Raspberry Honeycomb Ice Cream Pie

Recently I bought delicious and BBC Good Food, two UK based food magazines. I thought it would be nice to have some recipes and not have to constantly search for conversion. My oven is in Celsius and everything I buy in the grocery store comes in milliliters or grams. But I’m used to Fahrenheit and ounces and tablespoons. So, I pulled out tons of recipes and the first one I chose to make doesn’t really require too much conversion anyway.

The one ingredient I was unfamiliar with was the honeycomb. Is this something that exists in the US? What I found is that honeycomb is a toffee-like with a rigid but also a little bit light and airy. It was actually really yummy. The flavor reminded me of a Werther’s Original and the texture was a little like a graham cracker. The honeycomb adds a really nice crunch to the pie. Here the honeycomb is made from golden syrup, which I is another thing I hadn’t heard of before. If you’re going to make this at home, substitute corn syrup for the golden syrup.

There are two great things about this recipe. One it’s delicious. Two, it’s so easy! There is so little work and if you really don’t like cooking you can use store bought ingredients. Instead of making your own crust, buy graham cracker crust. Instead of making honeycomb, you can buy it at the store in the baking aisle (at least you can here in London). Or if you can crush up graham crackers or Werther’s Originals to get something sort of similar.

This recipe is beautiful and delicious treat. And if anyone deserves dessert, it’s me and Ryan. This weekend we went to Odiham in Hampshire. We went to see Odiham Castle, we walked along a canal, we saw baby ducks, we saw horses, and gorgeous old brick homes. We walked through lush grassy woods, we got caught in the rain, and we strolled along the high street. We walked at least seven miles. It was gorgeous, wonderful, and exhausting. We earned dessert.

Adapted from BBC Good Food.

Ingredients:

Honeycomb-

1 cup/200g of sugar

5 tbsp golden syrup

2 tsp baking soda

Everything else-

1 1/4 cup/250g graham crackers or caramel flavored cookies

3 oz butter

6 tbsp butter, melted (might not need all of it)

1 3/4 cup raspberries

500g/18 oz vanilla ice cream (you might not need it all)

Directions:

1. Start by making the honeycomb. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the sugar and golden syrup in wide saucepan. It won’t mix neatly, it will be a little chunky in places. Place over medium heat and leave until dissolved and bubbling. The magazine says don’t be tempted to stir because otherwise the sugar will crystallize.  As the mixture heats, the liquid will start to thin, spread, and become homogeneous.

2. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn up the heat and let it bubble for 1 minute.

3. Add the baking soda and stir. It will bubble up quickly so be careful!

4. Pour on the prepared baking sheet and leave for 20 minutes until cool and firm.

5. Now for the pie! In a food processor (or with ziplock bag and a rolling pin) smash up the cookies until they are crumbs. Add in the melted butter and mix until well combined. You want a wet sandy mix.

6. Pour the crumbs into a pie plate. Press them crumbs into the plate with a spoon. Press until really firm! Chill for 30 minutes.

7. Remove the ice cream from the freezer. Let it sit out for 10-15 minutes. You want it to be soft enough you can stir it around, but not so soft it is soupy.

8. Once the ice cream is ready, get a large bowl. Mix together the ice cream and most of raspberries. Leave a handful of raspberries on the side. While you’re stirring, try to smash up some of the raspberries. It will make a beautiful juicy swirl.

9. Smash up half the honeycomb into little pieces. Add it to the ice cream. Mix until you have a beautiful ripply ice cream swirl.

10. Remove the crust from the fridge. Add in the ice cream mixture and smooth the edges.

11. Top the ice cream with the reserved raspberries and some shards for honeycomb. You won’t use all the honeycomb, leave the rest for a snack later!

12. Freeze for 4 hours or until frozen solid.

13. When you’re ready to eat it, let it soften just a tiny beat so it is easier to cut. Serve and enjoy!

Messy level: This is a two spoon recipe. Putting together the pie is really easy and barely messy. It is just making the crust that is messy. The honeycomb is the messy part because it is sticky, bubbles up, and then cools quickly. If you make the honeycomb yourself put the saucepan in the sink to soak IMMEDIATELY. It will be so much harder to clean if you don’t do that!