Emily Haynes, Pie Bar
It’s no secret that the best kind of pie is the kind you can have with ice cream. And frankly, when faced with a warm slice of apple streusel, or peach crumble, what better ice cream is there than a scoop of classic, homemade vanilla?
It’s hard to count how many great memories I have of hot pie with cold vanilla ice cream. But yet, as I age, my pallet matures, and there are times when I crave the spice of variety in my pie-eating experience. I mean, there are a ridiculous number of ice cream flavor out there, why shouldn’t I try my hand at pairing my favorite ice creams with my favorite pies?
Cookies and Cream
To start, let’s examine one of the greatest duos ever brought to our taste buds: cookies and ice cream. Honestly, I don’t know what took us so long to get here. cookies need milk, and ice cream is just the better version of milk. A match made in heaven? I think so.
- Peanut Butter Cream
I recommend you pair your scoop of cookies ‘n cream with a chilled slice of peanut butter cream. The Oreo crust brings out the Oreo accents in the ice cream, and the vanilla serves to offset the richness in the peanut butter. Truly cannot be beat.
Strawberry Ice Cream
When I was a kid, I could not get enough strawberry ice cream. The sweetness, the freshness, the pinkness, it was all there for 7-year-old me. For a fruity touch, strawberry ice cream is your gal.
- Coconut Cream Pie
I recommend pairing your strawberry ice cream with a light coconut cream pie. The acid in the strawberry accents the sweetness of the toasted coconut, and you’re treated to the same glorious thrill as putting fresh strawberries on top of your favorite breakfast cereal. Does this mean I am endorsing you eating pie and ice cream for breakfast? Yes, yes it does.
Coffee Ice Cream
Alright I’ll say it: I’m not a big coffee drinker. I never got into it, and I don’t know if I’ll ever love the stuff. But what do I love? Ice cream. And boy howdy let me tell you if I could swing through Starbucks and order a venti ice cream sundae to start my morning, I would be one happy camper indeed.
With a scoop of coffee ice cream, I recommend either a warm slice of bourbon chocolate pecan, or a chilled slice of cinnamon buttermilk.
- Bourbon Chocolate Pecan
Coffee is decidedly an adult beverage, and our classic bourbon chocolate pecan has the depth and maturity to match it. Enjoy the warm sweetness of the pecan contrasted with the cool coffee tang for one fantastic dessert experience.
- Cinnamon Buttermilk
In our shop, we like to say that nothing goes better with our cinnamon buttermilk pie than a hot cup of black coffee. However, I will posit that black coffee cannot hold a candle to coffee ice cream, and as such replacing that cup of coffee with a scoop of ice cream will revolutionize your pie time.
Cherry Ice Cream
Now bear with me, we’ve all been sleeping on cherry ice cream for far too long. Cherry ice cream has the flavor of summer, the color of spring, and the joy of a thousand summertime snow cones.
- Chocolate Chess
With your delightfully crisp cherry ice cream, I recommend a warm slice of chocolate chess. Chocolate and cherry are always a winning combination, and pairing the chocolate/cherry with the hot/cold of chocolate chess and ice cream makes for a magical, sophisticated sweet treat
Cheesecake Ice Cream
Did you know that, according to a made-up law in Wisconsin, it’s illegal to serve apple pie without cheddar cheese? Sadly, this law was never an official statue in the great Midwestern cheese capital, but it does drive the point home that apple pie is only ever made better by adding cheese. And here at Pie Bar we know that apple pie is only ever made better by adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream. So the next logical improvement? Cheesecake ice cream!
- Apple Streusel
Enjoy the sweet cool texture of ice cream with the slight tang of cheese to bring out the flavors in our Georgia grown GRANNY SMITH (?) apples. Trust me when I say that you will not regret this next addition to your pie eating tradition.
Vanilla Ice Cream
Listen, I could talk for days about ice cream flavors and pie and the whole world of possibilities that comes with them. But there is a reason that we stock so much vanilla ice cream in our stores, and that’s because it truly does make every pie better. Hot or cold, fruit or cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream adds that beautiful final essence to a slice of pie. Cool, creamy, sweet. Vanilla ice cream is the Dwayne Johnson of ice cream pie: there is nothing it cannot do.
With your scoop of vanilla ice cream I recommend pairing: everything.