When it comes to our pie baking contest, the pie's the thing, of course. But along with the baking and the sharing and the judging and the voting comes the eating—and that is often done best with a big scoop of ice cream on top. Are you a vanilla purist? What about cinnamon? Or caramel? We have a few opinions...
A La Mode: Ice Cream Flavors That Go Well with Pie
To be completely honest, I for one like my pie a la nothing. Just pie—no ice cream, no whipped cream, no drizzle of sauce. However, I realize I may be in the minority here, and there are definitely a few guidelines about what ice cream to serve with pie.
If you are serving ice cream on top of your slice, it should complement—not clash with—the flavor of the pie. Stick to simple, smooth ice creams without a lot of bells and whistles. Vanilla works with just about everything, but cinnamon can taste amazing with apple pie. Something with a single nut flavor (like pistachio) is also great with chocolate or a fruit galette.
If you scoop the ice cream right onto hot pie, the ensuing melt can make the crust soggy and mingle too much with the filling so that there are no longer distinct flavors: pie plus ice cream. Our opinion: Let the pie sit until it's just warm before serving it a la mode.
Choose (or make) an ice cream flavor that adds another dimension to the pie, even if it's just a mellow, creamy, vanilla accompaniment. In other words, no pumpkin ice cream with pumpkin pie. Let them play off of each other (like a lemon ice cream with a blueberry pie).
Finally, here are some pie-friendly recipes:
- Basic Vanilla Ice Cream, from the Kitchn
- DIY Wedding Lemon Ice Cream, from the Kitchn
- Recipe Review: Patricia Wells' Honey Ice Cream, from the Kitchn
- Buttermilk Rosemary Ice Cream, from the Kitchn
- Pistachio Ice Cream (using our new favorite technique from Jeni Britton) via Food and Wine
- Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream, from David Lebovitz
- Cinnamon Ice Cream, from Gale Gand
What's your favorite pie-ice cream combination?
Related: Review: Cuisinart ICE-50BC Supreme Ice Cream Maker
(Image: Flickr member fadedmilkyway, licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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Ben and Jerry's makes a cinnamon ice cream this time of year. (Really good as an apple cider "float"!)
I'll pass on the ice cream, and take the cheddar cheese, please.
"Pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze."
view cara_mia's profile
maybe a cheese flavored ice cream? It sounded really tasty in my head but written out, it's kinda gross. a scoop of Gruyere on that blueberry pie.
view chusmabilly's profile
Entertaining bit of trivia: "à la mode" is short for "à la mode d'americain" , literally "in the style of the Americans".
view angorian's profile
Yes! It is an American thing - LOCAL for me, in fact.
The history of Pie a la Mode...The Cambridge Hotel, Cambridge, NY - I have a former coworker who lives near Cambridge and eats at the Hotel often.
view cara_mia's profile
I've made bourbon ice cream a couple of times to go with apple pie. It was *delicious*. And, as a bonus, because the bourbon is, well, an alcohol, the ice cream was the perfect scooping consistency.
view laetitiae's profile
I like apple pie with caramel sauce. If you butter your pie plate and line it with brown sugar before you put in the crust, it turns into a beautiful caramel in the oven. I turn the pie out upside down onto a plate to serve it. Yum!
view Minerva of the Airship's profile
I second the cheddar cheese, but only with apple pie.
In college they would serve a plate of sliced cheese on the nights when we had apple pie, and no one seemed to know that it was meant to go together. I think it's an old fashioned combination. My grandfather (b 1893) used to say almost the exact phrase that cara-mia wrote.
view Eliza's profile
Eliza - the apple pie and cheddar cheese is a New England tradition, as far as I'm aware.
But pretty much every culinary area (is area the right word? IE, French, Italian, etc.) pairs fruit with cheese.
view cara_mia's profile
We ate apple pie with cheese in the midwest, but when we moved south, most people thought we were nuts. I bet no one would object to something like mascarpone ice cream, or creme frache.
I like to make cinnamon or clove ice creams for pies, although sometimes the latter can be overkill on an apple pie that's already spiced. Vanilla does have that nice pallet-cleansing effect.
(The recipes I use for all of these are from Frozen Desserts http://www.amazon.com/Frozen-Desserts-definitive-sorbets-delights/dp/0312143435/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226072197&sr=8-2 )
view whytephoenix's profile