Monday, October 5, 2009

Pumpkin Pie and Honey Nut Ice Cream

I persist in my quest for pie crust perfection, although I've chosen not to bore you regularly with said quest. However, I have found the tool which satisfies the engineer, or maybe perfectionist (or perhaps the touch of OCD) in me. I can roll my pie crust out to the proper size. Jeff Bezos had my answer.

It's a silicone mat. It has concentric circles with the sizes labeled. See? Just rolling, and without any picking, cutting or excessive fussing, I got my pie crust to 11" diameter. I have determined that's the size I need for my beautiful, huge, deep pie plates.

And with this lovely silicone mat, I can pick it up, flip the pie plate over my hand containing said mat and pie crust, and, voila! Crust is in pan! Just look at the first pumpkin pie of the season; isn't it lovely?

Of course, you can't have pumpkin pie without either whipped cream or ice cream; my dudes, naturally, want ice cream. The little ad line at the top of my gmail one day was advertising somebody's Honeybee ice cream to save the bees. Now, I don't know how eating ice cream will do anything other than enrich and enlarge my rump, but honey sweetened ice cream seemed like a good idea. And nuts go with honey, right? So here's my contribution to the use of honey and appreciation of honeybees.

HONEY NUT ICE CREAM

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


In a bowl, combine 1 cup milk, sugar and honey; microwave until warm, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks and cook another 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture simmers, whisking every 15 to 30 seconds. Cook 1 more minute, stirring every 15 seconds. Stir in the balance of the milk and cream, and chill. When the mixture's cold, stir in the vanilla and pour into your ice cream maker; process according to manufacturer's directions. In the last 2 minutes of pr
ocessing, add the nuts. This ice cream doesn't get nearly as hard as some other varieties, although, truthfully, the Pampered Chef ice cream scoop is the most wonderful one I've ever used. (I can put you in touch with our friendly blog-neighborhood Pampered Chef lady if you really want one!)

Ice cream and pie: what could be better?

17 comments:

The Blonde Duck said...

You're becoming my favorite pie lady! WHERE did you get that mat? I must have it! Now now now now now!

Not that I'm demanding or anything...

And about the secret tacos from last week--when you broil hard shell tacos, they get this fabulous combo of soft crunchy and don't fall apart like soft corn ones do. I used to do flour, but then I discovered you could have twice as many corn tortillas for the same calorie count...

Paula said...

All hail the honey bee ... and the inventor of silicon mats!

Jennifer Bowen said...

Silicon mats? What a fabulous idea! That pumpkin pie looks so delicious. I'm big on ice cream with my pies, too. My husband and kids, on the other hand, prefer the whipped topping. =)

Christo Gonzales said...

you know I want one of those mats now dont you - I am going the kitchen supply tomorrow - and BTW you have been instrumental in motivating me to bake more than I did and now do - it makes sense to have fresh desserts! (its desserts for us we have access to way too much good bread)

Mickle in NZ said...

That mat is wonderful - no need to lift the pastry to give a quarter turn, just rotate the mat!

And the pie and icecream look darn wonderful too.

monica said...

oh that looks so good!! must start cooking and baking some more...

SissySees said...

Oh yeah. I knew when I set up house that I needed one of those mats. I think I have two now, although one is very old brittle, and the newer one is silicon.

Lapdog Creations said...

That is so NOT nice to tease a girl like this ... esp the day before her birthday! lol

Tobi said...

WOWZERS! That is all I can say. That looks so delicious!

buffalodick said...

Good idea! This is another area I need work in..

Pam said...

You have no idea how much I want a slice of pie and a scoop of your honey nut ice cream right now.

Lakeland Jo said...

looks divine- truly divine

noble pig said...

When I first started making crusts I used that silicone mat as well...it really helped me get the hang of it. That honey nut ice cream sounds like something I need to make fast!

pam said...

I want pie. And ice cream. I want pie with ice cream. Now.

Jan Mader said...

Forget the mat...just send me the pie and ice cream....You truly are the modern day Harriet!!!

grace said...

what a perfect combination! i don't typically get excited about pumpkin pie, but if there was an awesome ice cream to accompany it, i think i could enjoy a slice or five.

Anonymous said...

Yup, you're the next pie queen! Thanks for another ice cream recipe too.