Treat Mom to Passionate Icebox Pie for Mother's Day

By Beverly Mills with Alicia Ross
United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
Published: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 12:17 a.m. MDT
E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
This Mother's Day, we're giving ourselves a present by not cooking a single thing. We'll start out in a restaurant and then let our families wear the chefs' hats for the rest of the day. They'll love making today's Passionate Icebox Pie.

This recipe is so easy that even a kitchen-challenged spouse can make it and come out smiling. (And should we be forced to provide backup assistance, this five-minute no-cook dessert won't induce any Mother's Day stress.)

We picked sweet-tart passion fruit to flavor our holiday pie, but this recipe is so flexible that you can use most any frozen-fruit puree. Latino brands such as Goya are bringing an array of exotic flavors to ordinary supermarkets. Look for frozen tropical pulp near the other frozen fruits. (Ask your grocery manager to order them if necessary. For product information, visit www.goya.com and click on products, then frozen foods, then fruit pulps.)

This Mom's Day, treat her with passion and a pie that she doesn't have to cook.

PASSIONATE ICEBOX PIE

Start to finish: 5 minutes, plus at least 3 hours refrigeration

1 can (14 ounces) fat-free condensed milk (see Cook's note)

Story continues below
8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup still-frozen passion-fruit pulp (see Cook's note)
1 9-inch (6 ounces) prepared graham-cracker crust
Canned whipped cream, optional garnish
8 fresh whole strawberries, optional garnish
8 fresh mint-leaf sprigs, optional garnish

Cook's note: You can also use regular condensed milk, but do not use evaporated milk.

We tested this recipe using the Goya brand of fruit pulp. If you can't find passion-fruit pulp, any type of frozen pulp (such as mango or papaya) can be used. Or substitute 5 tablespoons still-frozen orange-juice concentrate plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice.

Pour the condensed milk into a large (2-quart) mixing bowl. (Use a rubber spatula to remove all of it from the can.) Add the cream cheese. Using an electric mixer, beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the fruit pulp and beat just until well combined.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 3 hours (or up to 2 days covered with plastic wrap or plastic dome from pie crust package, inverted). To serve, remove the pie from the refrigerator and slice. Garnish each slice with a squirt of whipped cream, a strawberry and mint leaves, if desired.

Yield: 8 servings.

Approximate values per serving: 328 calories (31 percent from fat), 11 g fat (4 g saturated), 27 cholesterol, 8 g protein, 48 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, 300 mg sodium.

Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross are co-authors of "Desperation Dinners!" (Workman, 1997), "Desperation Entertaining!" (Workman, 2002) and "Cheap.Fast.Good!" (Workman, 2006). Contact them at Desperation Dinners, c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. Or visit the Desperation Dinners Web site at www.desperationdinners.com. © United Feature Syndicate Inc.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.