Perfect Mud Pie

My dad and I have a lot in common, one of them being our love for ice cream.  For both of us, if we are going to have a treat, that would be our first choice.  A couple of weeks ago, my dad had knee replacement surgery.  He is doing great, and has such a positive attitude even though he is in a lot of pain.   I am so thankful the surgery is over, but I know he has a long road of physical therapy ahead.  That is why I made this ice cream pie for him.  I knew it would lift his spirits during the hard work of recovery.

This pie has a delicious home-made chocolate crust with 2 types of ice cream – vanilla and coffee.  In-between the two ice cream flavors is a layer of home-made chocolate fudge sauce.  Then you top it with real whip cream and chocolate covered coffee beans.  In my opinion, this is just about as perfect of a dessert as there is.  And since my dad and I are both perfectionists who love ice cream, we couldn’t ask for anything more.  Except more ice cream pie please!

Mud Pie

For the Crust:

• 1 large bag of Oreo Cookies or a 9 ounce pkg. chocolate wafers
• 1 stick (1/2 c) real butter, melted

For the Pie:

• 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream (you may not need all of it)
• 1/2 gallon coffee ice cream (you may not need all of it)

For the Fudge Sauce:

• 1/3 c unsweetened cocoa
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1/3 c heavy whipping cream
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla

For the Whip Cream Topping:

• 1 quart heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 c granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla

For the Garnish:

Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a food processor, blend Oreos or wafers to fine crumbs.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can put the cookies in a large plastic baggy, and roll over it with a rolling-pin, crushing the cookies as small as possible.  Either way is fine.  The finer they are, the more they will stick together in the pie plate.
3. Place the cookie crumbs into a bowl, and then pour the 1/2 c melted butter over cookie crumbs and mix well.
4. Press crumbs into a 9 inch deep dish pie plate along bottom and up sides.
5. Bake 10 minutes.
6. Cool completely.
7. When pie crust is almost cool, set out vanilla ice cream to soften.  You don’t want it too runny, just soft enough to be able to spread in the bottom of the crust.  It will take different amounts of time depending on how hot your house is.  Mine took about an hour.  It will look a little runny on the sides of the carton, but more solid on the inside.
8. When crust is cool, and ice cream softened, spread ice cream in the bottom of the pie crust so that it fills the crust about half way up the sides.  Immediately cover and place pie crust with the vanilla ice cream in the freezer until frozen, about 3-5 hours.
9. While vanilla ice cream is freezing, make chocolate fudge sauce.  In pan over medium heat, heat 1/3 c unsweetened cocoa, 2/3 c sugar, 1/3 c cream, and 3 Tbsp. butter until smooth and just starting to boil, stirring constantly.
10. Remove from heat, and stir in 1 tsp. vanilla.  Cool to room temperature.
11. When sauce is cool and vanilla ice cream has hardened, pour fudge sauce over vanilla ice cream and spread in an even layer.  Immediately cover and place in freezer until frozen, 2 to 3 hours.
12. During the last hour of freezing the fudge sauce, set out coffee ice cream to soften.
13. When ice cream is soft enough, spread it over the fudge sauce. (You may not need all of the ice cream.  It depends on how thick you want this layer.) Cover, and place back in freezer to harden, about 3-5 hours.  Overnight is even better.
14. When coffee ice cream is frozen, using the wire attachment on your mixer, beat whipping cream until peaks form.
15. Add in the 1/4 c sugar and 2 tsp. vanilla, and beat again until stiff.
16. Spread amount desired over coffee ice cream and save the rest for piping the garnish. I put about a 1/2 to 3/4 inch layer.
17. Immediately place back in freezer for 2-3 hours until whipping cream is frozen. When it is frozen, you can either cover it and garnish when you are ready or garnish right then.
18. When ready to garnish, place leftover whipping cream in a piping bag or plastic baggy with a large star tip.  Pipe 6 star shapes in a circle around the middle of the pie.  Then pipe star shapes all around the edge of the pie.
19. Place chocolate covered coffee beans on star shapes in the middle of the pie.
20. Freeze until solid, about 2 hours and then cover until needed.
21. Slice and serve, putting any leftovers back in freezer.

Notes:  It is really important not to rush the freezing part or you end up with a giant mess.  Always err on the side of freezing longer or overnight.  I recommend making this several days ahead as the freezing process takes so long.

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