Friday, June 27, 2008

Caramelicious Pumpkin Spice Fruit Dip

Impulse buying often leads me to a new recipe. Case in point: this recipe. Last fall JELLO offered Pumpkin Spice pudding mix. It was lacking on its own (big surprise) but here's where it lead. This stuff is delightfully dangerous in the comfort-food way.

1 pkg Pumpkin Spice pudding mix
1/2 c milk, plus a little
1 block Neufchatel or cream cheese at room temp
2 oz or 1 tub-ette (individual serving container) caramel fruit dip
1/4 c eggnog (optional but naughty-good, even to those who don't like 'nog)

Stir pudding mix and 1/2 cup milk together until dissolved, then add in the cream cheese, hand mixer on low to medium speed, until very smooth. This will be thick. Thin (but don't over-thin) with up to 1/4 cup additional milk or eggnog. I used Pumpkin Spice eggnog (another impulse buy) which was actually only good in this dip. Mix in the caramel and again adjust to "fruit dip" consistency. This is awesome with sliced apples. Also yummy as a topping for ice cream or cheesecake. Or just a spoon.