THIS NO-BAKE COCONUT CREAM PIE PLAYS IT COOL WITH COOKIE CRUST
Although fall has officially arrived, it still feels like summer outside. And though I love a slice of fruit pie (à la mode, please) during these dog days, a slice of a no-bake cream pie is what I’m here for.
Whether lemon, chocolate, peanut butter, raspberry, banana or coconut; cheesecake-like or pudding-filled, a no-bake cream pie requires no heavy lifting (homemade pie dough, I’m looking at you). It calls only for pantry staple ingredients, is infinitely adaptable — depending on what you have on-hand and/or whatever you crave — can be assembled in minutes and does not require that you turn on your oven.
Also, a no-bake pie needs time to set up in the refrigerator (or freezer), making it the ultimate make-ahead warm-weather dessert.
A no-bake cream pie, with a crumb crust that sets in your freezer, features a filling you assemble in your food processor, with a hand mixer or in a saucepan on the stove top.
The crust is a combination of melted butter, cookie crumbs and a few tablespoons of sugar. The sandy mixture is then evenly pressed into a pie plate and kept in the freezer while you assemble the filling, which can range from softened cream cheese and whipped cream, a no-bake cheesecake filling, a comforting pudding or softened ice cream.
To top it all off, a generous crown of freshly whipped cream, flavored and sweetened, or not, is nonnegotiable. Below are tips, tricks, flavor combinations and instructions for creating your own dreamy version.
The crumb crust: Although a traditional “crumb crust” is made with chocolate or vanilla wafer cookies or graham crackers, you can make a no-bake pie crust from (almost) any cookie, including Oreos, ginger snaps and shortbread; or cracker, including saltines and Ritz. Cereal, such as
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cornflakes, will work, too; as will snack foods, such as pretzels.
A general rule is that a 9-inch pie calls for about 7 ounces or 11⁄2 cups of crumbs (ground in a food processor or finely crushed in a zippered plastic bag with a rolling pin); 4 to 8 tablespoons of melted butter (Oreos need closer to 4, and pretzels and cornflakes, closer to 8); and sugar to taste, 2 to 4 tablespoons. You’ll know you have the right ratio when you can squeeze a bit of the mixture between your fingers and it holds its shape. I avoid my oven at all costs when nobake pie-making, so I set the formed crust in the freezer. But for extra insurance, you can bake your crust at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until fragrant and set. Bring it to room temperature before adding the filling.
The cream filling: Once set, typically after 4 to 6 hours in the refrigerator, the ideal no-bake pie filling is airy, light and creamy, but with enough structure to cleanly hold its shape when sliced. A mixture of 8 ounces of softened cream cheese and 11⁄2 cups of heavy cream achieves this balance, making for an ultra-creamy slice o’ pie. I like to combine the two in my food processor until smooth, before adding any mix-ins, such as peanut butter, melted chocolate, Nutella, diced peaches or swirls of jam. The cream cheese in this filling provides structure without imparting much tang.
A no-bake cheesecake filling, on the other hand, is all about that tang: Just combine 16 ounces of cream cheese, a can of sweetened condensed milk and 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 cup of fresh lemon juice with a mixer. Serve it up in a graham-cracker-crumb crust and decorate with sliced strawberries.
The creamiest filling is a stove-top pudding. A tad more labor-intensive than the cream cheese-based ones and requiring heat from the range, this filling is 100 percent worth the effort. Consider a chocolate pudding pie with a pretzel crust, or a vanilla one with a cornflake crust, or butterscotch or caramel pudding combined with a chocolate wafer cookie one. Use any pudding recipe you love, or one from a box — no judgment here.
And finally, an ice cream filling: Soften about a pint of your favorite flavor and spread it in the crust of your choosing. Let it set up in the freezer until firm, about 2 hours. Strawberry ice cream in a shortbread crust, Oreo ice cream in an Oreo crust or lemon ice cream in a gingersnap crust would all make a fab no-bake (ice) cream pie.
The whipped cream topping: To generously top your nobake pie with billowy whipped cream, you will need about 2 cups of heavy cream and confectioners’ sugar to taste (1 to 3 tablespoons). If using a stand or hand mixer, whisk on medium to medium-high for a few minutes. Your goal is soft-to-medium peaks, so the cream has
Per serving (based on 10 servings) : 565 calories, 41 g total fat, 27 g saturated fat, 128 mg cholesterol, 228 mg sodium, 46 g carbohydrates, 2 g dietary fiber, 31 g sugars, 5 g protein
Recipe from food writer Jessie Sheehan.
enough structure to keep its shape atop your pie, but is still airy.
If you are thinking about flavoring your whipped cream, complement the flavors of your filling and crust. For instance, a mintygreen filling, studded with chopped chocolate and encased in a chocolate cookie crust, would be lovely with a chocolate-mint whipped cream (add 1⁄4 cup cocoa powder, plus peppermint extract and confectioners’ sugar to taste). A chocolate pudding filling in a peanut butter cookie crumb crust screams out for a peanut butter whipped cream (add 1⁄3 cup peanut butter, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar to taste). And I’m not sure what sounds tastier than a lemon filling in a Ritz Cracker crust
topped with a strawberrywhipped cream (add about ⁄4
1 cup macerated and pureed strawberries). Spread your whipped topping once the pie is set.
Exercising a little creativity when flavoring these three components of your no-bake pie can be fun, but if that’s not your thing, no worries. Truly, even the simplest of combinations — we’re talking a chocolate cookie crust with a chocolate pudding filling topped with vanilla whipped cream — is the easy, make-ahead, hot weather-friendly summer dessert you didn’t even know you were missing.
Sheehan is a food writer and the author of “Icebox Cakes” and “The Vintage Baker.” This article appeared in The Washington Post.