My Mom's Cheesecake Recipe = My Avocado Ice Box Pie Recipe

Disclosure:  This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Latina Bloggers Connect and Avocados from Mexico.  All thoughts are my own.

When you grow up on an island and later in Southern California, you get used to living in perpetual Summer heat.  I didn't mind as a kid because on good days, my mama would make her cheesecake.  Or maybe it was days I had to beg?  I don't remember... I'm getting old.  My mom used to tease me and my friends with her cheesecake.  I remember the first time I asked her for the recipe - she got defensive and told me she would just make it.  I think she secretly liked having us beg her for it.  Imagine my surprise when she finally gave in and showed me her coveted recipe card.  3 ingredients and it looked so easy to make!  I thought she slaved in the kitchen all day but nooo...  to my horror and delight, I found out she got the recipe from a package!  I decided to put my own spin on my mama's cheesecake since my sons love cheesecake and sometimes have to sneak in healthy food options like oh, umm yummy & nutritious avocados from Mexico!  So you guessed it, I hid the avocados in my take on avocado ice box pie!  It is cooling and light for those hot Summer days!  (And you don't have to slave away in the kitchen all day - just say you did!)

Avocado Ice Box Pie Ingredients
1 Oreo pie crust (or graham cracker pie crust)
1 8 oz. Cool Whip whipped topping
1 8 oz. Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Avocado

Directions

1. Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth, set aside.
2. Cut avocado in half, remove seed.  I only used a quarter but you can use more or less.  Scoop out avocado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl.  Using a fork, roughly mash the avocado.
3. Add avocado and cool whip into cream cheese and sugar mixture and fold ingredients until smooth.  
4. Pour pie mix into crust, refrigerate for 2+ hours.  Garnish with avocado and serve!  

Note: I used organic sugar and the sugar crystals were naturally larger - this is why the pie looks a bit grainy.

Do you have an avocado creation you would like to share?  Sign up for the Avocados from Mexico community and upload your recipe!

Semi-Homemade Avocado Ice Cream!

My grandparents had an avocado tree on their property in Guam.  Along with the avocado tree, they had coconut, guava and starfruit trees.  I can close my eyes and picture exactly where each tree is even though I haven't visited since I was a teenager.  The avocado tree is right next to this little hill.  We used to get cardboard from cases of soda and slide down that little hill.  Sometimes we'd land right in fallen avocados.  Other times I would be chasing my brother or little cousins and slip on an avocado.  I hated them for a portion of my childhood.  Seriously.  Not because they weren't yummy but because they would interfere with playtime!  Some days though, I would stand under the avocado tree, with its massive branches to hide from the piercing sun and pluck one, squeeze off the skin and have the freshest snack right there.  That was the life.

My nana used to yell at me, "Bring in some avocados".  And then she would make the yummiest avocado sweets ever.  One was "ice candy" - you can make it with coconut or mango but my favorite was avocado ice candy.  I don't remember how she made it but I do remember them sitting in bags in the freezer.  I would open the freezer door and my nana would yell, "close the door, they aren't ready yet!"  Hours later, she would call me in the kitchen, cut off the top and push me out the door to eat on the porch.  It was great being a kid!

Avocados from Mexico remind me of home and family.  The Holidays are all about home and family, here is my version of my nana's avocado ice candy - I hope it makes you feel like a part of our family.    


Semi-Homemade Avocado Ice Cream Ingredients

• 1 Avocado
• 3 tablespoons Sugar
• 2 scoops Vanilla Ice Cream
• 1/2 cup Milk

Directions

• Cut avocado in half, remove pit and skin
• Add avocado, ice cream, sugar and milk in blender.  Puree until smooth
• Pour in a bowl and serve!

You can also put this in a glass and drink it like a milkshake/smoothie.

{ Celebrity Chef Pepín shares Avocados From Mexico Posadas Recipes }

Disclosure:  This is a compensated post in collaboration with Avocados from Mexico and Latina Bloggers Connect.  All opinions are my own.