/2 of the crushed cookies into pudding. Spoon 1 tablespoon crushed cookies into each serving cup. Fill each cup 3/4-full with pudding mixture and top with remaining crushed cookies. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

HALLOWEEN DIRT CUPS

Steps:

• Stir together the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Add the milk and egg yolks and whisk together. Place over medium heat and cook, whisking continuously, as the mixture comes to a simmer and becomes thick, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate, butter and vanilla until smooth and fully incorporated. Divide between the six 300-milliliter glass tumblers and chill for about an hour.
• Top the pudding cups with some of the crushed sandwich cookies. Add the gummies, partially burying them in the crushed cookies, as if they are emerging from the "dirt".
• Write R.I.P. on the vanilla sandwich cookies with an edible marker, then place them in the glasses so that they stand upright and resemble tombstones.

PEANUT BUTTER PUDDING DIRT CUPS WITH MARZIPAN VEGGIES

Steps:

• For the pudding: Whisk together the cornstarch, eggs and egg yolks in a heatproof bowl. Combine the heavy cream, milk, sugar, salt and vanilla in a medium heavy pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until it begins to steam, then whisk in the peanut butter. Continue cooking, stirring, until it begins to bubble and the peanut butter is incorporated, then turn off the heat. Temper the eggs by adding a couple ladles of the hot cream and peanut butter mixture to the eggs, whisking vigorously. Pour the egg mixture into the pot, whisking, and turn the heat back on medium. Cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture has thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour into 8 heatproof serving glasses, then cover and refrigerate until cool and set, a few hours or up to overnight.
• To decorate: Knead maroon food coloring into half the marzipan for the beets and knead orange food coloring into the remaining marzipan for the carrots. Form the marzipan into vegetable shapes. Cut the rosemary sprigs and use them as stems. Sprinkle the crushed cookies on top of the pudding as "dirt," then top with the marzipan vegetables.

SHARK SIGHTING PUDDING CUPS

Steps:

• Prepare the pudding according to the package directions. Once the pudding has set, stir in enough blue food coloring to make the pudding light blue, 3 to 4 drops.
• Place the purple and yellow chew candies in a small microwave-safe dish. Microwave until the chews are just softened, about 10 seconds. Use your hands to mix the chews together until they are a purple-gray color. Flatten the candy into four 2-inch squares and use kitchen shears to cut each into a shark fin. Dust the fins in confectioners' sugar and brush off any excess.
• Whisk the heavy cream in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.
• Remove 1 tablespoon graham cracker crumbs and set aside. Divide the remaining crumbs between 4 clear cups. Add 1/2 cup of the pudding mixture to each cup. Sprinkle the reserved graham cracker crumbs on one side of each cup to mimic a strip of sand on the beach. Spread the whipped cream in a line just behind the sand to make it look like crashing waves. Stick a shark fin in the pudding water. Put a gummy ring on the pudding water and stick a graham cracker bear in the middle. Serve immediately.