I realized that was I was really craving was the turtle cheesecake. They used to sell the whole cake at Sam's Club; now all I can find are the little square bites. You know, oreo crust, cheesecake topped with chocolate chips, pecans, and caramel? Well, for some reason that I can't remember now, I didn't want cheesecake, so I made an alternative, cheesecakeless version.
First, a regular crust that I prebaked using my new pie weights! I actually bought them a while ago, but this is their maiden voyage. The crust still kind of melted down the sides, but it wasn't too bad. I wanted to do a fun, decorative edge, but I couldn't think of anything, so I just made the regular fluting bigger.
Then, I made dulce de leche by pressure cooking a can of sweetened condensed milk for 30 minutes. I put a layer of that in the bottom of the crust and topped it with mini chocolate chips and chopped pecans.
Then, I prepared a chocolate mousse and poured that on top of the caramelly mixture. Top again with chocolate chips, pecans, and more dulce de leche.
It was pretty good. But very rich. And I found myself wishing it had more of a cheesecakey texture. Sort of like that turtle cheesecake I'd been imagining.
Why didn't I just make it a cheesecake? I have no idea.
I still have half of the pie in my fridge. Yeah, I know, it's been two weeks.
Ratings:
Flavor: 8
Execution: 9. Looked like the kind of pie you'd want to get at a restaurant...even if you end up regretting it because it is too rich to finish.
Difficulty: Medium. The mousse kind of took a bit of finagling, but not too bad, really.
Overall rating: *** 3 out of 5 stars.
