Rocky Road Sundae Recipe

My Mr. Pea left me this week to visit our only daughter and son-in-law in Texas. Mr. Pea's birthday was last month and our Texas children gifted him a plane ticket. They are having fun together; Mr. Pea has them make out a "to-do" list for when he visits and they work on some home projects. I think a cornice board for the guest bedroom and some built-in bookcases were on the agenda for this visit.

Our daughter knows that Mr. Pea's favorite ice cream is rocky road. She had a special "birthday" dessert for him and his son-in-law (whose birthday is in two weeks!) to share.

Rocky Road Sundae

Mmmmm!! Layers of toasted walnuts, marshmallow cream, chocolate sauce, vanilla and chocolate ice creams on a cookie crust! This dessert was easy to make and was a real hit with the birthday boys.

Candles for the birthday boys

Birthday boy Brad

Mr. Pea blowing out his candle

My daughter found the recipe on Epicurious.com and made a few alterations according to reviewer's recommendations. Here it is:

Rocky Road Sundae Recipe

Ingredients

For crust

• 1/2 bag of Oreo cookies (9 ounces)
  
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For milk chocolate fudge sauce

• 2/3 cup whipping cream
• 8 ounces imported milk chocolate (such as Lindt), chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For marshmallow sauce

• 4 cups miniature marshmallows (about 7 1/2 ounces)
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 quart vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
• 1 quart chocolate ice cream, slightly softened
  
• 1 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped (about 3 3/4 ounces)

Preparation

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Finely grind oreo cookies in processor. Add melted butter and process until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust until set, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.

Make milk chocolate fudge sauce:
Bring cream just to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat. Add milk chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Let stand at room temperature until sauce cools and thickens slightly, about 20 minutes.

Make marshmallow sauce:
Combine marshmallows and cream in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Stir until marshmallows melt and mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes. Remove bowl from over water; stir in vanilla. Let stand until slightly cooled but still pourable, about 10 minutes.

Spread 1 quart chocolate ice cream evenly in cooled crust. Drop half of milk chocolate sauce by tablespoonfuls over ice cream, spacing apart. Sprinkle half of walnuts over sauce. Drizzle half of marshmallow sauce over walnuts. Freeze until sauces are set, about 10 minutes.

Spread 1 quart vanilla ice cream evenly in crust. Drop remaining milk chocolate sauce by tablespoonfuls over ice cream. Drizzle remaining marshmallow sauce over, allowing some chocolate sauce to show through. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts. Freeze until pie is firm, about 4 hours. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Cover tightly with foil. Keep frozen.)

Cut around pan sides to loosen. Let pie soften slightly at room temperature, about 10 minutes. Remove pan sides.