Coconut-Ice Cream Snowman

I am in a snowy mood. We have had snow off and on for a few days now, and woke up this morning to a few new inches. They are predicting another 6-20 inches tonight. If I still had kids at home attending school, they would be home today wanting something to do.

I am waiting for things to warm up just a bit before I head out on my run, so I have been wasting some time hoping on some of my favorite sites. I found this on good ol' Martha Stewart and had to share! I LOVE snowmen, and since I'm in that snowy mood it was perfect!

Yield Makes 4 

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pints best-quality vanilla ice cream
• Two 7-ounce packages coconut
• Orange food coloring

For the Nose

• 1 tablespoon marzipan (1/4 ounce)

For the Eyes, Mouth, and Buttons

• 40 Sen Sen licorice candies

For the Hat

• 4 marshmallows
• 4 chocolate wafers
• Sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Line a baking pan that fits in your freezer with parchment paper. Scoop the vanilla ice cream, rounding scoops as much as possible, until you have 4 of each size, and place on the prepared baking pan. Place the pan in the freezer to harden for 15 minutes.
2. Remove the ice cream from the freezer, and roll in coconut. Return to pan, then return the pan to the freezer. Add orange food coloring to marzipan until carrot color is attained. Shape marzipan into small carrot shapes, using a paring knife to make ridges. Remove 1 small scoop of ice cream at a time from the freezer, and make faces using Sen Sen for eyes and mouth and marzipan carrots for the nose. Return to freezer until ready to serve.
3. Remove middle-size scoops from the freezer one at a time; place Sen Sen in a row down the front to create buttons. Remove remaining scoops from freezer, and stack to create snowmen, pressing slightly to adhere. Return snowmen to freezer.
4. Make the top hats by roasting marshmallows on skewers over a gas burner. Alternatively, place marshmallows on a baking sheet under the broiler, and cook until browned, rotating every few seconds. Place the toasted marshmallow on the chocolate wafer, and dust with sifted confectioners' sugar. Place the hat on the snowmen just before serving.

 idea and picture found on MarthaStewart.com