I’m a wife, and a mom to a toddler. I also work 45 hours per week – sometimes more. Because of this, occasionally I only have about 30 minutes to turn butter into something fancy. For all of you busy moms (and dads) out there I thought it would be fun to review “kit” desserts every once in a while. I know usually store-bought treats don’t taste as good as homemade, but if you’re busy and still want to bake they are a nice solution.

I bought this Carnation Chocolate Cream Pie Kit about a month ago and had yet to find an occasion to use it. The little guy was with Gaga and Papa and my husband was taking a nap. I had about an hour before he woke up and we needed to be somewhere, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity. The kit includes one can of evaporated milk, crust mix (similar to pulverized OREOs), chocolate cream filling mix and whipped topping mix. In addition to the kit ingredients, you only need 5 tablespoons of butter, some water and an electric hand mixer.

I didn’t have a ton of extra time so there are no how-to pictures. However it’s a kit dessert that requires some light electric hand mixing. You’re a smart cookie. You’ll figure it out.

Mmmm…whipped topping. The chocolate cream filling wasn’t as sweet as I thought it was going to be, which was good because the whipped topping was a little sweeter. The topping set up very nicely after about 3 minutes of mixing on high. It didn’t have a strong artificial taste – a pleasant surprise considering the long list of ingredients on the back of the box.

Overall it was a quick (20 minutes to make; plus chill time) recipe that produced a very tasty and somewhat fancy looking dessert. It’s no French Silk pie, but it was fast and cheap. I may buy this kit again and keep it around just in case dessert orders are handed down to me with little or no notice.

Easy Peasy Rating: 4 out of 5