Ken's Birthday

One of the detectives at work share a birthday with my BFF and BIL. He loves Black Forest cake and after making it for him I think it might take over first place as my favorite cake. Man was it nummy num and easy to boot.

Easy Black Forest Cake

1 package dark chocolate fudge cake mix

1 can of cherry pie filling

1 to 1 1/2 tubs of Cool Whip

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 jar of hot fudge topping

maraschino cherries for garnish

Mix the chocolate cake mix together (as directed on package) and add in half of the pie filling and the almond extract. Bake according to directions. I had left over cream cheese icing but if you don't have any just ice cake with Cool Whip after the cakes have cooled completely. Then add the other half of the pie filling to the top and drizzle hot fudge on top. Add maraschino cherries if desired. Then eat it up! If you have leftovers keep refrigerated.

Peanut Butter & Fudge Swirl Pie

Birthdays are special and I like to make the birthday boy/girl feel special by making their favorite dessert. One of the men I work with loves anything with peanut butter and chocolate. He's not a huge fan of cake so I found this recipe for a peanut butter/chocolate pie. It was good but very rich!

Peanut Butter & Fudge Swirl Pie

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese-softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I added 1/2 cup because I wanted a stronger peanut butter flavor)

2 cups Cool Whip

1 (6 oz) Oreo pie crust

1/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping

Beat cream cheese, sugar and peanut butter in large bowl with mixer until blended. Gently stir in Cool Whip until blended. Spoon into crust; drizzle with fudge topping. Swirl gently with a knife. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm. Refrigerate any leftovers.

You could also sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

At lady at work tasted this pie and liked it but she wanted to make it lighter so she made it but used low fat cream cheese, Splenda and sugar or fat free Cool Whip. I didn't taste it so I can't say for sure if it was good or not, but she really liked it.