Paradise Punch Pie

If you want to make an omelet, you have to break some eggs. Or, as Robb says, if you’re not messing up once in a while, you’re not really trying. I prefer this one: There are obstacles to overcome on the pathway to genius.

I just made that one up.

The thing is, I prefer to think of myself as a genius. Whether I actually merit that description is… umm… up for debate.

So when I basically faceplanted in my first attempt at a peach jar cake with peach buttercream, I was devastated. Devastated because I was planning to serve this oh-so-cute and fantastically delicious dessert to my friends, who were going to be suitably impressed and lavish me with compliments. Devastated because it was going to make a gorgeous blog post. Devastated because I was about to go viral on Pinterest.

But… the cake was mediocre at best. It was a weird recipe, to tell you the truth, one I should have studied a little closer before attempting for the first time. And the buttercream was worse. It was not nearly peachy enough, and no matter how much powdered sugar I added, it would not get thick enough for frosting. I couldn’t bring myself to put more than SIX CUPS of powdered sugar in it.

I didn’t want to be accused of causing cavities with a single dessert.

I was running out of time before my guests would arrive, and I was seriously freaking out. I had a phone conversation with Robb, treated myself to a cold Diet Coke, pulled up my big girl panties, and got myself back on track. “Fix the peach cake later,” I told myself. “Make something a little more reliable today.”

There’s ice cream in my freezer, a fact that does not escape my children for a single day. The Hippie Chick is constantly asking me for bowls of ice cream. Which would be one thing if she didn’t consistently refuse to eat her meals. On the other hand, she looks just like Twiggy. Maybe she needs more ice cream in her life.

I figured I could dress up my favorite ice cream pie into single-serving desserts. If I’m being completely honest, I should tell you that this is far from being a work of genius. And, far from the impressive dessert I was looking for. But, the nice thing about this dessert is that it has just FOUR ingredients, and just FOUR easy-peasy steps, which makes it super predictable and reliable. Ready for this?

Step One: Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press into muffin tin. Here’s a fun tip to make this super easy… use the lid from the jar of Hickory Farms Sweet Hot Mustard that’s been in the fridge since Christmas to press the crumbs down flat. You’ll probably want to wash the lid first.

Step Two: Let ice cream and juice concentrate melt. Mix them together.

Step Three: Fill muffin cups with your ice cream mixture.

Step Four: Freeze.

If there was a step five it would be to relax, knowing that your dessert is completely taken care of. And forget all about that stupid peach jar cake… until tomorrow.

Paradise Punch Pie

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A super easy punch ice cream pie, in single serving sizes.

Recipe type: Desserts

Serves: 24

Ingredients

2½ cups graham cracker crumbs
6 T. butter, melted
1 can juice concentrate (I used Hawaii's Own Paradise Punch)
approximately ½ gallon vanilla ice cream

Instructions

Allow ice cream and frozen juice to melt.
Combine cracker crumbs and butter and press into 2 muffin tins. (This should give you enough for 24 muffin-size servings.)
In a large bowl, combine melted ice cream and juice. Pour into muffin cups, over crust, and freeze 2-4 hours until firm.

Notes

If you're not into individual servings, you can also pour this into a prepared graham cracker crust, and cut it into slices like a pie.