Chef Alexis deBoschnek Recreates Retro Fruit Cocktail Parfait Pie

Taste the nostalgia with this classic BHG vintage pie recipe.

Prep Time:
20 mins
Chill Time:
1 hrs
Total Time:
1 hrs 20 mins
Servings:
8
Yield:
1 pie

This retro fruit pie recipe comes from a vintage edition of a Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book. As chef Alexis deBoschnek begins to prep the fruit cocktail pie, she notes this fun recipe contains all of her favorite things she ate growing up—fruit cocktail, ice cream, and vanilla wafer cookies. Many recipes like this from the '50s contain gelatin to "really get that jiggle." Lemon gelatin is used in this recipe to add flavor and (we assume) color.

Combined with just a few simple ingredients, deBoschnek loves that "in so many of these recipes they use all of the ingredient," she says, referring to the juice from canned fruit cocktail being utilized. Unlike some of the recipes in vintage cookbooks, deBoschnek likes the fact actual timings are used here, so you don't have to guess when steps are done.

Ingredients

  • 1 can fruit cocktail

  • 3 ounce package lemon gelatin

  • 1/2 cup water

  • 1 pint vanilla ice cream

  • 1 spray , about 1/3 second cooking spray

  • 20 cookies vanilla wafer cookies

Directions

  1. Line the bottom of greased 9-inch pie plate with whole vanilla wafers. Trim ¼ inch off enough wafers to stand up around edge of plate. Crumble a few wafers; fill chinks in bottom crust.

  2. Drain fruit, reserving syrup. Add enough water to syrup to make 1 cup; heat to boiling in medium saucepan. Add gelatin; dissolve. Add cold water.

  3. Cut ice cream in 6 pieces; add to hot mixture; stir until melted. Chill until mixture thickens (about 15 to 20 minutes). Fold in fruit.

  4. Turn into cookie crust. Chill until firm (45 minutes for creamy filling up to a few hours for a firmer gelatin).

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

488 Calories
23g Fat
68g Carbs
5g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 8
Calories 488.4
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 22.9g 29%
Saturated Fat 8.5g 43%
Cholesterol 14.6mg 5%
Sodium 286.9mg 12%
Total Carbohydrate 68g 25%
Dietary Fiber 2.1g 8%
Total Sugars 40.9g
Protein 5.4g
Vitamin D 0.1mcg 0%
Vitamin C 0.9mg 4%
Calcium 60.9mg 5%
Iron 4.3mg 24%
Potassium 228.4mg 5%
Fatty acids, total trans 0.5g
Vitamin D 2.6IU
Alanine 0.2g
Arginine 0.2g
Ash 1.4g
Aspartic acid 0.3g
Caffeine 8.2mg
Carotene, alpha 0mcg
Choline, total 17.8mg
Copper, Cu 0.3mg
Cystine 0.1g
Energy 2045.1kJ
Fluoride, F 27.6mcg
Folate, total 60.1mcg
Glutamic acid 1.2g
Glycine 0.2g
Histidine 0.1g
Isoleucine 0.2g
Leucine 0.3g
Lysine 0.1g
Methionine 0g
Magnesium, Mg 37.4mg
Manganese, Mn 0.5mg
Niacin 2.3mg
Phosphorus, P 124.7mg
Pantothenic acid 0.2mg
Phenylalanine 0.2g
Proline 0.4g
Retinol 38.3mcg
Selenium, Se 3.8mcg
Serine 0.2g
Starch 21.2g
Theobromine 62.2mg
Threonine 0.2g
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) 1.7mg
Tryptophan 0.1g
Tyrosine 0.1g
Valine 0.2g
Vitamin A, IU 212.3IU
Vitamin A, RAE 42.5mcg
Vitamin B-12 0.2mcg
Vitamin B-6 0.1mg
Vitamin K (phylloquinone) 26.3mcg
Water 76.9g
Zinc, Zn 0.8mg

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

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