halloweek: spooky chocolate mousse

when my sister & i were younger
middle school
(maybe elementary)
our favorite dessert was
'pudding in a cloud'
a little concoction designed by the kraft corporation:
a layer of cool whip
'spread onto bottom and up side of each dish with back of spoon'
(don't even think about using a knife or fork!
kraft will revoke your mac & cheese license...)
& then a spoonful of chocolate pudding in the center...
often we would make
'cloud in a pudding'
(more chocolate that way)

a few weeks ago
i tried the mousse recipe
(conveniently located on the side of the pudding box)
& decided to make it when
we hosted bible study at our house...

i wanted to do individual cups of it
& was trying to figure out
what i would put them in...
while perusing the halloween baking aisle at target
i saw my answer:


these little baking cups are so cool!
they are designed for making mini cakes
(we used star shaped ones for Q's second birthday)
but they were perfect for this...

so
here's the deal
(disclaimer:
i'm no pioneer woman
i'm just going to show what i did)

assemble ingredients:

(pretend there are mini chocolate chips &
cool whip in this picture)
(see? proof: not a cooker blogger person...
can't even think up a good name for it...
double proof!)

put chocolate chips & milk in a bowl
microwave 2 minutes
whip together until mixed


add pudding mix to bowl
& whip again


use a measuring cup
(or whatever...triple proof!)
to scoop pudding into baking cups


put into the refrigerator for a while
(at least 20 minutes)
i put all of the ghosts into a lasagna pan
so i wouldn't have to put them in & take them out
of the fridge one by one
(that could take like 45 seconds!)

when the mousse is set
spread cool whip over the top
(i used skim milk & cool whip free
so the fat & calorie count is loooow
& you know what that means?
you can eat two!)
(also not a diet blogger person)

add some mini chocolate chip eyes
& you've got some new little friends
to delight a surprise the neighbors



(note: i made these the night before we served them
& in some parts the cool whip was thin & settled a bit
& pudding showed through...
kind-of looked like ghosts who used dirty sheets
for their costume
& hey, i'm all for reality but
if you want pure white ghosties
i'd put the cool whip on no more than
a couple of hours before you serve them...
that sounded a little bit cooker bloggery)

so yummy it's scary :)

come back tomorrow for a
little halloween decorating show & tell!

boo!

:)