Turtle Ice Cream Pie

What tastes better on a hot summer's day then ice cream?  I love the chocolate candy Turtles, so when I recently came across a recipe for Turtle Ice Cream Pie, I knew that I had to try it. 
I will start by saying that this dessert was a lot of work and very time consuming, so do not plan on making it last minute.  Give yourself at least two days, as it needs a lot of time to freeze in between steps.  Trust me that the end result will be worth it and your taste buds will be throwing a party in your mouth.  It is amazing!

Turtle Ice Cream Pie

Source: Bake at 350, adapted from Bon Appetit 

I would suggesst that you make the crust the morning of day one.  It takes about 30-40 minutes to make, including baking time, but it must cool completely and be frozen for at least an hour. 

Total time from start until it is ready to be used is over two hours. 

crust 

1 1/2 cups pecan halves or pieces (6 to 7 ounces), toasted, divided

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 5 whole graham crackers, finely crushed in resealable plastic bag)

1/4 cup sugar

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

•Preheat oven to 350°F.  Finely chop 1 cup of pecans in a processor. Mix in a bowl with graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Pour in the butter, blending everything until evenly moistened. Press mixture firmly over bottom and up sides of 9-inch glass pie dish (not on rim).

•Bake crust until golden brown, about 12 minutes (if crust puffs, press firmly back into place). Cool crust completely. Wrap in foil and freeze at least 1 hour, up to 2 days ahead. Keep frozen.

While your crust is in the freezer, I would recommend making your caramel sauce.  By the time your crust is frozen, your caramel sauce should be cooled as well.

caramel sauce

3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons dark corn syrup

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

•Bring first 3 ingredients to boil in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking until sugar dissolves. Boil caramel 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Turn off heat; whisk in butter, vanilla, and salt. Cool completely.

This was my first time making caramel sauce and it took longer than I expected, and did not get very dark, but it tasted really good.  I look forward to trying it again this summer and will let you know how it goes.

This part is where it gets time consuming!  When your crust is almost ready, take out the Dulce de Leche ice cream and divide in two.  Half can be put back in the freezer, the other half should sit out until it is easily spreadble with a knife.  Do not rush this step.  I tried to put it on early and ended up wrecking my crust and I had to start over :(  The second time I had no problems once I ensured the ice cream was soft. Remember, the pie needs to freeze for an hour between each layer.  Approximate time to make each layer, including freezing is about an hour and a half, for a total of 6 hours or more.  After these steps it needs to freeze OVERNIGHT.

filling

1 pint (2 cups) of Haagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

1 pint (2 cups) of Haagen-Dazs Coffee Ice Cream

caramel sauce from recipe above

•Slightly soften 1 cup of Dulce de Leche ice cream in microwave on low in 10-second intervals, or let it sit out at room tempterature for about ten minutes.  

•Spread ice cream evenly on top of the frozen pie crust; spread 1/4 cup caramel over. Freeze pie until ice cream and caramel are firm, about 1 hour. Repeat with Coffee flavoured ice cream and caramel, and freeze for another hour.  Do this once more with each flavour of ice cream, but no caramel on the last step.  We will save the remaining caramel sauce for the top!

Freeze pie overnight. Cover and reserve remaining caramel at room temperature.

The next day, you are ready for the topping.  Allow yourself almost 2 hours for these steps.

ganache topping

5 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tablespoons dark corn syrup

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

•Combine chocolate, cream, and corn syrup in medium metal bowl. Place over saucepan of simmering water and whisk until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and salt. Cool ganache at room temperature until thick but still pourable, about 30 minutes.

•Pour ganache evenly over frozen pie. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pecans. Freeze until ganache is firm, at least 45 minutes. Drizzle decoratively with 1/4 cup reserved caramel. Cover and keep frozen (up to two days). Cover and chill remaining caramel.

•Let pie stand 10 minutes at room temperature. Rewarm remaining caramel, stirring over low heat. Cut pie into wedges and serve with caramel.

Stay tuned for another delicious Ice Cream Pie that is much less time consuming. 

This Pie is absolutely delicious!  What is your favourite ice cream dessert? 

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