Apple Pie Ice Cream Cake
I don’t know about you, but when I think about summer and food, I don’t think of making pie.
I think about ice cream and barbecues.
The thought of heating up my kitchen to make and bake any kind-of pie makes want to reach for an ice-cold glass of water. And a fan.
On the flip side, a slice of apple pie with a scoop of ice cream on top… THAT I could go for. But I think we can do better than that.
WE CAN DO BETTER.
What if the pie was more like a cake or cobbler and made of ICE CREAM?
Dreyer’s Slow Churned has an amazing ice cream flavor – Washington Apple Pie (Washington state represent!). It has these delightful apple and pie pieces, and being from Washington state and all… I am even more proud to call myself a Washingtonian.
(See also: #GOSEAHAWKS!)
As I pondered the issue of pie vs. ice cream… I thought about my mom’s ice cream cake recipe. Which got me thinking: Could I make an Apple Pie Ice Cream Cake?!!
COULD I?
So I found my mom’s trusty ice cream cake recipe. Her recipe is for a chocolate ice cream cake. So I had to take a little creative license. Instead of her butter cracker-based crust, I came up with a crust that is much more reminiscent of say… an apple cobbler.
To give the “cake” part of the ice cream cake a little twist on texture (easy to cut through and smooth), my mom adds milk and chocolate pudding mix to her ice cream cake. I went with that theme but used vanilla pudding mix instead.
My mom tops her cake with whipped cream. For mine, I decided to go with a cobbler-type topping and caramel drizzle. BECAUSE CARAMEL DRIZZLE…
To be honest, I am not actually sure if this is more of a cake or a cobbler!
But I am sure it is a game changer.
What do you think?
In the end, I don’t think whether it is really a cake or cobbler (maybe a cake with cobbler topping???) matters because it gets eaten up so quickly there’s no time to talk about it.
My family is pretty usual in their ice cream preference – vanilla, chocolate, and peanut butter. I was a little unsure about how they would feel about this little experiment.
My worry went to waste as I served up my creation and asked for their feedback.
I believe their exact words were, “THIS IS AWESOME.”
At the risk of sounding arrogant… it really is.
THE RECIPE:
To make your own apple pie inspired summer treat, find yourself a 9×9 pan, and give it a little spray of oil. Preheat the oven to 400, but don’t worry, you won’t need to run the oven long! *Note that this dish needs time to set, so make this knowing it’ll need to set in the freezer for a couple of hours before eating!
INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4 cup and 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
- 1/2 cup butter crackers
- 1 cup and 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tsp and 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 cup and 1/3 cup butter (melted)
- 1/4 cup and 2 TBS brown sugar
- 1 container of Dreyer’s Slow Churned Washington Apple Pie light ice cream (1.5 quart) (softened – I leave mine in the fridge for 2ish hours prior to making)
- 1 large box of vanilla pudding
- 1 cup milk
- Caramel sauce
THE CRUST:
In a bowl, combine 3/4 cup graham crackers, 1/2 cup butter crackers, 1 cup oats, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Mix. Add melted butter and mix. Once combined, pour the crust into your prepared pan and press evenly (I used my fingers). Bake at 400? for 7-9 minutes. Let cool before adding ice cream mixture!
THE CRUMBLE TOPPING:
While the crust is in the oven, prepare the crumble topping. In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers, 1/2 cup oats, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix. Add 1/3 cup melted butter and mix well. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment and spread mix onto covered cookie sheet. Bake at 400? for 7-9 minutes. After about 5 minutes in, I mixed the crumble up in the oven a bit. I like my topping to get a touch more brown than the crust. I like the crunch!
THE CAKE:
In a mixing bowl, combine milk and package of pudding. Mix for about a minute. Add container of Dreyer’s Slow Churned Washington Apple Pie light ice cream – one, big scoop at a time. Once all the ice cream has been added, allow to mix on medium for a shy two minutes.
You don’t have to wait for your crust dish to cool before you pour your ice cream mixtures into the dish, but I highly recommend it. Pour the ice cream mixture onto cooled crust.
Sprinkle with crumble mix.
Place dish in freezer for a couple hours before serving.
After dish has set, run to your freezer, pull that Apple Pie Ice Cream Cake out, and serve with a drizzle of caramel!
And that’s it, folks – Apple “pie” for a summer day.
Apple Pie Ice Cream Cake.
It’s a thing.
