I love summer desserts like Ice Cream Pie. Unfortunately, so many of my favorite summer desserts involve such unhealthy ingredients like jello, cool whip, etc. This summer, I want to create delicious summer desserts made from real and wholesome ingredients.
The key to this ice cream pie's success is to make sure you freeze it for at least six hours. It also really helps to have a great batch of strawberries to work with - I am loving all the sweet, fresh strawberries that have made their way into my kitchen this season! The strawberry and lemon flavor combination is the perfect summer time treat, not unlike a cool refreshing glass of strawberry lemonade on a hot day.
This recipe is simple, though it does take some planning ahead because there is a lot of wait time in the prep stages. It's worth it though, really and truly! Though it would take a few more steps, you could use homemade cookies and ice cream too. This is a cold and delicious summer dessert, made from scratch.
Strawberry Lemonade Ice Cream Pie
Ingredients
- 6 oz. lemon cookies
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, diced
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced in half (for the top of the pie)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 pint (or 2 cups) vanilla ice cream, softened in refrigerator for 20 minutes
- 2 cups whipped cream (made from 1 cup heavy cream) *see note
Instructions
- In a food processor, grind cookies into fine crumbs. In a small bowl, mix cookie crumbs with melted butter and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream until well coated. Press crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" pie plate. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Combine 2 cups diced strawberries with sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Let mixture sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
- Transfer strawberry-lemon juice mixture to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until berries are softened and juices are released, about 15 minutes. Reserve 2 tablespoons of liquid and refrigerate separately. Pour remaining strawberry-lemon mixture into a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until cold.
- Mix softened ice cream with chilled strawberry-lemon mixture. Scrape ice cream mixture into crust and smooth the top until even in pie plate. Freeze firm for at least 6 hours. (You can make the pie ahead up to this point and cover and keep frozen for up to 2 days).
- Soften pie in refrigerator for 10 minutes before serving. Top with whipped cream and sliced strawberries (see note). Drizzle each slice with reserved strawberry-lemon juice.
- *Note: Though it is not necessary, it improves the pie's appearance to use stabilized whipped cream. There is an excellent tutorial here for how to stabilize whipped cream.
Have you ever eaten way too much of something just because it tasted so darn good? Tell me I'm not the only one!
Anna | ANNAdventure says
Yum! This pie looks so yummy and refreshing!!