Ice cream pie is hard to beat in summer

If you want to end a summer celebration or gathering with a big old bang, you would be hard pressed to pick a better dessert than an ice cream pie. Somehow, ice cream stuffed into a piecrust just seems so much more festive and decadent than scoops in a bowl.

And it’s one of the easiest-to-make treats on the planet. Especially this version, with the classic chocolate, vanilla and peanut butter cup thing happening. Not to mention the whipped cream.

Often, ice cream pies have cookie crusts. I decided to blind-bake a refrigerated crust and use that as the base for this pie.

For this recipe, fit the pie dough into the pan, line the dough with parchment paper, cover it with weights (like dried rice or beans) so the dough stays in place without shrinking or bubbling, and bake it. There are also pie weights available for the dedicated baker.

A few other tips: Leaving the crust in the freezer for an hour or so before putting it in the oven helps it keep its shape while baking.

Also, save the rice or beans you used to weigh down the crust for another time. Place them in a jar and label them “baking beans” or “baking rice,” and they won’t go to waste (you can’t cook them once they’ve been in the oven).

For the cleanest, smoothest layers, pop the pie back into the freezer for a bit after you add each layer of ice cream. If you have thought ahead enough to spread the pie-building process over a full day or two, this is very doable. But if a magazine-quality cross-section isn’t your deepest wish, then skip that step and just spread the ice cream layers carefully, so they remain discrete from one another.

The pie will keep five days in the freezer. Make the whipped cream just before serving. You can also slice the pie without with the whipped cream, and serve individual slices with whipped cream added to each piece if you prefer.