Ice Cream Baked Potato

Source: Cowgirl Hall of Fame, New York, New York

Vanilla ice cream, softened
1 cup pecan bits, roasted
1 teaspoon green food coloring
1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter, softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon yellow food coloring
Chocolate sauce, recipe follows
1 cup cocoa powder, for dusting
2 cups whipped cream

Form Potato: Take 3 generous scoops of vanilla ice cream and place in aluminum foil. Mold to shape of baked potato and return to freezer until firm, about 1 hour.

Make Chives: Mix roasted pecan bits with green food coloring until well coated.

Make Butter Patties: In mixer, cream butter with powdered sugar and add yellow food coloring. Spread 1/4-inch thick on foil-lined pan and freeze about 20 minutes. Remove and cut in 1-inch pats.

Assembly: Spoon a generous amount of chocolate sauce on the bottom of a dessert plate. Unwrap frozen "potato" and dust with cocoa powder all over. Spoon whipped cream on top of potato, sprinkle with "chives," and top with "butter pats". Serve with Chocolate Sauce.

Chocolate Sauce
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter

Put all ingredients in glass bowl and microwave for 1 minute on HIGH. Remove and whisk until smooth.

Yield: 4 servings