Mini French Vanilla Ice Cream Pies with Fig Compote Topping

Spring is right around the corner. The birds are returning north from their winter retreat, purple and yellow crocuses are popping their tiny heads above the sullen, snow-soaked ground and each day, the sun slinks down behind the hills a little later. This dessert is wonderful for this time of year. The flavors are reminiscent of the winter while the ice cream is a lovely look forward to warmer months. These are super easy to make and are great for parties and entertaining.

What You'll Need:

1/3 cup almond meal

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup cold, unsalted butter cut into cubes

2 tablespoon ice water

1 pint of French vanilla ice cream, soft but not melted

*For the recipe for the Fig Compote, refer to my post on January 15th.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 and fill a muffin tray with paper cupcake cups.
2. Combine the meal, flour and sugar in a bowl. Whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the butter cubes and coat with the flour mixture.
3. Using two knives, a pastry cutter, or a food processor, "cut" the butter into the flour until the dough forms into large pea-sized crumbs.
4. Sprinkle the water over the dough and combine. This is a VERY crumbly crust and should not form a ball.
5. Spoon about a tablespoon of dough into each paper cup. Using your fingers with the cup still in the tray, press the dough into the cup until compacted. Add more dough if necessary to make sure the whole bottom is covered.
6. Bake the cups in the oven for about 5 to 6 minutes until slightly golden brown but still soft. Do not over bake or your crusts will be too hard.
7. Remove the cups from the oven and let cool COMPLETELY.
8. When your crusts have cooled, spoon out about 2 tablespoons of ice cream into each cup on top of the crust. Use your spoon to level out the top of each pie.
9. While still in the tray, place the pies inside the freezer and freeze until the ice cream has re-hardened, about 20 to 30 minutes at most.

There are many ways you can serve these babies. The picture above shows the Bourbon Fig Compote, but here are some other tasty ideas:

Soft Spiced Pears
Caramel Sauce
Chocolate Ganache
Warm Apple Sauce
Fresh Mixed Berry Compote
Earl Grey and Cardamom Drizzle
Whipped Mascarpone