Category Archives: Icebox Pie

Margarita Bay

28 Friday May 2021

Posted by in Berry Pie, Icebox Pie, Summer Fruit Pie

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Well hey friends! I’ve been sitting on this story for a little too long. Almost seems appropriate though, because this is DEFINITELY a warm weather pie that I’ll be sharing with you today. It featured at our family vacation in San Diego in March, and if you’ve been to San Diego, you know it’s practically summer year-round there. But, for the rest of us, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is just now truly approaching. So if you feel inspired to try making this pie by the end of this post, I would strongly encourage you to do so. I already can’t wait to make it again.

You may already have guesses as to what kind of pie is forthcoming here. But I’m going to drag out the guessing game a little longer. Your first visual clue is a graham cracker crust. (Pictured with other necessary ingredients of a great family vacation: stickers, virtual Sunday School crafts, and cribbage.)

And now…wait…what is happening here? Is this post about a pie or a cocktail?

Well, my friends, that is a trick question. For the pie in question is the Manchester Highlands Inn Strawberry Margarita Pie and if there was ever a cocktail in pie form, this would be it.

Step One: prepare two cups of juicy, sugared strawberries. While those are, I believe the exact word would be “macerating”, get out your food processor that you seem to always travel to Mission Bay, San Diego with lately and add the following: condensed milk, tequila, triple sec, fresh lime juice. Once the sugar has finished its work on the strawberries, those get popped into the food processor and everything gets blended into a nice smooth pink concoction.

After the strawberry filling chills for a time, it gets folded together with freshly whipped cream, then frozen. More fresh strawberries and some mint leaves adorn the top. Ain’t it purty?

Enjoy this pie around a firepit, if it’s not *quite* summertime yet.

This dessert only appealed to a portion of our family members, leaving me with almost half a pie that I cared not to waste. So Levi, who is supportive of my ways, agreed to go to the convenience store for some paper plates so he and I and Matt (always around for pie adventures) could tromp around the vacation-y Mission Bay neighborhood and ask strangers if they would like a slice. We shared with the following people: a couple about to go on a little nighttime walk who immediately went back inside to store their pie in the freezer for a post-walk treat, an extremely pleasant city worker named Armando who introduced himself to us as we were walking away, and a group of beachfront merrymakers who were very pleased to have some Strawberry Margarita Pie to go with their hookah.

Pie Peddling.

And I’ll leave you with a few photos of precious family time/chaos. Kids make life so much more…exciting? Squirmy? ❤

Lost Christmas

14 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by in Chiffon Pie, Icebox Pie

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Hey, happy January everyone!

Time for a few numbers and figures! Last year, my ninth year of writing Peace of Pie, I had a personal goal of posting at least a twice a month. I’m pleased to share that I did indeed deliver exactly 24 posts your way in 2020! This is the most I’ve posted since 2013, and it clearly paid off; the number of visitors to my blog in 2020 was the highest ever. Maybe you were all just spending more time online because #coronavirus but I’d like to think there was more to it than that. 🙂

Now that I’m sort of back where I’d like to be in terms of producing content, I want to start checking back in with you, my dear readers, more often. I’d like to know what kinds of posts you like best, what you want to see more of, etc. In the end, my style and my storytelling are what they are (and I’m so grateful for those of you who tell me how much you enjoy reading!) but there is still room for adaptation and refinement. Do you want more recipes to be shared? Some Pie Pastry 101 posts? Often when I make savory pies or quiches, I skip blogging about them…would you like more savory pie ideas? Ready…set..leave a comment!

Now for the pie alluded to in this post’s title. Last month, I was drinking a lot of eggnog (anyone else?) and perusing/editing my Pie Gallery a decent amount (you’ll know why if you made it through the entirety of the last blog post, yikes – it was a long one!) Those two activities happening simultaneously led me to realize that I had never blogged about an incredible pie we enjoyed not one but TWO whole Christmas seasons ago: the Eggnog Chiffon Pie.

Guys, I know Christmas is over, but these pictures I found makes me wish it wasn’t so I could make this pie again right now and have it be justifiable.

This was Christmas Eve 2018. Pippa was six months old and we were flying to Richmond, Virginia that very night. We had small pieces of eggnog chiffon pie after a big family dinner at Levi’s grandparents’ house, right before heading to the airport – I picked up my pie dish weeks later – so, it makes sense that among the shuffle this pie would have simply gone unblogged. With two years+ elapsed, it really wouldn’t be honest for me to try to give any sense of what it’s like to make this pie, but allow me to note a few features and ingredients: Crème Anglaise, rum, pecan graham cracker crust, exacting timing, yes that’s nutmeg sprinkled all over, rich, whipped cream served as a garnish or over the whole pie. I don’t feel the need to go on about this pie’s merits: basically, if you like eggnog, you’ll think it’s divine. And if you don’t, you should choose one of the other 299 recipes in Pie for your next holiday soirée. Easy.

