Mocha Ice Cream Pie

No, I am not eating dessert all summer long. OK, I am. But I’m eating other things too. I’m not posting them, that’s all. It’s been an intense month. My mom’s life turned upside-down when a couple of little clots decided to form where they had no business forming. We’re so grateful that her strength is returning and her muscles are coming back. And thankfully she’s eating again…

Anyone ever heard of Graeter’s Ice Cream? If you have, then you’ll know where I was last week. We paid a long-awaited visit to the niece and company in Ohio… with promises to bring back stories and pics of my mom’s first great grandbaby.

Graeter’s  (click on the link and you’ll be drooling all over the Graeter’s website in no time) is one delicious old-fashioned ice cream company. Whenever we visit the Bee Family, a trip to the Graeter’s ice cream parlor is a non-negotiable item on the to-do list. As I stood on line, I knew what I had to do on this visit to Columbus. Karen wasn’t in LA when I made a Mocha Ice Cream Pie for her mom and grandma for Mother’s Day.

Seems only right that I should make one for her during the visit. I sent Novio back to the freezer case to pick up a couple of pints. His eyes lit up. A pretty astute fella, he knew what was going on in my noggin.

Any favorite ice cream will do. But listen, stay with a brand that uses the real deal ingredients. Please don’t mess with any ice cream with an extended ingredient list that you can’t pronounce.

Or, if you really want to make an authentically homemade ice cream pie, make the ice cream yourself, like my good friend Bonnie. She’s brought ice-cream to one dinner party too many and now she’s made somewhat of a name for herself. Bonnie  is now the designated ice-cream maker to pretty much every dinner party in her circles.

When it comes to flavors, I’m definitely a traditionalist. You can tell by my list of favorites:

1. Chocolate & Coffee
2. Chocolate & Vanilla
3. Strawberry & Vanilla
4. Strawberry &  Chocolate
5. Pistachio & Vanilla
6. Chocolate Chip & Coffee
7. Chocolate Chip & Chocolate
8. Peach & Vanilla
9. Orange Sorbet & Vanilla… Creamsicle!
10. Chocolate, Strawberry & Vanilla… triple-decker Neopolitan – Hurray!

Now that we’ve decided on the ice cream choices, it’s time to make a graham cracker crust. I did one in the bb kitchen very recently. Click here to check out the Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake.

Doing the cathartic thing with a rolling pin

One of the quickest crusts to make

Ice cream impersonating a frog

Thanks for all the help, Kerri

Two quarts of your favorite ice cream and the crunch of graham crackers….what’s not to like?

free-form designs

 MOCHA ICE CREAM PIE

Ingredients:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Place graham crackers in ziploc bag and, using a rolling pin, roll back and forth until you have fine crumbs.  If you feel like using the food processor, place the broken up crackers in the processor bowl and pulse until you get fine crumbs.

Mix crumbs with sugar.  Add the oil one tablespoon at a time and stir until mixture holds together. You may only need three of the four tablespoons.

Using the back of a spoon, press the crumb mixture in an even layer on the bottom and about 1″ up the sides of a deep-dish pie pan.

Bake 8 minutes, then let cool completely.

Take chocolate ice cream out of freezer to soften. After 5-10 minutes, plop into a bowl and, using a spatula, stir until the consistency is uniformly soft without being runny.

Spread softened ice cream over cooled crust in an even layer. Freeze until ice cream begins to re-harden.

Meanwhile, remove coffee ice cream from freezer to allow to soften. Follow the procedure above to get the ice cream uniformly soft.

Spread second layer of ice cream over first layer and freeze to set. Drizzle chocolate syrup over the top  in a pleasing pattern.

bb note: Topping possibilities: Caramel syrup, chocolate shavings, sliced almonds, whipped cream… I’m staying very simple with chocolate syrup in this case.

Makes 8 servings. Best to have 4-6 people present when eating. Otherwise, don’t hold me responsible if you end up eating the whole pie in one sitting.

Baby Bee: Where’s my piece?