Berry bright, sweet and rich, and seriously good for you! Just four healthful ingredients–strawberries, dates and cashews blended together for the filling, then frozen inside a press-in crust of almonds and dates! This is the best strawberry ice cream pie ever!
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Last week, without saying a word about its being dairy-, gluten- and sugar-free, I shared this frozen strawberry pie with friends. They loved every creamy mouthful! I’m stoked to have a new dessert in my back pocket that makes people happy and healthy all in the same bite.
Soaked almonds and dates make up the easy press-in crust and soaked cashews are the cream in the filling. Soak/soften the nuts ahead, mix up the crust and whip up the filling, and then and pop the filled pie in the freezer–your pie will be nicely frozen for the next day’s dessert!
This four-ingredient dessert recipe caught my eye, well, because it’s made with only 4 ingredients! I read that the nuts need to be soaked in water for at least 8 hours before being pureed, so I almost didn’t try the recipe. So glad I did!
I found the original recipe in Veronica Bosgraaf’s Pure Food cookbook. In the headnote for her strawberry ice cream pie, Bosgraaf writes that this very pie crust was the beginning of Pure Bars and her company. No wonder her business flourishes. This crust is a gluten-free vegan winner!
The recipe in the cookbook doesn’t say to soak the cashews. But I figured as long as I was soaking the almonds, I might as well cover the cashews in water and let them soften at the same time. Soaked cashews make the most amazing vegan “cream.” Like the “cream” in my Spicy Cashew and Spring Greens Soup.
In her recipe Veronica has you scatter strawberries on top of the filling before freezing. Frozen strawberries are like ice cubes. I think you’ll agree with me they’re better freshly cut on top of the already frozen pie.
Strawberry Ice Cream Pie recipe details:
- I used my favorite strawberry hulling tool to quickly pluck out the stems for the strawberries on top. Strawberries with the tops cut straight off are my pet peeve. Hulled strawberries look more natural and much more professional!
- Make a point to choose flavorful organic strawberries. Strawberries are on the dirty dozen list; and Consumer Reports recommends organic strawberries.
- If you don’t get around to making the pie until the next day, put your bowls of soaking nuts in the refrigerator overnight–no problem.
What to make with the extra vegan crust mix:
- The crust recipe makes enough for a 2 vegan pie crusts. If you don’t want to make another pie, roll the remaining almond and date mixture into almond date energy bites.
- Or press the extra mixture into a pie plate and make a creamy kiwi lime pie
- Or you could fill your extra pressed-in crust with rich chocolate cashew cream, like in this chocolate honey pie.
Here are some other recipes I found interesting in Pure Food cookbook:
- Chocolate Rice Pudding. I also tested this nostalgic vegan dessert. Definitely a repeater.
- Vegan Keema. See my adaptation here.
- Hummus Pizza
- Warm Potatoes and Spinach with Rosemary Dressing
- Buckwheat Crepes with Butterscotch Bananas
- Rhubarb Breakfast Crisp
Make it a fabulous week–get in the kitchen and whip up something sweet and healthful!
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I received this cookbook from Blogging for Books for this review–the thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.
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** This is an update of the Strawberry Ice Cream Pie I posted back in June 2015.
Strawberry Ice Cream Pie
Ingredients
Gluten-free Crust:
- 1 cup whole almonds
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup pitted soft dates
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
Strawberry filling:
- 2 cups strawberries, stems removed
- 1 cup pitted soft dates
Topping:
- 1 cup strawberries, stems removed
Instructions
Gluten-free crust:
- Put the almonds in a large bowl and fill the bowl with water to cover by at least an inch.
- Drain and rinse the almonds. Put them in the work bowl of a food processor with the first cup of dates and the salt. Process until the almonds and dates are finely chopped and begin to stick together. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate and freeze for at least 30 minutes.
Strawberry filling:
- Put the cashews in a bowl, cover with water and let soak overnight.
- Drain and rinse the cashews. Put them in the food processor with the first 2 cups of strawberries and the dates. Process until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pie shell and freeze until firm—at least 3 hours.
- To serve, cut the remaining cup of strawberries into quarters and scatter them over the top of the pie.
What a perfect 4th of July dessert! Thank you Letty · 1 July, 2015
It certainly looks like the holiday. Explosive flavor too. GREG · 1 July, 2015
I served it last night. Everyone loved it! · 5 July, 2015
Great to hear that Maura! Thanks! · 6 July, 2015