In the Pie Gallery, Eggnog has now taken the coveted #150 spot over from the Mocha Ricotta Mousse Pie (sorry, cousin Daniel!) but most likely it will not hold that spot for very long, as I’m going through my memory with a fine-tooth-comb looking for lost pies these days…

I can’t let this post end without sneaking in a reminder of what Pippa looked like in December 2018. (Cue gush of tears on this end.)

Don’t forget to leave your comments about your hopes and dreams below (I’ll take pie-related or otherwise!)

Decadence in a Nut-Shell

23 Monday Nov 2020

Posted by in Chocolate Pie, Icebox Pie

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Pippa and Jack’s fall vacay, part 2. From the mountains to the beaches, these two know how to enjoy their surroundings. In October, our families shared a beach house in San Diego for four days and nights characterized by sticky sand, idyllic views, toddler shenanigans, and decadent treats.

I’m choosing to harp on the word decadence to talk about the pie we enjoyed on this vacation. This dessert is nearly laughable in terms of richness, over-the-topness, and, well…yeah. Decadence. Even Ken Haedrich includes a note in his description of this pie that reads: Warning: I doubt there’s a richer recipe in this book.

The pie in question is the…Patchwork Quilt Country Inn Frozen Coffee Toffee Pie. Even the name is a mouthful. Let’s talk about the crust first. This pie gets its own particular crust: Choco-Nut Press-In Pie Crust, which Ken comments is an “unorthodox crust” that would likely work well with many of the other icebox and ice cream pies in the Pie cookbook, “especially those featuring chocolate”.

The first step in the making of this crust involves pulsing chocolate and walnuts and sugar in a food processor. I had overlooked this small detail while packing but guess what it TOTALLY worked out because my food processor has been functional but essentially broken all year. Levi did a Target run on Day 2 of our vacation that included: a new food processor.

I purchased one item for the making of this crust that I will almost certainly never have occasion to buy again: boxed pie crust mix. (!!)

Having made that snide remark: the crust really came together nicely, was easy to work with, and tasted like something special. Here it is, pressed into the largest pie plate I own. Following this, the crust was refrigerated, then baked, then refrigerated again.

In between steps of pie-making, I assisted Pippa in creating a chocolatey treat of her own. (Thanks Trader Joe’s.)

Okay, are you guys really ready to hear about the filling? The answer is no, there’s no way to prepare for the shocking stats to follow.

7 eggs.

4 sticks of butter.

2 1/2 CUPS of sugar. (I just couldn’t do it. I reduced it to 2.)

Chocolate, espresso, Kahlua, vanilla. And none of this includes the topping.

My entire Kitchen-Aid stand mixer traveled to San Diego with me for the making of this monstrosity.

The filling is refrigerated in the already cold pie shell before a topping gets added. Here I am with an expression that says, “lol now I’ve seen it all”.

The cold pie is topped with sweetened espresso whipped cream. The recipe calls for “Rich’s Whip Topping” but that’s not available in California stores from what I could deduce (and the recipe allows that it’s only available in certain parts of the country. The Patchwork Quilt Country Inn is in Indiana, so I’m thinking this is a Midwest product. But if any of you have heard of it or used it, I’d be quite curious to know.)

The fully assembled pie freezes for 2-4 hours before being ready for consumption. After your kids go to bed is the suggested correct time to dig into this pie. I for one don’t like to caffeinate my two-year-old prior to bedtime. (But I’d be dishonest to say she didn’t taste this at all…she did get a few morsels on the morning we were packing up and checking out. We were all trying to do our best by the remainder of the pie; it was a feat.) In summary: this is as delicious as you would imagine. A pie not for the everyday, but perfect for a very special treat. Thanks to Alisa for deciding that our trip to San Diego was the right occasion. 😉

I shared a large wedge with our downstairs neighbors (a small group of friends who were renting out the bottom floor of the same AirBnB house). This is exactly how that conversation went.

Me in my mask knocking on the door. Door opens.

“Hi neighbors! Uhhhh…..I made this frozen coffee toffee pie and there’s no way we’re going to eat it all, do you guys want to try some? None of you are allergic to nuts, right?”

Despite my awkwardness, they were quite pleased and happily accepted my offering.

In keeping with the Choco-Nut theme, here’s one more vacay picture. Me with my ice cream buddy for life.

What pies are you making for Thanksgiving this week? I’d love to hear. ❤

When Life Gives You Lemons (and Oranges)

15 Friday May 2020

Posted by in Cream Pie, Icebox Pie

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Sweet-Tart Lemon Cloud Icebox Pie.

