Can you guess what holiday it is today? If you said National Pecan Pie Day, you’d be correct. And since you know we loooove food holidays here at Brit + Co, we decided to combine ice cream month and pecan pie day, and spike it (obviously). So, we present Bourbon Pecan Pice Ice Cream served in mini pie shells. Seriously, make this right now. What are you waiting for?
Bourbon Pecan Pie Ice Cream
makes 1 quart
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2-3 cups candied pecans (recipe below)
1 package pre-made piecrust
1/3 cup bourbon
Instructions:
1. Combine sugar, vanilla, heavy cream, and whole milk in a medium saucepan, and heat over medium heat.
2. Stir consistently until sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Bring mixture to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, and cook for approximately 4 minutes.
4. Transfer to an airtight container, and chill in the refrigerator until cool—at least 2 hours.
5. While the mixture is chilling make the candied pecans (see below), and bake one pie crust in a pie pan according to the package directions.
6. For the second pie crust, cut out circles with a glass or biscuit cutter and bake in muffin tins to make mini pie shells.
7. Freeze the milk base in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
8. While the ice cream is churning add in the bourbon, candied pecans, and crumbled pie crust.
9. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer for at least 4 hours before serving.
10. Dish in the mini pie shells and top with a few pecans.
These are the four basic things you need for pretty much any ice cream base. You can add a little salt, too.
Be careful that your base doesn’t boil over. Once it starts to boil, turn down to a simmer to cook. Once the base is chilling, make the candied pecans.
Candied Pecans
makes 4 cups
Ingredients:
4 cups pecans
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Directions:
1. Make simple syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small sauce pan and heating over medium -high heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. Pour simple syrup over the pecans, and stir until they are coated.
3. Spread pecans on a wax or parchment paper lined baking sheet to harden.
4. Chop before adding to ice cream if desired.
If you have extra, these are great for snacking, too!
We used a regular drinking glass and a jumbo muffin tin to make mini pie shell bowls. Just make sure your glass is about the same size as the top of the muffin tin to get short sides on your pie shells.
Once the base is chilled, pour it and the bourbon into the freezer bowl. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your ice cream maker.
Once the ice cream has finished churning add the crumbled pie crust and the candied pecans. Save some of the pecans to top your dessert when you serve it.
It was everything we could do not to not to dig in right now! But waiting until it’s fully frozen will make it that much better.
Get a few extra pecans ready for toppings!
Mini pie crusts = perfect for portion control.
Look at all those pecans.
Serve these quickly. The alcohol in the ice cream means it melts a little bit faster than non-alcoholic ice cream.
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Tell us in the comments!
