Hula pie

Bring some aloha spirit home with hula pie from Duke’s Waikiki: macadamia nut ice cream sandwiched between a chocolate cookie crust and a fudge topping. A taste of Hawaii and a perfect summer indulgence.

Ingredients

• 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers or chocolate graham crackers; see note)
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
• 3-6 ounces macadamia nuts, roughly chopped (6 ounces is generously nutty; 3 ounces will be more spare, like butter pecan ice cream)
• 1 cup dark hot fudge sauce
• Whipped cream, for serving

Preparation

1. Add melted butter to chocolate crumbs and mix well. Pour crumbs into 9-inch pie pan and use a large spoon or flat-bottomed measuring cup to press the crumbs firmly and evenly into just the bottom of the pie pan (not up the sides). Put pan in freezer for 1 hour or more.
2. Take ice cream out of freezer and let sit at room temperature to soften, about 15-20 minutes. Set a handful of macadamia nuts aside for topping. Add ice cream to a large bowl, along with macadamia nuts to taste. Use a large spoon to mix the nuts into the ice cream. Then pour ice cream into the pie pan, spreading it evenly and smoothing the top with a spoon or spatula. Put pie pan back in freezer for at least 1 hour.
3. Spread cold fudge sauce in a thick layer over frozen ice cream pie. Put pie pan back in freezer until ready to serve.
4. Remove pie from freezer a few minutes before serving. Use a thin-bladed knife dipped in hot water to cut pieces. Top with whipped cream and additional nuts.

Notes

• If you can find them, Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers are best; otherwise chocolate graham crackers will do. About 16 Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers (or 6-7 full sheets chocolate graham crackers) = 1 cup of chocolate crumbs. You can also use Oreo cookies and scrape out the filling (or leave it in if you don’t mind a supersweet crust). Use a food processor, or put cookies in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into crumbs.
• For a mountain-mounded hula pie like the Duke’s original, use 1 full gallon of ice cream. Add additional drizzle of hot fudge sauce when serving.
• Many larger containers of ice cream have been sneakily downsized by manufacturers from 1/2 gallon (8 cups) to 1 1/2 quarts (6 cups). The smaller amount will make a slightly flatter pie, but it’s fine.

Here’s a link back to the post and pictures.