Black Forest Ice Cream Pie

mersaydees's Note:

Based on a recipe from the August 2011 issue of O Magazine. The intro says, “You can also use plain vanilla ice cream and stir in ½ cup chocolate chips. If you don’t have fresh or frozen cherries, substitute canned cherries, drained well.” Prep time doesn't include the 2 hours chilling time. I made this using canned cherries on July 24, 2011. Made for the All You Can Eat Buffet Special Event. This was simple to make and we enjoyed it after a hot day in the sun.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 12 sugar ice cream cones, broken into pieces
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 pint chocolate chip ice cream
• 1 lb fresh cherries or 3 cups thawed frozen cherries, stemmed and pitted
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place ice cream cone pieces into food processor and pulse until finely ground. Combine ground ice cream cone pieces with butter in large bowl. Press mixture firmly into the bottom and sides of a 9 ½” pie pan. Bake 10 minutes; set aside while it cools.
3. Soften ice cream for spreading by removing from freezer and setting aside for 10-15 minutes. Spread ice cream evenly in pie pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid, about 2 hours. (This step can be done up to two days in advance.).
4. Simmer cherries, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium pot over medium heat. If using fresh cherries, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to prevent sticking. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Place in refrigerator until cold.
5. At serving time, spoon cherry mixture on top of pie (if not serving entire pie at once, spoon cherries on individual servings). Cut into wedges and serve.