Ice cream pie, a marriage made in Hawaii

On a recent trip to Hawaii, I fell in love with the sweet grace, the sensuous beauty, and the rich symbolism of the hula. Mind you, I'm not referring to the famous native dance, but to Hula Pie.

Hula Pie is the signature dessert of Hawaii's TS Restaurant chain and originated at the company's first restaurant, Kimo's in Old Lahaina Town in Maui, which is where I was introduced to it.

The dessert is a spectacular ice cream pie, reminiscent of another favorite dessert of mine, the Mile High Pie at the now shuttered Pontchartrain Hotel in New Orleans.

As the New York Times Cookbook points out, ice cream pie is not a complicated dish. Some versions are nothing more than layers of ice cream pressed into a pie plate. Usually there's a crust, typically a simple crumb crust, though the Times Cookbook does offer one that is essentially a fallen soufflé and the Times' late food editor, Craig Claiborne, favored a meringue crust.

The Hula Pie sticks with a crumb crust made of Oreos. Then an entire quart of macadamia nut ice cream is piled into the crust to form a huge mound. Finally, the whole thing is covered with fudge sauce and garnished with whipped cream and macadamia nuts. No wonder the Food Network Magazine recently named the Hula Pie the best frozen dessert in all of the Hawaiian Islands. Shave ice didn't stand a chance. As befits such a concoction, at TS Restaurants each slice of Hula Pie is served on a special plate.

Tom Harte prepares to do the hula--hula pie, that is--during a recent visit to Maui in the Hawaiian Islands, where the decadent dessert was invented.

Now is the time to be thinking about ice cream pies because July is National Ice Cream Month. And any month, of course, is a good time for pie. Put the two together and you have the perfect summer treat.

After all, ice cream pie combines what are probably the two most quintessential American desserts. Ice cream, as Root and Rochement point out, is a veritable "symbol of America." In fact, they observe, during World War II eating ice cream was discouraged in Japan on the grounds that it displayed sympathy with the enemy. You can understand why the Japanese thought that. At more than 25 quarts per capita per year, we eat more ice cream than any other country. Likewise, pie, whether apple or some other variety, could hardly be more American.

Granted, neither dessert originated in this country. Iced diary products, some contend, can be traced all the way back to ancient China. But once the treat made its way to these shores in the 1700s, we embraced it almost immediately. In fact, the first ice cream parlor in this country opened around the time of the American Revolution. Ultimately, with the arrival of the hand-crank ice cream maker, an American invention, ice cream was no longer the province of confectioners but became an egalitarian treat.

Similarly, the origin of pie can be traced back to ancient times, specifically to the Egyptians. Once it came to America it didn't take long for it to acquire iconic status and become, as the American Pie Council declares, "the most traditional American dessert."

Who first thought of putting these two all-American desserts together is anybody's guess. One theory credits enterprising ice cream stores trying to capitalize on the popularity of Grasshopper Pie, a minty chiffon pie popular in the 1950s. To whomever it was, I offer a heartfelt "mahalo."

Standing outside Kimo's in Old Lahaina Town in Maui on the Hawaiian Islands, Tom Harte is all smiles after devouring a gigantic slice of Hula Pie, the restaurant's signature dessert.

Hula Pie

You don't need to go all the way to Hawaii to experience the magic of the hula. Just try this hula pie recipe adapted from the original version served at Kimo's on Front Street in Old Lahaina Town in Maui.

24 Oreo cookies

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 quart macadamia nut ice cream

Towering above the plate, Hula Pie, the signature dessert of Hawaii's TS Restaurant chain, is a decadent concoction of macadamia nut ice cream, fudge sauce, and whipped cream atop a cookie crust. (TOM HARTE)

1 jar (12 ounce) hot fudge ice cream topping

1 and 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Process cookies in food processor until texture of coarse meal. Add melted butter and process until combined. Press mixture into bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan and refrigerate for one hour. Soften ice cream and spread in pie crust. Refreeze until firm. Top with fudge sauce. Whip cream to soft peaks and pipe decoratively around edge of pie. Sprinkle with nuts.

Tom Harte's book, "Stirring Words," is available at local bookstores. A Harte Appetite airs Fridays 8:49 a.m. on KRCU, 90.9 FM. Contact Tom at semissourian.com or at the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO 63702-0699.