Caramel Turtle Ice Cream Cake

With warm weather in full swing (at least for today) I thought ice cream would be nice ending to our Sunday Dinner. Always wanting to try something new and different, I spotted this recipe from Cook's Country. A delicious Oreo crust, dulche de leche (caramel), vanilla and chocolate ice cream and crushed Skor bars made for a delicious dessert . Topped with whipped cream and caramel sauce I think we were all in ice cream heaven.

A few pointers after making this

1- don't feel tied down to the flavors of the recipe. Be creative. I think substituting mint chocolate chip for the caramel ice cream and adding some crushed grasshopper cookies (instead of the skor bar)would be delicious! Note that using good quality ice cream here is going to make a HUGE difference!

2- Don't let your ice cream get overly soft while you are spreading it. I made this mistake with my first layer and some of it melted out the bottom of the springform pan. If you wanted to avoid this, you could use a 8 in square pan and just not worry about the skor bar or sprinkle it on top. Also, I could only find 14.5 oz containers and next time I might use two, just to make the layers more pronounced.

3- Make sure you smooth down the ice cream layers really well. A flat bottomed measuring cup works great. Then tightly pack down the oreo crumbs.

4- Make sure your Skor bar is cut into fairly small pieces or use the pre chopped bits in the bag. Mine were a little too big and I had a hard time getting them to stick on the sides.

Caramel Turtle Ice Cream Cake

Cooks Country

25 Oreo cookies , broken into rough pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
1 pint dulce de leche ice cream (Häagen-Dazs)
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 pint chocolate ice cream
1/2 cup finely crushed Skor bars
toasted and chopped pecans (for sprinkling on top)
Caramel Sauce
Whipped cream

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Process the Oreos in a food processor until finely and evenly ground, about 30 seconds. With the machine running, pour the butter through the feed tube and continue to process until the mixture resembles wet sand (you should have about 2 cups).
2. Transfer 2/3 cup of the crumbs to a 9-inch springform pan. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to press the crumbs into an even layer. Bake until the crust is fragrant and set, 5 to 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
3. Scoop the dulce de leche ice cream into a large bowl and work to soften. Spread the ice cream evenly over the cooled crust. Sprinkle another 2/3 cup Oreo crumbs over the ice cream and pack them down lightly. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until the ice cream is just firm, about 30 minutes. Repeat with the vanilla ice cream and the remaining 2/3 cup of Oreo crumbs, wrap tightly, and freeze for another 30 minutes. Soften the chocolate ice cream, spread evenly in the pan, and smooth the top . Rewrap the pan tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 8 hours.
4. To serve, run a hot paring knife between the springform pan and the cake, then remove the sides of the pan. Slide a thin metal spatula between the crust and the pan bottom to loosen, then slide the cake onto a serving platter. Press the Skor bars onto the sides of the cake and sprinkle pecans over the top. Serve with Caramel Sauce and whipped cream.

To Make Ahead
The ice cream cake can be assembled and frozen in the springform pan, wrapped tightly with plastic wrap, for up to 1 week before serving.

Posted by: Sallie