Once a year I am asked by The Food Network Magazine to write about a selected food from Hawaii. I have written about pizza, sandwiches and this year, about the best ice cream treats.
Once a year I am asked by The Food Network Magazine to write about a selected food from Hawaii. I have written about pizza, sandwiches and this year, about the best ice cream treats.
For my assignment I choose three ice cream treats that I thought is unique to the State of Hawaii. Here is what I submitted to The Food Network Magazine:
In Hilo, Big Island Candies is a tourist destination. Their shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate is a favorite. They also make an ice cream pie that is to die for! Imagine their crushed Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie formed into a crust, pressed into a 5-inch pie pan, loaded up with Maui’s Roselani vanilla ice cream and covered on top with Big Island Candies’ Macadamia Nut Brownies.
President Obama, when on vacation in Hawaii, always eats shaved ice. You may call it snow cones on the mainland, we call it shaved ice. Almost all shaved ice shops have a special with ice cream in the bottom of the cone. The most popular favor is vanilla ice cream with strawberry syrup. In Hilo, at Itsu’s Fishing Supply, the shaved ice with ice cream is $2.75.
Kimo’s Original Hula Pie is a registered name and served at Duke in Waikiki Beach. Macadamia nut ice cream in a chocolate cookie crust, topped with chocolate fudge and whipped cream.
Of my three selections, Kimo’s Original Hula Pie was selected and is on page 202 in their July/August 2013 issue.
Making an ice cream pie can be very easy and a great dessert for the hot summer we are having recently. Make the chocolate cookie crust by finely crushing 22 cookies in a food processor and adding 4 tablespoons melted butter. Press into a 9-inch pie plate and freeze until the butter hardens. Fill with your favorite ice cream flavor and finish by drizzling with either chocolate or caramel sauce, depending on the ice cream flavor. So choose your favorite ice cream flavor, like cookies and cream, chocolate, candy cane during the holidays, coffee, mint chocolate, macadamia nut like Kimo’s Hula Pie, or the all-time favorite, vanilla ice cream. Jack Stevenson’s favorite ice cream flavor is rum raisin so if I were making an ice cream pie for him, I would make it with rum raisin ice cream and drizzle it with caramel sauce.
But if you want to spend more time making an ice cream pie, here is one from House of Aqua that takes nearly six hours to make.
Mud Pie House of Aqua
Serve 8
Combine and press into the bottom and partially up the sides of a 9-inch spring form pan:
2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled Make caramel sauce: In a saucepan, combine and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is completely dissolved:
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoon water Increase heat to medium and bring the sugar syrup to a boil.
Stop stirring at this point. While the sugar is boiling, brush down the side of the pan from time to time to prevent sugar crystals from forming, use a clean pastry brush dipped in a mug of cold water. Continue boiling without stirring until the syrup turns a light amber color. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, scalded. Continue stirring over low heat if necessary, until all the caramel is dissolved into the cream.
Stir in: 4 tablespoons butter Set aside to cool slightly. Pour warm caramel sauce over crust. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. To make espresso fudge sauce: Combine in a saucepan:
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brewed espresso Stir on low heat until smooth.
Add: 3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup Increase heat to medium, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat until the sauce reaches a low boil. Cook without stirring until the mixture thickens, 15 minutes. Remove espresso fudge sauce from the heat, and cool to room temperature. Pour one cup of the sauce over the frozen caramel layer, return crust to freezer.
Keep remaining sauce just warm enough so that it remains pourable.
Spread over the caramel layer: 4 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
Return pie to the freezer until firm, about one hour. Pour the remaining fudge sauce over the ice cream layer. Freeze until firm, about 2-3 hours. Wrap a hot towel around the spring form pan for two minutes, then remove the side of the pan. Slice into eight pieces.
Small Bites
The recipe above calls for light corn syrup, which is the clear corn syrup. The difference between the light or clear and the dark corn syrup is the addition of refiners’ syrup, which is a type of molasses that gives dark corn syrup the darker, caramel flavor. Although they are both interchangeable, I am very particular of my selection and will use only the dark corn syrup to make pecan pie and for many of my barbecue sauces.
Correction
Big Island Candies’s Ala Moan location will not sell all of their products. They will protect their Hilo customers by keeping several products exclusive to their Hilo Store.
Please feel free to e-mail me at wilson.audrey@hawaiiantel.net if you have a question. Bon appetit until next week.