One of our favorite non-ice cream desserts is called Dirt. Dirt, in essence, is a bunch of delicious things that, when put together in one bowl, resemble dirt.
It’s generally an Easter/springtime treat but we’ve had it on other occasions as well. It’s also one of our son’s favorites.
Dirt consists of french vanilla pudding mix, cream cheese, milk, whipped cream, and crushed Oreos. Lots of crushed Oreos. They’re what make it look like dirt!
So, naturally, we had to attempt to turn this thing into ice cream.
Fortunately for us, our attempt was a success, and made for some of the best (and unhealthiest) ice cream yet!
To convert this yummy dessert into an even yummier ice cream, we basically just took our sweet cream base, added pudding mix to the sugar step, and melted cream cheese into the cream. Then we mixed finely crushed Oreos into the ice cream for its last 5 minutes in the ice cream maker, and subsequently added larger chunks just before drawing the ice cream from the machine. Then we folded whipped cream into the finished ice cream before putting in our quart container and topping it with crushed Oreos.
So, to summarize, we mixed cream into the cream, then added cream, and mixed it with cream. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? Spoiler alert: It was.
Dirt
It may be called dirt, but it DEFINITELY does not taste like it!
Ingredients
3 large eggs
3/4 minus 2 Tbs cup sugar
2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
1.75 oz french vanilla pudding mix (half the box)
2 oz cream cheese (half the box)
1 cup whipped cream
Oreos
Directions
- Heat the heavy whipping cream and milk on low in a medium saucepan until it reaches 140° F, stirring occasionally. While the custard heats, using an electric mixer to whisk the 2 large eggs in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- While the cream is still heating, slowly add the 3/4 cup sugar and 1.75 oz french vanilla pudding mix into the eggs, whisking thoroughly to make sure the mixture doesn’t become grainy.
- After the cream reaches the target temperature, gradually pour it into the egg mixture, again whisking each time the cream is added to avoid cooking the eggs.
- Pour the entire mixture back into the medium saucepan and heat it to 170° F. While it heats, add the 4 oz cream cheese. Whisk constantly so the cream cheese melts evenly into the mixture. (We ended up using an immersion blender to get rid of the chunks.)
- Now pour the mixture back into the mixing bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour or up to 3 hours.
- When ready, make in your ice cream maker based on the maker’s instructions.
- During the last 5 minutes in the ice cream maker (the ice cream should basically have the consistency of soft-serve ice cream), add in some finely ground Oreos. This is the part that makes it look like dirt, so add liberally!
- Once it has mixed, add larger Oreo chunks (see note below). The more the merrier!
- Allow the Oreos to mix evenly in the ice cream. Then scoop the ice cream into a medium-sized mixing bowl and fold in the whipped cream, making sure not to mix too much. You should still see some streaks of whipped cream.
- Move the ice cream to your quart-sized container and top with crumbs. Freeze until hardened (at least 4 hours).
Notes
- For our Oreo chunks, we ground up 8 Oreos into fine crumbs, and cut 12 Oreos into quarters. For the larger chunks, before cutting them we dipped them in half-and-half and let them freeze before adding them into the ice cream. This gives them a softer texture. Not required, but definitely recommended.
