Unexpected company? Late night dessert craving? This Easy Lemon Icebox Pie recipe is just the answer! Made with ingredients I had on hand, it took about 30 minutes to put this together. Plus, as a bonus, you can make it ahead of time and freeze it for a rainy day.
What is an Icebox Pie?
An icebox pie is a southern classic that's named after the "ice box" it's stored in. Described in detail in whatscookingamerica.net it was a contraption dating back to the 1830's. In a time when there was no electricity or refrigerators ice boxes were the only way of keeping things cold. They were owned by those that had access to an ice house and were used to store easy to make pies that required no baking.
My Recipe
Technically you do have to cook the lemon curd and ganache but in this case I had some on hand so I decided to call this an "icebox pie." Somehow, I always end up cooking more than I need and when making my lemon swiss roll I had a fair amount of leftover curd and ganache.
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Fortunately both store really well in the fridge or freezer so I did just that! Lemon Curd can stay in the fridge for 1-2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months. SImilarly, Chocolate Ganache can freeze for up to a month. If you don't have the curd and are not in the mood to make it you can always buy some premade one at the store. The ganache is so easy to make that the rest of the pie is fairly effortless to put together.
The flavors of the lemon curd and ganache, while perfect with a vanilla sponge, seemed a bit too intense together as a pastry filling. Looking in my pantry I found some coconut cream and sweetened coconut flakes (because... I love everything coconut!).
Whipped coconut cream is a great non dairy and low carb substitute for regular whipped cream and in this case seemed just the ingredient to balance the other two flavors. Since coconut cream has a mild almost bland taste I added the shredded coconut as a topping to bring out more of that coconut flavor.
Sometimes the best things are created spur of the moment and this ones definitely a keeper in my recipe book! Hope you like it too.
Easy Lemon Icebox Pie
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Ingredients
- 1 Premade Frozen Pie Shell
- ½ Cup Chocolate Ganache As Per Lemon Filled Swiss Roll Recipe
- 1.5 Cups Mango Lime Curd As Per lemon Filled Swiss Roll Recipe
- 1 Can Coconut Cream
- 4 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
- ½ Cup Sweet Shredded Coconut
Instructions
- Blind bake the pie shell (I have 2 in this picture but the ingredients above are for 1 so be sure to adjust the quantity if making 2). Blind baking means baking the crust before adding a precooked filling to it. To do so, Poke holes in the bottom with a fork, line with parchment paper (or foil if you don't have parchment on hand), fill with pie weights, beans or rice and bake as per instructions on packaging (Usually about 10-15 minutes at 375 degrees)
- Defrost or make the Chocolate Ganache per the recipe in my post for the Mango Lemon Swiss roll. If defrosting, take out of freezer and leave in fridge overnight, then place in a saucepan filled with hot water to bring the ganache to room temperature (If you try to spread it while cold, the pie shell will break) while baking and cooling the crust. If making your Ganache fresh, remember to cool it completely before adding to the pie shell, to prevent the pie crust from getting soggy.
- Refrigerate your coconut cream and skim the solidified cream from the top, leaving the coconut water at the bottom to use in another recipe, for example a smoothie.
- Add the cream and sugar to a mixing bowl and beat on high till whipped to a fluffy concistency.
- Spread the room temperature ganache at the bottom of your cooled pie shell.
- Top with lemon curd, if you don't feel like making it you can use premade canned or bottled lemon curd, available in most stores.
- Spread the whipped coconut cream on top, letting some of the lemon show around the edges.
- Sprinkle the shredded Coconut and Chill The Pie for 1 hour before eating, or freeze for use later.
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