Dirt and Worms

There is a local custard place here and they have delicious custard concretes. My brother loves the Dirt and Worms concrete, which is vanilla custard with crushed Oreos and gummy worms.

For the last couple of years he couldn't have it because he had braces... the gummy worms are a no-go with braces. He recently had his braces removed after nearly three years, (YAY!) so now he can have gummy worms and the like.

As part of the celebration, we made Dirt and Worms for church. This variation is chocolate pudding. And it just might be better!

Here's what you need...

• 2 5.9 oz boxes of instant chocolate pudding and the amount of milk it calls for
• 1 package of Oreos (crushed. The food processor works great)
• 8 oz of cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 8 oz of Cool Whip
• Gummy worms

To begin, make the pudding in a large bowl according to the package.

Cream cheese and butter

Next, in your mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Then reduce the speed to add the powdered sugar. Once all of it is added, increase the speed so that the fluff is regained.

cream cheese and powdered sugar

Then, combined that with the chocolate pudding. You just fold them in, so that you don't lose the fluff. And once those two are combined, you fold the Cool Whip into it.

Adding the cream cheese mix and cool whip

Mud!

 And there's your mud! 

Now comes the fun part. Layering it. You alternate the mud and the crushed Oreos in your container. Use a container with clear sides so that you can see the layers. A trifle bowl, mason jars, or something of that nature. Once you have all of the layers you would like, add the gummy worms and some more Oreos to the top. This keeps pretty well in the fridge.

This recipe gets 5 out of 5 cat whiskers!
Mom found the recipe here.

Creme Brulee

French might be a weird language, but sometimes names sound better in French. Like Creme Brulee. It sounds fancy, like something you'd order off a menu on a whim.

Some fancy chocolate burnt creme.

In English, it means "burnt cream." Not really something that sounds too appealing. It sounds a little boring, to be honest. 
 
But I've got to tell you. I've made "burnt cream" and its delicious. It's appealing and the exact opposite of boring. I mean, anytime you can use a torch in the kitchen you're going to have a good time. I highly recommend making some Creme Brulee!

 Ingredients:

•  2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (of your choice, i used dark chocolate)
• 5 egg yolks
• sugar, for dusting

That's it! Just four ingredients!

The first step is to heat the heavy cream and 1/4 cup sugar in a pot, making sure to mix in the sugar. Heat this until it begins to simmer. Once it has begun to simmer, add the chocolate, being sure to whisk it until it's smooth.

In a seperate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. 

Now, slowly pour the egg yolks into the cream mixture while whisking. You want to take your time. This part is a bit like pastry cream. Going slow minimizes the chance of ending up with cooked egg bits in your cream. I cannot emphasize enough that you need to constantly be whisking... so if you happen to need a second pair of hands to help, don't be afraid to ask.

Once its all combined, you can strain it through a sieve, if you want. I didn't because I was fairly confident that I had no egg bits, but it's all a matter of opinion.

Now, you can pour the cream into ramekins. You can fill them however full you'd like, they don't rise very much. Once the cream is in the ramekins, place them in a brownie pan and fill the pan with just enough water to reach halfway up the ramekins.

They bake at 250 for about an hour or until they're just set.

Let them cool on the counter until they can travel into the fridge. In the fridge, they really set up quickly, which makes it easier for burning sugar on the tops.

At the moment, I cannot find the video my brother made of me doing the top. When I do find it, I will add it.


Beware with these, they taste very, very delicious. This recipe definitely receives 5 out of 5 cat whiskers!!

I found the recipe here.
I also made a vanilla version. I need to find the pictures before I write a post for it, but don't worry... chocolate was better! :-)