Frozen Coffee Cream Pie.

Time for something sweet!

   I have a delightful dessert for you.

It's a frozen coffee cream pie

And it's good.
Really, really good!

There are three layers -

a buttery chocolatey crumb base,

a coffee ice cream center accented with cinnamon and orange zest,

and a whipped cream topping. 

This recipe is adapted from a recipe
for Mexican Ice Cream.
The original recipe called for a graham cracker crust.

I happened to have a bag of gingersnaps 

and a box of cinnamon toast crunch cereal

so I'm going with the snaps and cereal.

The original recipe also called for sweetened condensed milk.

And can you believe

 there's no sweetened condensed milk in my pantry?

But I do have evaporated milk,

so I'm making a substitution of sorts.

Here's the recipe:

Cocoa Crust

2 1/2 ounces gingersnaps

2 1/2 ounces cinnamon toast crunch

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

NOTE:  You could use a package (5 ounces) of graham crackers

instead of the gingersnaps and cinnamon toast crunch.

Combine all ingredients in a processor and process away.

Press evenly into a greased pie pan.

Bake 7 minutes in a 350° oven and cool for 30 minutes.

Coffee Cream Center

1 package cream cheese, softened

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (See NOTE below.)

1 cup strong coffee

1 tsp grated orange zest

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a blender or processor

and blend or process away until evenly mixed.

Pour into cooled crust, cover,

and freeze overnight.

NOTE:  As I said, I had no sweetened condensed milk.

So I subbed.

I combined 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk

with 1 cup sugar in a small sauce pan

and heated to dissolve the sugar.

Let it cool before adding to the recipe.

After the pie has been in the freezer overnight,
make the whipped cream topping.

Whipped Cream Topping

1 cup heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla

2 TB sugar

Whenever I whip cream,

I always put the bowl and beaters in the freezer

for about 20 minutes first.

Cream whips better when everything is cold.

Start beating cream.

When you get soft peaks,

beat in the sugar and vanilla.

Do not overbeat.

You don't want butter.

Spread whipped cream topping over pie,

making pretty swirls.

I happened to have a chocolate caramel sauce

which I drizzled over the pie.

RECIPE below.

Finely grate a nice dark chocolate over everything.

Chocolate Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, water, and vanilla in a medium saucepan.

Over medium heat, slowly cook until sugar is dissolved

and you have a clear bubble.

Turn heat to low

and let cook until amber colored.

Watch closely now.

Call it an Amber Alert, if you will.

You can go from amber to crap in no time,

so be vigilant.

Remove from heat and stir in:

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 TB unsalted butter

1 12-oz. pkg. bittersweet chocolate morsels

Stir until smooth.

(When you pour in the cream, be careful.

It will spit and steam.

This is normal.)

Stir until chocolate bits are melted and sauce is smooth.

Drizzle over pie.

Enjoy!