It's like the fried ice cream you get at your local Mexican restaurant....but in pie form and without all that oil!
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When us four kids were little, Mom and Dad always made sure we felt special on our birthdays. Mom was sure to make our favorite meal for supper and she'd send us to school with our favorite birthday treats. Dad had a little different way of saying "happy birthday." He would holler up the stairs in the most atrocious, whiny voice "Kelseyyyyy, are you awake yet?" and I'm pretty sure it to annoy us until we were so annoyed, we were wide awake. Man, that made me mad. But he had a way of laughing it off and giving a big 'ol bear hug that would instantly make me forget.
The other birthday tradition was going to Carlos O Kelly's in Iowa City to celebrate. Sure, the chips and salsa were delicious and the enchiladas were great, but that's not what I was there for. After finishing the main dish, the employees would bring out fried ice cream and a sombrero, get everyone in the room's attention, and sing "Happy Birthday."
The fried ice cream - that's all I cared about. In fact the entire time they sang Happy Birthday I was just trying to figure out how I could talk Mom and Dad into not making me share that dessert with my siblings 😉
Man, I loved that stuff! The cold, creamy ice cream surrounded in a crunchy cinnamon crust.....then topped with whipped cream and drizzled with honey. However I don't ever recall getting to eat much of the whipped cream as my brother Jared was always the Cool Whip thief. (Rude, J, rude).
Speaking of my siblings, today is National Sibling Day, so here are a few fun pictures of the four of us growing up! Now that we're all married, I can say I've got eight siblings - and they're all amazing. Not sure how I got that lucky, but I'll take it!
Back to the fried ice cream......my favorite part of that dessert was always that crunchy crust. Even as a huge ice cream fanatic, I always thought the ratio of crust vs ice cream was a little low. Well that's not the case in today's dessert recipe! This ice cream pie has so much of that crunchy, cinnamon-y, sweet layer which makes it to-die-for!
A couple pointers as you work your way through this recipe..
1. Be sure to measure your corn flakes after crushing them up.
2. Be careful when you're cooking the corn flake mixture and continue to stir until it begins to caramelize and brown. Watch it closely - nobody wants burnt fried ice cream! 😉
3. Give the ice cream enough time to soften so it won't completely ruin the crust as you spread it out.
4. Did you mess up the bottom crust as you spread out the ice cream? No worries - once you put the remaining crunchies on top, you'll never even know!
5. Be sure to give this dessert plenty of time to set up in the freezer before serving; the good news is you can make it a couple week in advance so it's ready to go!
This pie would be a perfect dessert for my Enchilada Stack or my One Pot Mexican Beef & Rice! Enjoy this pie during a get-togethers with friends year-round and especially during Cinco De Mayo celebrations! Enjoy, my amigos!! 🙂
Fried Ice Cream Pie
Ingredients
- ¼ c butter
- 1 ½ c crushed corn flakes measure after crushed
- ¼ c sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 qt vanilla ice cream
- 1 8 oz container whipped topping
- honey and/or chocolate syrup optional
- maraschino cherries optional
Instructions
- In a large skillet, melt the butter on medium heat.
- When the butter is completely melted, stir in the crushed corn flakes, sugar, and cinnamon.
- Keep the burner on medium heat and stir continuously for 4-5 minutes, or until the cornflakes begin to brown. As soon as you begin to see color, remove from the heat.
- While the corn flake mixture cools for awhile, put the ice cream and half of the whipped topping into a mixing bowl. When the ice cream is soft, stir until combined.
- Press ⅔ of the corn flake mixture into the bottom of a pie plate or tart pan. Don't worry if it's not perfect! We'll say it's a more "rustic" looking pie 😉
- Spoon the softened ice cream and whipped cream mixture over the bottom crust and smooth out the top.
- Sprinkle the remaining corn flakes on top, cover with foil, and freeze for at least 6 hours.
- When ready to serve, drizzle with honey, dollop the remaining whipped topping on top, garnish with the cherries and serve with chocolate syrup (if desired)! Enjoy!!
Notes
Recipe added on the Weekend Potluck and Meal Plan Monday.
NancyMacklin says
Great recipe. Genius approach for the crust.
Kelsey says
Thanks Nancy! We just can't get enough of this recipe....usually when we freeze cookies and such, we forget about it (out of sight out of mind, right??). That's not the case with this one....haha!