A few weeks ago I looking through my old Southern Living magazines wanting some inspiration for an icebox pie. The summer heat is here and it always makes me want to serve some lighter and colder desserts. The cover recipe from August 2011 was a Lemon Meringue Icebox Pie and it caught my attention. Lemon ice cream sounded good, but my husband really isn’t a fan of meringue. So I set out to create my own ice cream based pie using a whipped cream topping instead.
The first time I made this I tried Southern Living’s homemade lemon curd but it took 30 minutes to make and another 30 minutes to cool. So when I tested this recipe again I decided to use store bought lemon curd since it would significantly cut down on the preparation time. I am generally all for making things from scratch when you have time but sometimes you don’t have an extra hour on your hands. So for my pie I decided to make it simple and take a little help from the store.
Lemon curd is popular in British desserts so sometimes you can find it in the British import section of your store or in the jelly aisle. The brand that I can usually find in Chicago Stores is Dickinson’s, but my favorite is Stonewall Kitchen. If you live in the Chicago area Pete’s Fresh Market carries this brand. In my opinion, its about as close to homemade as you can get. After making this pie a few times now I think it is well tested and ready to share. It’s a simple pie that is delicious and pretty enough to share with friends and family. It can also be made in advance which makes it perfect for Summer entertaining.
Lemon Ice Box Pie
Nilla Wafer Crust
- 2 cups of crushed Nilla wafers which is about 50 Cookies (1 box will be enough for this recipe)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 /2 cup butter melted
Lemon Pie Filling
- 1 jar of lemon curd (make sure it is at least 10oz in size)
- 2 pints of vanilla ice cream (I prefer the homestyle variety over the split vanilla bean or french style flavor for this recipe)
- 16 to 18 whole Nilla wafers to line the pie dish edge
Whipped Cream Topping
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- Optional garnishes for the top include lemon slices, mint leaves and/or blueberries or your favorite berry,
First you need to prepare the cookie crumb crust.
Get your oven preheated to 350 degrees. Next make your cookie crumbs. I like to crush my cookies in my food processor so they are nice and even. You can see mine still have just a few course crumbs in them. Next mix in the powder sugar and the melted butter and stir until they are well mixed.
Then grease your pie plate with cooking spray and pour in your crumb mixture. I like to use my hands to begin to spread the crumbs out evenly. Then to set the sides I use a cup like this metal measuring cup you see below to help push the crumbs up the side.
Then place your Nilla Wafer crust in the center of your oven and bake it for 10 to 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it towards the end. You want the crumbs to be golden color. Then let you crust cool for at least 30 minutes before you fill it.
Then while your crust is cooling set your ice cream out to soften on the counter for 20 to 30 minutes depending on how hot your kitchen is. Once your ice cream is soft then scoop one pint of it in a bowl and using a spoon or rubber spatula stir in 1/2 cup of lemon curd. Then pour in this first layer of ice cream and place your pie in the freezer for 5 minutes so the first layer sets a bit. Then pull it out of the freezer and drizzle 1 tablespoon of the lemon curd on top and use a spoon or separated spatula to spread it out a bit and then put it back in the freezer while you work on the top layer,
Then take your remaining pint of ice cream and stir in 1/2 cup of lemon curd until it is well mixed and pour it on top of your pie. Use a separated spatula or the back of a large spoon to smooth out the top layer and once it is even and smooth take your remaining Nilla wafer and use them to line the outside of the pie dish. Then put the pie in the freezer to set for 6 to 8 hours so it freezes well.
Then before I serve it I make the whipped cream topping. The whipped cream can be made a few hours ahead and frozen. If you are taking this dish to a party then I would definitely recommend doing the whipped cream ahead and letting it freeze just a bit so it won’t run or slide on you when you transport it.
To whip the cream use your whisk attachment and on high speed beat together the 1 cup of whipping cream, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar. You want to whip it until it is firm and will stay on your whisk when help upside down or forms what they call stiff peaks. Using my stand mixer it took just under two minutes.
You could just spoon the whip cream on top, but for a neater look I like to pipe mine on using a large star tip and a pastry bag. Below is a picture I took for my post on frosting cupcakes where I use the same tip (Ateco #828). I found mine at Sur La Table. To fill my pastry bag I place it in glass and spoon in the whipping cream in the pastry bag. I fill it about 3/4 of the way full so it doesn’t overflow out the top.
Then I made two rows of simple stars shapes. To make the stars place the tip of your bag about 1/4 inch away from your pie and squeeze your pastry bag at the top to apply pressure and then gently pull up. Whipped Cream is fairly easy to pipe since it is soft. You can practice a few stars on a paper towel if you want till you get the hang of it. Then add any lemon or berry garnishes. Wait to add any mint until its close to serving time since it doesn’t do well in the freezer. Let your pie sit out for 20 minutes or so before you serve it so it will be easier to cut.
I made this pie to share with some friends and I decorated it slightly differently so I thought I would share a picture of that with you as well.
So as you can see there are all kinds of ways that you could choose to decorate this pie but no matter how you serve it lemon ice box pie is still delicious.
