In this recipe, lightly stewed peaches offer a tempered tartness that plays well with vanilla ice cream and a sweet cookie crust, which stays crisp even as the ice cream melts.
It also takes little effort to put together — just 30 minutes, though it does require a few hours firming up in the freezer. Should you find yourself at the beach with a half-hour to spare and an extra bag of peaches, this might be just what you’re looking for to finish a meal of fried fish and fresh corn.
From Dailey’s in Atlanta, this recipe requires a food processor and a 9-inch pie pan.
Peach ice cream pie
Serves: 8
Hands on time: 30 minutes
Total time: 4 hours
Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups (about 4 whole) peeled and sliced peaches
45 vanilla wafers
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 1/2 quarts vanilla ice cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Chop 2 cups of the peaches into small pieces and stir them into the sugar mixture (reserve the remaining 2 cups of peaches for the peach sauce, below). Cook the mixture over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbly but the peaches are still crisp. Remove from heat and cool completely for about an hour.
In the meantime, make the crust. In the bowl of a food processor, combine 35 of the vanilla wafers and 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and process until fine. Add the melted butter and process until well-combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Freeze the crust for about 30 minutes.
Allow the vanilla ice cream to sit at room temperature until slightly softened, about 15 minutes. Coarsely crush the remaining 10 vanilla wafers.
Place the ice cream in a large bowl and carefully stir in the cooled peach mixture and the coarsely crushed wafers until the ice cream is just swirled in a marble pattern. Pour the filling into the crust, mounding in the center and smoothing the surface, and freeze until hard, at least 3 hours.
Meanwhile, make the peach sauce. In a food processor or blender, combine the remaining 2 cups peaches with 1/4 cup sugar. Puree and store in the refrigerator.
To prepare the sweetened whipping cream, beat the cream with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar until soft peaks form. Store in the refrigerator.
To serve, drizzle each dessert plate with peach sauce. Place a slice of pie on top of the sauce, then top the pie with whipped cream.