Here we go, here we go! Settle in for a long, rambly post with a wandering storyline. The stuff you clearly embrace if you’re a repeat reader of my blog.

First off, a word of thanks to all of my local friends with lemon trees who have been kind enough to drop off bags at our house at regular intervals. ‘Tis the season in California that I absolutely cannot bring myself to pay for lemons at stores when I full well know that there are many trees bursting with lemons that have few prospects in life. I’m a barterer/surprise gifter from way back, but you’ll see in this post that this tendency has become strengthened even further during COVID-19.

This pie’s story begins on Easter night, with Levi juicing a million lemons like a hero. Juice to be used in the pie, for Penicillin cocktails later in the week/month, etc. (we also like to keep juice in the freezer to have on hand, hence the ice cube trays.) Not pictured, us watching The Chosen, which has honestly helped us get to know our Jesus better than I would have EVER imagined a mere television show could. So, so, good.

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Trader Joe’s Ad of the Post: Organic Vanilla Wafers being crunched up to make a very fine (texture wise, and otherwise) crumb crust. Dee-lightful. It’s exactly like making a graham cracker crust (melted butter, cinnamon, brown sugar) but with the obvious substitution of Vanilla Wafers for Grahams.

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A sad sidebar: you may well have noted in the above image that the handle of my food processor is, um, missing…it has broken in several places…so for the time being, every time I make a crumb crust (or pesto or hummus, for that matter) I get to meticulously line up the point of the tiny part pictured below to an equally tiny pressure point at the base of the food processor “handle” in order to start the blades spinning. It’s kind of hard to describe, but your takeaway should be, “That sounds safe, but annoying.”

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Guys, I’m a broken record. Ain’t nothin’ like a homemade crumb crust.

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Here’s the next bit of excitement: learning to make lemon curd! I was actually quite excited that this pie called for homemade curd. You may remember (or may learn by clicking here) that one of my more recent endeavors was the 10-Minute Lemon Meringue Icebox Pie. That pie, titled for its expediency, called for storebought lemon curd (I used Bonne Maman). And that was great too. But I think I have always wanted to make my own lemon/citrus curd (aside from pie. Scones come to mind first!) and this was a great foot in the door.

Lemon juice, lemon zest, an egg, 5 egg yolks, sugar. (Later, butter.) That’s what’s in a nice homemade lemon curd.

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Cue lots and lots of whisking over a double boiler.

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A layer of plastic wrap pressed over the finished product is a classic storage tip for curds and custards.

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P.S. Unlike the 10-Minute Lemon Meringue, I would NOT recommend trying to make this pie alone with a nearly two-year-old. I didn’t try, she was for sure playing with Daddy during at least the more complicated parts, but um yeah I can’t imagine that would have gone well if I had. #knowthyself #andthytoddler

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The order of events:

1. Pre-baked crumb crust (7 minute baking time)

2. Layer of lemon curd

3. Layer of whipping cream beaten with powdered sugar, vanilla, and mas lemon curd.

Sweet-Tart Lemon Cloud Icebox Pie (157)

You’ve heard me talk before about how it’s just not really okay to eat a whole pie on your own. When I say on my own, I also mean, my immediate family. Two adults and a small child to one pie is not the correct ratio. I’m not saying we don’t have it in us, I’m just saying it’s a bad idea. And if you can’t bring people to the pie…bring the pie to the people.

The ridiculous packaging of these outgoing gifts immediately prompted me to buy a fat stack of cute pie clamshell thingies that you will no doubt see in future episodes (I meant posts but I wrote episodes and decided to leave it).

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On the same day this pie went out to surprise some friends, I got a lovely surprise on my doorstep too. We did a fun little “Spring gift exchange” in my church’s women’s group, and the pie was part of my outgoing “secret sister” gift. My incoming gift included sweet bracelets handmade by one of my youngest friends, a basket handmade (!) by her very talented mama, a nature book, and oranges from their orange tree. Talk about a day brightener. I loved it all! (So did/does Pippa.) Thank you, friends!

When Levi and I sat down to enjoy our portion of pie, he declared it to be…drumroll…THE BEST PIE YET. And just now as I was writing I was like whoa whoa I better clarify this b/c that’s a pretty big claim. So here are some of his exact-ish words:

“Okay, I don’t know if I’d put it in a contest and claim that it would win against every other kind of pie out there but it’s true that if you ask me right now or really any time what pie I want to eat, the answer is this one.”

Do with that what you will.

Oh, and please check out the layering in the side profile shot right there on your way out.

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Unrelated P.S. The Gelineau House lockdown has been brought to you by innumerable hours of Playmobil. Pictured below: (L) Mommy and Pippa with quarantine hairdos and yes that is a Playmobil sunflower behind my ear. (R) “Daughter” gets sent to the market to buy vegetables.

Smile! God loves you.