Woo-hoo, it’s Friday and Day 5 of Pie Week!! It’s been fun for me (and kind of caloric—will definitely have to jump on that elliptical over the weekend). Hope it’s been fun and helpful for you as we get ever closer to the big day next week. Today, we skip the baking process all together and head straight for the freezer instead with this wonderful and oh so easy Mango and Vanilla Ice Cream Pie complete with a buttery Sugar Cone Crust. It’s amazingly delicious and the possibilities for the ice cream and toppings are endless!

In all of my years, why have I never thought to use ice cream cones as the base for an ice cream pie crust?!! It’s a no-brainer, right? Anyhoo, we are doing it now and it’s my new most favorite thing! I promise, you will love it too!

As will you love how super-duper easy it is to whip up one of these ice cream pies. Even if you have never baked anything in your life before, I promise you that you can make this and turn out a winning, stand up and cheer creation. And who wouldn’t be happy with a refreshing little slice of ice cream pie after the heavy Thanksgiving meal (or really anytime!!)

And you can totally make it your own—really the mango and vanilla swirl and toasted coconut topping I used here are just a suggestion. You could go the classic van/choc route and top with hot fudge and whipped cream, or maybe coffee and oreo and top or layer with crushed oreo crumbs or maybe peanut butter and chocolate ice cream with cut up reese’s bars mixed in—as I said, the sky’s the limit. And now I want all those too!

Honestly, the only difficult part about this is waiting for the ice cream to freeze!!

So…the weekend. I will be spending it getting our house in order and trying to organize myself for the onslaught of cooking next week. No, honestly I’m really excited for it! That and the fact that all our kids will be home together for the first time in what feels like a bazillion years! I think I’ll be keeping things pretty quiet around here next week—it’s going to be crazy busy but I may drop in with one or two things, after all the decadence of pie, I feel like should really be posting something green and healthy! Have a great and yummy weekend!!

Mango and Vanilla Ice Cream Pie with Sugar Cone Crust

Makes 8-10 servings

It’s not absolutely necessary but it really helps to have a food processor to grind up the cones and sugar together.

Prep Time: Several hours but only about 10 minutes of this is hands-on time

Ingredients

• 12 ice cream sugar cones

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 1 pint vanilla ice cream

• 1 pint mango sorbet

• Toasted coconut, whipped cream (optional)

The Recipe

1. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray and set it aside. Place the cones in the bowl of a food processor and grind them with the sugar till they become fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and blend until combined. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of the prepared pie plate. Cover and freeze for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day.

2. Soften the ice cream and sorbet so that they are spreadable. Place both in a large bowl and using a rubber spatula, swirl together a little bit—careful not to overdo it or they’ll get mixed together instead of being a swirl. Spread into the frozen crust, cover and return to the freezer. You can definitely make this several days ahead.

3. Top the pie with toasted coconut, whipped cream or anything else you like.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit Magazine. I tinkered a lot with this—feel free to make it your own. it’s more of a suggestion than a strict recipe.