Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Ice Cream Recipe

I love ice cream. I also love pie. When I discovered I could make pie ice cream I was in heaven! Last year we tried apple pie ice cream and it was delicious. This year our farm share brought us a lot of rhubarb. The only thing I like rhubarb in is pies, so I started making pie crust. Then I made the filling. Then I saw a recipe for strawberry rhubarb ice cream which someone topped their homemade pies with and I thought "I know I can make this better by making the ice cream with the WHOLE pie too!" So, although it takes a bit of extra work I do promise you that this recipe is perfect for the end of strawberry and rhubarb season. 

I hope you enjoy your strawberry rhubarb pies topped with strawberry rhubarb pie ice cream as much as we did (ours was gone within a week)!

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Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 cup butter + some to grease pie plate
• 4-5 Tbsp ice water

Filling:

• 1lb fresh strawberries
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1lb fresh rhubarb
• 1/2 cup sugar

Ice Cream Base:

• 1 cup cream (we used half & half)
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cup softened cream cheese

Directions

Crust:

1. Butter a 9 inch pie plate.
2. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening and butter with a pastry blender or forks until it resembles a coarse meal (pea size clumps).
3. Gradually add ice water until a ball can be formed.
4. Cool in fridge for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
5. Roll and place in pie plate, cover with wrap and place in the freezer for 30 mins to overnight.
6. Bake at 425F for about 8 minutes or until golden (if you have pie weights use them at this point).
7. Break the cooled pie into bite sized chunks. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. About half of the chunks will go in the ice cream, the rest can be kept to top with when eating it as desired.

Filling:

1. In a medium pot add 1lb of chopped strawberries, 3/4 cup sugar, and 2 tsp lemon juice and cook down until sugar is dissolved (do not boil).
2. In a medium pot add 1lb of rhubarb chopped, 1/2 cup of sugar and cook down until sugar is dissolved (do not boil, some chunks of rhubarb may remain). 
3. You can choose to mix the two mixtures when cooking, or keep them separate as I did so that the swirls in the ice cream were both strawberry or rhubarb as we ate it.
4. Let the mixtures cool for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.

Ice Cream Base:

1. Heat the cream in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring almost to a boil. 
2. Beat the egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until pale and creamy. Pour the hot cream slowly into the egg mixture while stirring CONSTANTLY.
3. Return mixture to the saucepan and simmer over low heat, stirring CONSTANTLY, until the custard coats the back of a spoon (run your finger through the spoon mix and it should not run back over itself).
4. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
5. Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixture into the base until smooth. 

Putting it all together:
We use ice cream machines as they are faster than the hand churned method. Pour your ice cream base into the machine and let it get half way through thickening before slowly adding the filling mixture. When the ice cream is almost at consistency to freeze, slowly add the frozen pie crust chunks. Eat right away or save some for later!

NOTE: If you would rather have swirls or ribbons of flavor instead of the mixed technique above, then only make the base with the chunks of pie in the ice cream maker. Then when adding to storage container, scoop base mix and layer the filling in between as desired (base, then strawberry, base then rhubarb etc.).