The best desserts of summer come from the the freezer, not the oven: frozen assets

Vegetarian Times, August, 2001 by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley

Some of us prefer vanilla, others chocolate, rocky road or even butter pecan. But all of us, it seems, love any kind of ice cream dessert--those lusciously layered cakes, pies, bombes and terrines.

There's nothing wrong with a scoop, but there are times when even a double-dip waffle cone won't do. Ice cream confections are festive, celebratory treats, usually reserved for special occasions. But even the most elaborate of them are simple to make. Basically all they contain are your favorite flavors (with so many excellent brands of ice cream available, there's no need to make homemade), with cookies, crusts and other embellishments.

These goodies can be made several days before serving, and putting them together is almost as easy as going out for a cone--but a whole lot more fun. So why wait for a special occasion?

Strawberry-Amaretti
Bombe

10 SERVINGS

This most impressive--and delicious--bombe
contains a layer of strawberry
sorbet and a layer of ice cream mixed
with crushed amaretti cookies.

2 cups strawberry sorbet
4 cups vanilla low-fat ice cream,
  softened
1/2 cup amaretti cookie crumbs
  (see glossary, p. 79), about 11 small
  cookies, or vanilla wafer crumbs
  (see Kitchen Note, below)
2 Tbs. almond-flavored liqueur
  (amaretto)
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, grated
2 cups fresh strawberries

1. Chill 5-cup metal bowl or bombe
mold. Press sorbet into bottom and up
sides of bowl or mold. Freeze until
firm, about 1 hour.

2. Place ice cream in large bowl. Gently
fold in cookie crumbs, amaretto and
grated chocolate. Spoon ice cream mixture
into center of sorbet. Cover and
freeze until firm, about 1 hour.

3. To serve, dip mold into hot water
for a few seconds. Place plate upside-down
on top of mold and invert onto
plate. Garnish bombe with whole or
sliced fresh strawberries.

PER SERVING: 197 CAL.; 3G PROT.; 7G TOTAL FAT
(2G SAT. FAT); 30G CARB.; 26MG CHOL; 61MG
SOD.; 0 FIBER
Lemon Swirl
Ice Cream Pie

12 SERVINGS

For an added treat, spoon sliced, sweetened
strawberries over each portion.

This lemony dessert can be prepared
two days ahead and kept frozen.

Crust

7 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/4 cups ground toasted almonds
  (see Note at end of recipe)
1 cup graham cracker crumbs,
  about 5 whole graham crackers

2/3 cup prepared lemon curd
  (see glossary, p. 79)
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
  slightly
12-oz. basket strawberries, sliced

1. Make crust: Preheat oven to 325 [degrees] F.
Butter 9-inch round springform pan.
In small saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons
butter. Add lemon peel and almond
extract. In medium bowl, combine almonds
and graham cracker crumbs.
Slowly drizzle butter mixture into
crumb mixture and toss with fork until
crumbs are evenly moistened.

2. Press crumbs over bottom and 1
inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake
crust 8 minutes, then cool on rack.

3. Spread half of the ice cream over
crust. Spoon 1/3 cup lemon curd over ice
cream. Spread remaining ice cream over
lemon curd. Dollop remaining 1/3 cup
curd over ice cream by tablespoonfuls.
Use small knife to swirl curd into ice
cream, forming pretty design. Freeze
until just firm, about 1 hour. Wrap and
freeze overnight. Before serving, let pie
stand 10 minutes at room temperature.
Cut pie into wedges and serve, spooning
strawberries over if desired.

PER SERVING: 584 CAL.; 10G PROT.; 34G TOTAL
FAT (17G SAT. FAT); 64G CARB.; 111MG CHOL.;
184MG SOD,; 2G FIBER

NOTE: To toast almonds, preheat
oven to 350 [degrees] F. Spread almonds in single
layer on baking sheet. Place in oven and
toast until fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove
from oven and let cool. To grind
almonds, place them in mini food
processor and process until desired texture
is achieved.
Layered
Ice Cream Terrine

12 SERVINGS

This ice cream dessert is a happy combination
of some of the most popular
flavors: chocolate, vanilla and raspberry.
But don't stop here, any of your
favorite ice creams can be used.

12 unfilled ladyfingers (see glossary, p. 79)
1 pint raspberry sherbet, slightly
  softened
1 pint vanilla ice cream or vanilla frozen
  yogurt, slightly softened
1 pint chocolate ice cream or chocolate
  frozen yogurt, slightly softened
2 cups nondairy whipped topping or
1 cup heavy cream, whipped stiff
  with 1 Tbs. sugar
Melted semisweet chocolate or chocolate
  ice cream sauce for drizzling

1. Tear off two 20-inch lengths of aluminum
foil. Place on top of each other
and fold over sides to make 9-inch-wide
strip. Fit into 9 x 5-inch loaf pan,
letting ends extend above long sides of
pan to cover top when filled.

2. Split ladyfingers apart and separate
tops from bottoms.

3. Spoon raspberry sherbet into foil-lined
loaf pan. With back of spoon,
press into even layer.

4. Arrange 12 ladyfinger halves over
sherbet (make 4 rows with 3 ladyfingers
each). Top with even layer of vanilla ice
cream. Repeat layers with remaining ladyfingers
and chocolate ice cream.

5. Fold foil tighdy over top of loaf.
Freeze at least 5 hours or overnight.

6. To serve, fold back foil. Loosen ends
from pan with thin knife. Holding foil,
carefully lift loaf from pan and invert
onto serving dish.

7. Just before serving, spread whipped
cream over top and drizzle with melted
chocolate.

PER SERVING: 233 CAL.; 3G PROT.; 11G TOTAL
FAT (7G SAT. FAT); 33G CARB.; 59MG CHOL.;
69MG SOO.; 0 FIBER
Mud Pie
Ice Cream Sandwiches

6 SERVINGS

We call for coffee ice cream in these
frozen sandwiches, but you can use any
flavor you'd like.

2 pints coffee ice cream, softened
  slightly
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room
  temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt

1. Drop six 1/2-cup mounds of ice
cream onto waxed paper-lined baking
sheet. Using metal spatula, shape each
mound into 3- to 3 1/2-inch square.
Freeze squares while preparing dough.

2. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar
using electric mixer until smooth. Beat
in egg yolk and vanilla. In medium
bowl, mix flour, cocoa and salt. Add to
butter mixture and beat until soft
dough forms. Gather dough into ball;
flatten into rectangle. Roll out dough
between 2 sheets of waxed paper to 13
x 10-inch rectangle. Place dough, still
between waxed paper sheets, on baking
sheet. Chill until firm, at least 1 hour
and up to 1 day.

3. Preheat oven to 300 [degrees] F. Line large
baking sheet with parchment paper.
Peel top sheet of waxed paper off
dough; discard. Trim dough to 12 x 9-inch
rectangle; then cut dough into
twelve 3-inch squares. Transfer squares
to parchment-lined baking sheet, discarding
waxed paper and spacing them
about 1 inch apart. Bake until cookies
are firm, about 20 minutes. Cool cookies
completely on baking sheet.

4. Arrange 6 cookies, flat side up, on
work surface. Top each with frozen ice
cream square, then another cookie, flat
side down, pressing slightly to adhere.
Cover and freeze sandwiches until
ready to serve. Ice cream sandwiches
can be made up to 4 days ahead. Store,
wrapped in plastic, in the freezer.

PER SERVING: 574 CAL.; 7G PROT.; 34G TOTAL
FAT (21G SAT. FAT); 64G CARB.;  136MG CHOL.;
165MG SOD.; 2G FIBER