BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM PIE

This ice cream pie features a toasted almond crust with a hint of cardamom. Allow plenty of preparation time — but well worth the wait!

Crust
2 cups slivered blanched almonds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 cup butter, melted
(This crust is gluten-free and I sometimes use it with the glaze pie (when needed for dietary restrictions), which I posted first in this blog.)

Filling
1 pint blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 pints vanilla ice cream

For crust, combine the first 3 ingredients in processor and chop finely. Transfer to bowl. Mix in butter. Press firmly into bottom and sides of a 9-inch glass pie plate. Freeze 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake crust until center is golden (about 20 minutes), covering edges with foil if browning too quickly. Cool 5 minutes. If edges have slipped, gently press into place. Cool almond crust completely.

In a large saucepan, combine blueberries and sugar. Mix water and cornstarch together and stir into blueberry mixture. Cook at a simmer until the sauce is thickened. Reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture for decorating the top. Cool. Spoon blueberry mixture into pie crust. Spoon ice cream over blueberries. Drizzle over ice cream. Freeze several hours. Remove pie 15 minutes before serving to thaw enough to cut. Cut into wedges to serve.