Patriotic Pie

Red strawberries, white vanilla ice cream, blue blueberries: this frozen pie is made for the Fourth of July. The crust is built from blueberry muffin mix cut with margarine, baked into crumbles, then pressed into a pie pan. It’s like a streusel crust with blueberry flavor built right in.

The crust gets baked twice. First as a loose crumble in a square pan for ten minutes, which toasts the mix into golden, buttery bits. Then you press most of those crumbs into the pie pan for structure and save a cup to sprinkle over the ice cream layer for extra crunch.

French vanilla ice cream goes in slightly softened so it spreads easily over the crust without pulling it apart. Then the reserved crumbs go on top and the whole thing freezes for several hours until firm.

Sliced strawberries tossed with a little sugar make the topping. The sugar draws out the juices and creates a light syrup that pools over the frozen pie when you spoon them on just before serving.

Pro Tips

• Don’t press the crumbs into the pie pan before the first bake. Baking them loose first develops toasty flavor and crunch. Pressing raw mix makes a dense, doughy crust.
• Soften the ice cream just until spreadable, not melty. If it’s too liquid, it soaks into the crust and makes it soggy.
• Add the strawberry topping right before serving. Putting them on while frozen creates ice crystals on the berries and dilutes the juices.
• Run a knife under hot water before slicing. Frozen pies cut cleaner with a warm blade.

Variations

• Whipped cream layer: Spread a layer of whipped cream between the ice cream and the crumb topping for even more white.
• Fresh blueberry topping: Add fresh blueberries alongside the strawberries for extra patriotic color.