Mom's Birthday Pie

I wasn't sure what else to call this... I guess I could've just called it "Freezer Caramel Drizzle Pie" like the original recipe does, but I don't think that name really captures the essence of this pie. I mean, there's a lot more going on here than caramel and a freezer. There's also toasted coconut and pecans, and cream cheese blended with sweetened condensed milk and whipped topping. How do you express all of that in the form of a recipe title?

Anywho, my mom found this recipe and decided that she wanted this frozen treat for her birthday instead of a traditional birthday cake. Just beware, this recipe does take advanced preparation, as you must let a large tub of whipped topping thaw in the fridge for a few hours, and once the pies are made they have to sit in the freezer overnight.

Here's what you'll need -- no oven required!

2 9-inch prepared graham cracker crusts
6 tablespoons butter
1 (7 oz.) package shredded or flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (16 oz.) tub frozen whipped topping, thawed*
1 (12 oz.) jar caramel sauce

*The tub should tell you how to properly thaw the frozen whipped topping. The package I had said to let it sit in the fridge for 6 hours.

First you'll want to prepare the topping. Get out a nice big skillet and heat it up to medium, melting the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the coconut and chopped pecans and make sure it all gets a nice coating of butter. You'll want to keep the mixture moving at regular intervals to avoid burning it, as you just want it to get nice and lightly toasted. This will take about 5 minutes. Once it's done, you'll want to turn off the heat and set it aside for later.

Next you'll want to soften the cream cheese. I usually throw it in a microwavable bowl and microwave it for about 30 seconds; alternatively, you could let it soften by letting it sit on the counter at room temperature for a while. Either way, you'll want to combine the softened cream cheese and your can of sweetened condensed milk in a large mixing bowl and get to mixing. I turned the mixer up to probably medium or so, letting the ingredients get nice and whipped together so that there weren't any chunks of cream cheese.

Next up, you'll need a big rubber spatula to fold in the entire 16-ounce tub of thawed whipped topping. This really adds quite a bit of volume to the pie mixture. I kept folding and mixing gently until the mixture was nice and uniform.

Now to assemble! Pull out those pie crusts and add about 1/4 of the cream cheese and whipped topping mixture to each. Then top each with a layer of gooey delicious caramel sauce (yum!). The recipe says to drizzle, but I pretty well covered the first layer of the cream cheese mixture on both pies, using the back of a spoon to spread it out a bit. Then you'll want to repeat the layers with the remaining cream cheese mixture and caramel sauce. (I'll admit, the first layer of caramel sauce was a little heavy and I had very little of it left for the second layer of caramel, but I think it turned out fine anyway.)

It's looking pretty sweet, right? But we're not done just yet. Remember that toasty coconut and pecan topping we made earlier? Spread half of it on top of each pie.

Now it's like "whooooooooa." You might get a cavity just looking at it. Anyway, now it's time for the painful part of the process. You must let the pies sit in the freezer overnight. Horrible, isn't it? But according to my mom, it's worth the wait. Actually, she says it's the best pie she's ever had, and possibly the best dessert she's ever eaten.

I'm glad you liked it so much, Mom. Happy birthday! I love you. <3

Your Cupcake,

~Jesia <3