Turtle Ice Cream

By Flyer920

Do you want to know the BEST thing about this recipe? Are you ready? It gets better as it freezes! This is unheard of in the ice cream world. All the fresh homemade ice cream I've made gets rock hard in the freezer. But this one--because it's made entirely of cream (no milk!)--stays soft in the freezer and you can eat it for days and weeks after and it will still be soft. In fact, when you make it you can't eat it right out of the ice cream churner (ok, I did) because it will be too soft. You have to put it in tupperware and freeze it.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 1 1/4 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 3 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 1 1 Tbs pure vanilla extract
• 1.5 1.5 1.5 cups pecan halves (5 oz)
• 3 3 3 oz best-quality sweet chocolate, diced***

Details

Servings 1

Preparation

Step 1

Place 1/4 cup of water and the sugar in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, and cook over low heat, without stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to high and boil until the sugar turns a warm mahagony or caramel color, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not stir, but swirl the pan occasionally so the caramel cooks evenly.

Remove the caramel from the heat and carefully pour in the cream. The caramel is very hot, and the mixture will bubble up violently, then solidify. Don't worry. Return it to low heat and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the caramel dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the vanilla. Pour into a container and refrigerate until very cold.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast the pecans on a baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes until crisp. Cool, chop, mix with the diced chocolate and store in the freezer until ready to use.

Freeze the caramel mixture in an ice cream freezer according to the manufacturer's directions. (It may take several batches.) When it is frozen, add the cold chopped pecans and chocolate and mix in completely. Transfer to quart containers and store in the freezer until ready to serve.