Coffee Pecan Ice Cream Pie

Everyone loves ice cream and pie—pie a la mode, if you will—but what about an ice cream pie? August is an ice cream month; nothing sounds better in these sultry dog-days of summer than a big ice cream cone that you have to lick round and round to keep it from dripping. An even better idea is your favorite ice cream flavor scooped into a meringue shell and topped with a decadent sauce—no licking required—the perfect pie for the month of August.

Pies with meringue shells are called angel pies—I’m guessing that meringue shells are the clouds the angels float on. Whatever the reason, it’s a heavenly way to use egg whites and create a spectacular dessert. It’s also a good time to get out your ice cream maker and enlist the kids on one last project before school starts—making your own ice cream filling. It’s fun and s-o-o-o delicious. Here’s my favorite combination of flavors—all in one scrumptious angel pie.

Coffee-Pecan Angel Pie

1 pint purchased or home-made coffee ice cream
1 pint purchased or home-made vanilla ice cream

Coffee Pecan Ice Cream

½ cup hot (not boiling) water
1/3 cup coarsely ground coffee
Pinch of ground allspice
1 ¼ cups half and half
4 large egg yolks
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 ¼ cups heavy cream

Pour the water over the coffee and let it stand for 5 minutes. Pour coffee into a pan through a strainer and add allspice and the half and half. Heat until almost boiling. Whisk the egg yolks and brown sugar together until pale and thick; add the coffee-flavored cream to the eggs, stirring continuously. Thicken and chill the custard in the refrigerator for two hours. Lightly whip the heavy cream until light and floppy but not stiff; then fold into the chilled custard. Meanwhile, prepare the nuts. Melt the white sugar slowly in a small, heavy pan; bring to a boil and heat until golden brown (being careful not to let it turn too dark or burn). Add the chopped pecans, carefully swirling to coat. Pour mixture onto a lightly oiled baking sheet. Leave until completely cold and hard; chop roughly or finely, as you prefer your ice cream.

Add the partially whipped cream to the coffee custard and freeze in your ice-cream maker according to directions, until thick. Add the chopped caramelized nuts and continue churning until ice cream is of a soft serve consistency. To insure perfect scoops for the pie, transfer ice cream to a container, using a flat-bottomed spoon or scoop to flatten each spoonful (hand packing). Freeze for several hours until hard.

Pie shell

2 egg whites
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
½ cup sugar
½ cup finely chopped pecans

In large mixing bowl of mixer, beat together egg whites, vanilla, salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Very gradually beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff peaks form and sugar is completely dissolved. Carefully fold in the nuts. Spread the egg white mixture in a well-buttered 9-inch pie plate, building up the sides with a spoon to form a shell. Bake at 275 degrees for 1 hour. Turn off heat and let dry in oven (door closed) for 1 hour longer. Cool. Pile scoops of coffee pecan ice cream and vanilla ice cream into cooled meringue shell, alternating flavors and making as perfect round scoops as possible; freeze. Let the pie stand for 20 minutes at room temperature before serving. Serve with warm Caramel Sauce drizzled over each scoop of ice cream.

Caramel Sauce

3 Tbsp butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 6-oz. can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
Dash salt
1 tsp. vanilla

In a small saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the brown sugar and evaporated milk. Add salt. Cook and stir mixture over medium-low heat until mixture just begins to boil. Remove sauce from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool slightly before drizzling over pie. Makes 1-1/3 cups sauce.