DIY Flower Pot Ice Cream Sundaes

Happy (belated) birthday, Earth! Now, let's eat!

In honor of Earth Day, we, the Smarty NYC team, decided to plant some seeds… and eat them too. What a great way to celebrate! Check it out. Introducing the Flower Pot Ice-Cream Sundae.

Things got a bit messy over the weekend when we decided to make our own Flower Pot Sundaes in honor of Earth Day. Using our desks, we spread out all our ingredients, including our freshly picked flowers from Central Park, and got to work.

First, we scrubbed our flower pots with soap and water, knowing we would soon be eating from them as bowls. Then we crushed the chocolate cookies into tiny pieces to represent dirt. We packed the "dirt" into the bottom of the flower pots to cover the drain hole, but let me warn you, no matter how thick you pack it, ice-cream is bound to seep out. To avoid (any more) sticky ice-cream puddles, we got creative and fashioned our plugs using paper towels and tape. Using the bottom of a pot as a stencil, we cut the paper towels into small circles and taped them over the drain holes. If you can find a thicker material such as the bottom of a styrofoam cup, it would be preferable.

We then scooped ice-cream over the cookie layer, mixing in our seeds, chocolate chips.

To top it off, we covered the ice cream with more cookie crumbs, guiltily eating some in the process.

The last step was to take a straw and insert it into the center of the pot. We then stuck flowers and leaves through the straws (so the flowers wouldn't touch our ice-cream directly) and got our spoons ready. We really should have given our flower pot sundaes 15 minutes in the freezer to harden, but we were too hungry to wait. What a weird feeling eating a potted plant, but wow, were they delicious!

I can tell you firsthand that these are super easy to make, so why not put together a bunch to give out as appetizers or make an activity out of it and have each of your guests make his or her own? You don't even need Earth Day as an excuse to make them. For extra flare, write your guests' names on popsicle sticks and place one in each pot. Remember to post pictures on the Smarty Facebook page!

What you'll need:

• 3 small clay flower pots
• 3 straws one tub of any flavored ice cream (chocolate would be the most realistic, but any flavor is fine if you don't want a chocolate overload)
• ½ bag chocolate chips and/or sprinkles (your seeds)
• 1/2 box chocolate cookies, 2 thick slices of cake, or 3 brownies (your dirt)
• 3 fresh flowers and 6 stemmed leaves
• 6 paper towels

Directions:

1. Wash out your flower pot and cover the drain hole at the bottom with the cookie half.
2. Crush up the cake or brownies and fill the pot with the pieces, leaving ¼ cup to the side.
3. Soften the ice-cream and mix in chocolate chips and/or sprinkles. Then pack the ice-cream into the pot until approximately ½ inch from the top.
4. Slide the straw through the middle of the potted ice-cream and cut the top so that only ½ inch sticks out.
5. Let your dessert harden in the freezer for about fifteen minutes.
6. Cover the top with a layer of the remaining cake or brownie pieces and insert a flower into the straw along with a couple leaves.

Dig in!