Fourth of July ice cream sundae pie makes dessert patriotic

Go red, white and blue with your dessert, serving a strawberry and vanilla ice cream sundae pie with blueberry sauce.
Go red, white and blue with your dessert, serving a strawberry and vanilla ice cream sundae pie with blueberry sauce.

Desserts can be tricky for a Seriously Simple cook, especially as the temperature goes up. Making pie dough or baking a fancy cake isn’t what I have in mind in the heat of the season. Quick and easy to put together, this ice cream pie answers the call for a decadent, delicious and easy-to-put-together dessert. Since you are buying the crust, simply place the foil tin into a glass or porcelain pie plate for a pretty presentation.

Softened strawberry and vanilla ice cream are spooned into the crust in layers. Then a simple decoration can be added by lining the outside of the pie with alternating raspberries and blueberries. Best of all, this can be prepared up to two weeks ahead, covered tightly and frozen. Instead of a chocolate sauce, warm blueberry compote is spooned over the pie slice just before

serving. It’s a knockout Fourth of July dessert that will leave your guests asking for the recipe.

This is so easy to make and can involve children as well. Kids can help decorate the finished frozen dessert. For other occasions, you can vary the ice cream if you like. Just remember that the crust is either graham cracker or chocolate, and go from there. A few of my favorite flavors include cookie dough, Oreo, coffee, salted caramel and English toffee. Make sure the ice cream is soft enough to work with, but not already melting. Remove the ice cream from the freezer for 20 minutes before working with it.

No matter what flavors you choose, you really can’t go wrong. So make time this summer to create your own signature ice cream pie. This is a great item to keep in your freezer. Remember to remove the pie from the freezer 15 minutes before serving, and dip a knife in hot water for ease in cutting.

Fourth of July Ice Cream Sundae Pie With Blueberry Sauce

Serves 6 to 8

For pie:

1 pint vanilla ice cream, slightly softened

1 pint strawberry ice cream, slightly softened

1 (9-inch) purchased graham cracker or chocolate pie crust

1 pint raspberries

1 pint blueberries

Decorations such as mini-flags and/or red, white and blue sprinkles

For sauce:

4 (6-ounce) containers blueberries

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions:

Spoon the ice cream into the crust (if doing two different ice creams, spread one on top of the other); smooth top. Decorate the pie by alternating raspberries and blueberries around the outside rim. Freeze until firm.

To make the sauce, bring berries, water and brown sugar to simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until the sauce thickens, stirring gently, about 4 minutes; remove from heat.

To serve, remove the pie from the freezer 15 minutes before serving, and decorate with Fourth of July sprinkles or other decorations.

Cut the pie into wedges; place on plates. Spoon warm sauce over the pie, and serve immediately.

Diane Rossen Worthington is an authority on new American cooking. She is the author of 18 cookbooks, including Seriously Simple Parties, and a James Beard Award-winning radio-show host. Contact her at www.seriouslysimple.com.

Upcoming Events