Recipe by Pessi Piller

Recipe prep by Chumy Berger

Styling and photography by Chay Berger

My mother-in-law makes one of the best Pesach’dig ice creams. Last year, I upgraded it by making it into a praline ice cream pie. Not only did it look pretty, the reviews I got were incredible.

 

Yield: 1 9” round pan

 

Ingredients:

Crust:

⅔ cup roasted hazelnuts

1 cup almond flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon water

 

Ice cream:

4 eggs, divided

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

3 tablespoons water

½ cup oil

4 teaspoons coffee diluted in 2 teaspoons water

 

Praline drizzle (optional):

1 cup hazelnuts

3 tablespoons sugar

½ tablespoon nut oil

½ tablespoon cocoa

Toasted hazelnuts, split in half, for garnish

 

Directions:

For the crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9” round pan with parchment paper.

If hazelnuts aren’t roasted, roast them for 5 minutes.

In a blender, grind roasted hazelnuts on highest speed, until it turns into a butter. Do not over blend.

In a small bowl, combine hazelnuts with almond flour, sugar, and water.

Press dough into prepared pan, making sure some crumbs go up sides of pan as well.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove and set aside to cool completely.

For the ice cream:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites, ½ cup sugar, and water on high to form a snow. In a separate bowl, combine yolks, 2 tablespoons sugar, oil, and diluted coffee.

Mix until fully incorporated.

Fold into egg white mixture.

Pour into prepared crust and freeze overnight.

 

For the drizzle:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place nuts and sugar into a small baking pan and roast for 2 minutes.

Transfer to blender fitted with S-blade.

Blend on high for 10 minutes until it starts becoming a butter consistency. You may need to push down sides with a spatula at some points.

Add cocoa and oil and continue blending until runny—an additional 5–7 minutes, depending on strength of machine.

Drizzle pie with praline paste.

Place hazelnut halves around edge of pie for garnish.

 

Chumy Berger, personal chef, can be reached at 848-210-7973.