Dubba's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Ice Cream

Hmmmm, that sounded funnier when I thought of that flavor in the store. Actually, this flavor starts with my eternal quest to learn how to make a swirl! A quality swirl can be a great component to any ice cream, and there must be a secret technique to make one. I think I'm almost there actually. The problem is that the swirl is never tough enough. It just winds up getting mixed into oblivion. The flavor becomes part of the ice cream, rather than a contrast. Contrast is the spice of life... no no, that's not how the saying goes.

Ok, I'm babbling. So, my secret swirl? I know you can't just dump in caramel or butterscotch, it's way too thin. Something like marshmallow is way too thick. I tried watering down the marshmallow but then it's too thin. Yeah, you know where this is going. I 'watered' down the marshmallow with caramel. You know what? It almost worked! I should have chilled it first though. I got the ice cream pretty solid, but when the caramel/marshmallow mix hit it, the swirl (and the mix) melted too much. It tried, it did good first through a couple of swirls, but as I attempted to mix it deeper into the bowl, it just went everywhere.

Sorry, brain keeps resetting. I had the swirl idea in my head when I headed to the store. I also knew I wanted something really chocolaty. So we have a caramel swirl in a rich cocoa flavor, but we need la pièce de résistance: As I attempted to do some 'quick' shopping, it hit me as I walked down the candy aisle. Turtles! Chocolate - Caramel - Pecans. I can handle that! It fits perfectly into my idea. So I went back to the other end of the store to grab some pecans and then I headed home. Since I 'mutated' my caramel swirl with marshmallow, I thought of mutant turtles, or better yet, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. To clarify, I am neither a teenager, nor a Ninja (just in case you were curious)

Dubba's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Ice Cream

1+ Cup of Light Cream

1 Cup of 2% Milk

4 tablespoons of Cocoa

3/4 Cup of confectioners sugar

(about spoonfuls of regular sugar later on)

Swirl is caramel mixed with marshmallow (maybe 1 part caramel to 2 parts marshmallow)

1/3 cup of smushed Pecans

I made the swirl first to verify it would actually work. It mixed together surprisingly well, but if I did it again, I would let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two afterwards. The base chocolate ice cream is just the light cream, 2% milk, cocoa and sugar, nothing fancy. It went into the Ice-20 and then after about five minutes I added in the Pecans. Once the mix looked pretty well chilled, I attempted to add in the swirl.

The result? I really like it actually! The pecans have a nice mild flavor and add a nice crunch that's not too hard, not too soft. This is also the most chocolaty ice cream I've made to date, though it's no Haagen-Dazs. I like the swirl too. Again, not perfect, but before I mixed it in too far, it was providing a nice caramel contrast to the rich chocolate flavor. (Once it fully mixed together, the whole thing became a milk chocolate flavor with hints of caramel).

I've missed making ice cream, and this way a good try to get me going again. I almost wish I had another good idea for tomorrow.

Comparison: Edy's does (or did) make a Nestle Turtles Ice Cream, but they go with a vanilla base instead. What fun is that?

On Second Scoop: Wow, usually my ice creams don't taste as good after they've frozen, but this one has aged really nicely. The flavor is there, but for a change the texture is too. I'll have to figure out what I did differently since this is on the short list of ice creams I consider successes.

Disclaimer: I am claiming no right to TMNT, I am just a fan.