Ice Cream Pies: A Hot Weather Treat
By Patricia Mitchell
Ice cream lovers appreciate ice cream pie at any time of year. But nothing persuades like a summer heat wave when you want a cool, delicious treat that
everyone will love. The cook need not do a whole lot of cooking. In fact, an ice cream pie can be prepared and stored in the freezer for up to two weeks prior to
serving. You just may want to make two so you'll have an extra special dessert on hand.
The most difficult part of making an ice cream pie may be deciding what flavor combinations to use. Think of all the choices in the cookie aisle of the supermarket.
Those are your crust options. Add to those the Brownie Pie Shell recipe included with this article, and it really gives you something to think about.
Now consider all the ice cream flavors to be found in the frozen food section. The flavor combinations are endless.
You will need one quart of ice cream for your 9-inch ice cream pie, although you may wish to use one pint each of two complimentary flavors. But let's begin
with the crust.
Cookie Crumb Pie Crust
- 1-1/2 cups crumbs, your choice of (or use your imagination):
- Oreos
- Chocolate wafers
- Graham crackers
- Shortbread
- Pecan Sandies
- Gingersnaps
- Oatmeal cookies
- Macaroons
- Sugar cones
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Butter a glass pie plate.
Make the cookie crumbs by pulsing cookies in a food processor, or put them in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.
Combine the crumbs and melted butter, stirring until crumbs are evenly moistened. Pour mixture into pie plate and, using your fingers, press mixture evenly across the bottom and up the sides of the plate.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until toasted. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Freeze crust for at least 30 minutes before filling so crumbs will not mix with ice cream.
Brownie Pie Shell
- 2 ounces (squares) unsweetened chocolate
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 extra large egg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (white or whole wheat)
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Butter a 9-inch glass pie plate.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan or double boiler over very low heat, stirring to blend.
Remove pan from heat. Stir in the brown sugar. Then add the rest of the ingredients, stirring well. Pour into well-buttered 9-inch glass pie plate.
Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until brownie crust begins to pull away from the sides of the dish. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Making and serving ice cream pies:
- Ice cream should be soft enough to work with, but not melting. Soften ice cream in the upper shelf of the refrigerator before using, about 20 minutes for premium brands and 10 to 15 minutes for store brands. Ice cream that has completely melted will not return to its original state when refrozen; in fact, it may freeze hard as a rock.
- If you are using two layers of ice cream, sprinkle crushed candy, cookies or chocolate chips between layers, if desired.
- You may "paint" cookie crusts with a thin layer of melted chocolate before freezing. Use 2 ounces of melted bittersweet, semisweet, milk or white chocolate.
- Allow ice cream pies to soften for 15 to 20 minutes in the refrigerator or 5 to 10 minutes at room temperature before serving.
- To make serving easier, set pie plate on a warm, damp towel for a minute or two. To cut, dip the knife in a glass of hot water and dry on a paper towel between slices.
Toppings and Garnishes
Again, use your imagination. Crushed hard candies like peppermints and lemon drops are good choices, but miniature chocolate chips and chopped chocolate-covered mints are good, too. Perhaps you would like to match the topping to the cookie crust. For example, chocolate wafer crust with a finely crushed chocolate wafer crumb garnish. And then there's fresh fruit: strawberries, sliced peaches, raspberries or bananas, and chopped nuts.
In my experience, toppings and garnishes are best added at serving time. This would be especially true of whipped topping, whipped cream or sauces such as chocolate or butterscotch.
To fire your imagination, here are some suggested flavor combinations:
- Brownie crust with pistachio ice cream garnished with whipped topping and chopped pistachios
- Shortbread crust with chocolate ice cream and raspberry sorbet garnished with fresh raspberries and chocolate curls
- Chocolate wafer crust with mint chocolate chip ice cream garnished with chocolate cookie crumbs
- Graham cracker crust with peach ice cream garnished with fresh peach slices and graham cracker crumbs
- Oatmeal cookie crust with banana ice cream garnished with whipped topping, thinly sliced bananas and drizzled chocolate sauce
That should be enough to get you started.
Now, can I get that à la mode?
If you have questions about this article or the recipes,
please email us at feedback@texascooking.com
end article
