Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream Pie


The amazing Spike of Spike Bakes chose this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie (she has the recipe for you here). In continuing the trend of insanity that I was struck with for last week's bread pudding (for which I made brioche), I made Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream instead of buying ice cream. It's the very best chocolate ice cream, period. If I brought some inferior store-bought chocolate ice cream into this house, M. would go on strike and I'd have to carry the garbage out myself. No siree. Not on my watch.

I came *this close* (gesturing, fingers almost together) to adding bananas. I bought them. I thought about them. I monitored their ripeness with the pie in mind.

Then, I read the part of the recipe where Dorie instructs us to puree the bananas in the food processor before adding the chocolate ice cream. I heard brakes screeching, train whistles, sirens and all manner of DANGER! STOP! DON'T DO IT! warnings. I put down the bananas, took a deep breath, and went on without them. Paired with Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream, this pie didn't need bananas competing with its sublime flavor.

This pie has an interesting crust that was fun to make. You saute coconut in melted butter until browned and then add crushed shortbread cookies. It made a delicious pie crust. I pressed it in a buttered pie plate and froze it while we went to San Francisco for a fun midweek play day.

When we came home, relaxed but exhausted, I put the ice cream in the crust while M. jumped on a conference call. And then we each had a slice for dinner. I quizzed M. relentlessly: Do you think it would have been good with the pureed bananas (wish I had a photo of the "Are you kidding me" look he gave me). Do you think the chocolate ice cream dominates the crust ("Isn't that the point of a filling?"). What do you think of it with the pecans? ("Really good.") How could it be better? ("It can't. It's perfect.")

With that, I sat back and savored every bite, in complete agreement with his assessment. He is a great, appreciative audience for my baking, but he's also a very thoughtful and helpful taster.

I hope you have someone special to share this with, someone who appreciates everything you do but gives you feedback in a positive, supportive way. That, my friends, is even sweeter than pie.

30 comments:

natalia said...

Ciao ! I'm so silly and I obey to the recipes, I made the chocolate ganache ice cream too but added the bananas... it's still in the freezer so I hope well . Thanks for the advise on the spam but I do not know how to delete comments now I've changed the settings.

Hindy said...

I agree that homemade ice cream does not need the bananas and rum, but for store-bought, it added great flavour.
I like your nutty topping!

Julie said...

This looks amazing! Someone to share and give feedback on recipes is the best!

Cakelaw said...

This looks great! How fab is that icecream!

Cindy said...

I have got to try the chocolate ganache ice cream, I missed that one. You're right the sweetest part of cooking is sharing with a loved one. My hubby is a very willing and helpful tester, photographer, sous chef etc.

spike. said...

sounds pretty perfect to me- no bananas needed! and the perfect person to eat it with is even better

Mary said...

That looks gorgeous--I just want to dig in, especially the crust! I didn't make this, as I am still drowning in rhubarb, but I can finally see the light!

Unknown said...

Looks perfect!

Flourchild said...

Your ice cream pie turned out great! I agree having someone to share it with is Sweeter then Pie!

Tia said...

wow that looks so delicious. and no banans! even better. great presentation.
i did a rewind- lenox biscotti instead! bananas/coconut are just not my thing :)

Pamela said...

LOVE that chocolate ganache ice cream. i didn't play along this week, but MAN...yours looks FABULOUS!

alvarosa said...

Haha, I can imagine you struggling with yourself whether to put in the bananas or not! I guess with bought icecrwam it would habe been easier, because than the risk of spoiling it would not be as high.

Valerie Gamine said...

Your pie looks wonderful, I love the texture of that crust! Even though I made the wrong recipe, I also used Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream. Great minds. :D

Bella Baker said...

wow!! You are amazing for making the choc ganache ice cream!! It must have been absolutely amazing!! YUM!

Amber Marie said...

Glad to know it's delicious without the bananas - next time I'm leaving them out for sure!

Katrina said...

I made Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream once and it was fabulous. I also made DL's both egg version and Philly style. All three are excellent, but I think I decided DL's was better. I think I'll have to compare them again to see for sure.
;)
Your pie looks and sounds fabulous!

Anonymous said...

I ran short of bananas - and agree, it would make a great pie without them too! Looks wonderful - I love the crunchy crust - makes a great topping in itself!

Mike
TWD blog:
web.me.com/mikejdunlap

Kayte said...

You know my feelings about chocolate, so I won't comment on that part...LOL. I am thinking, however, that my favorite way (and maybe the only real way I like banana) is just to peel it and eat it au natural! Yours looks lovely...and I think leaving the banana on it's own for the day was probably a good move...when in doubt, leave it out type of thing.

margot said...

The pie looks terrific! I can't wait to try Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream. I actually avoided the insanity this week and actually used purchased sorbet in mine.

Mimi said...

Any excuse to use my ice cream machine, your pie look delicious.
Mimi

TeaLady said...

Nuts!! Those would have been perfect with my coconut ice cream. DUH!!

The IC looks sooo dark and creamy!!

vibi said...

I have to make that chocolate ganache ice cream then, huh?

I'm not a banana fan either, but I have to admit this was pretty nice (in Franch vanilla ice cream). Surely in that kind of ice cream... I would have thought about long and hard too! LOL

Hope you had fun on your play day!
And yes, I do have a great helpful taster... and an appreciative one at that! lol

Kimberly Johnson said...

I knew I wouldn't like the bananas and chocolate ice cream combo but I did it anyway - not so good for me. I redid it with vanilla ice cream and left the banana puree out and it was sublime! You pie looks wonderful!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

oh my gosh--that ice cream looks so rich and delicious! i may have to jump the TWD gun and make it myself!

Jessica said...

That ice cream sounds fantastic! And M's reaction is wonderful -- I'm glad that both of you enjoyed this dessert. You can hardly ever go wrong with straight chocolate.

Cathy said...

Wow, you can't beat perfect! And yours really does look perfect! I didn't make ice cream, mainly because I decided at 1:00 that I wanted the pie for dessert that night, so I didn't have time to make ice cream AND get the requisite four hours of pie-freezing time in. But you've now convinced me that I need to make Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream immediately. Beautiful pie!

Anonymous said...

"It can't. It's perfect." That right there is the sweetest compliment heard 'round the world!! Your M. gets brownie points for that one!!

I am second guessing the pureed bananas in the chocolate ice cream, I am putting them on the bottom and decorating the tops but IN the chocolate ice cream... not so much.

Your pie looks absolutely wonderful!! And wasn't that crust beautifully aromatic?

Anonymous said...

I'm sure it was fabulous - the ice cream looks wonderful! I wasn't too sure about the bananas with the ice cream, but I liked it.

Unknown said...

Such a pretty pie Leslie! I contemplated making ice cream for the recipe, but I was worried it wouldn't get firm enough as my homemade ice cream is often fairly soft. Glad to hear Dorie's chocolate ganache ice cream is a winner in this one. I'll try it next time as this one was definitely worthy of a repeat here.

AmyRuth said...

I think you make good choices. How can you mess with such perfection. Chocolate!! Looks delicious.
With all the treats I have seen on your weeks worth of posts I would weigh a zillion pounds. hehe
thanks for your visit today.
AmyRuth