“A Warm December” has a pivotal scene involving ice cream, and I also wanted to have a dessert that called back to the film’s title. So for the pairing, I chose caramel apple pie ice cream! (I’m going big for the 100th Veg Out blog post.)

This vegan, gluten-free recipe makes 2 pints or 6-8 “servings” of ice cream. In addition, you will have 6 extra slices of caramel apple pie.

Pie Crust Ingredients
2.5 cups 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour (chilled)
1 tablespoon sugar (chilled)
1 teaspoon salt (chilled)
1 cup vegan butter or margarine (chilled)
0.5 cups cold water
1 tablespoon canola oil (for brushing)

Filling Ingredients
1 cup sugar
0.25 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 cups apples, cored and sliced
0.5 cups vegan caramel sauce or melted caramels
2 tablespoons vegan milk
0.5 cups brown sugar
0.5 cups vegan butter or margarine (chilled)

Ice Cream Ingredients
1 slice of pie
1 11.2-ounce bottle vegan caramel creamer
1.5 cups cinnamon oat milk
1 teaspoon apple flavoring or extract
1 slice of pie, cut into cubes (for mix-in stage)

Instructions
Make sure all of your pie crust ingredients are chilled for at least 20 minutes before mixing them together.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine the chilled flour, sugar and salt needed for the crust. If mixing by hand, I highly recommend using a pastry cutter.

When the dry ingredients are mixed, add in the margarine one spoonful at a time. Then add the water, a quarter cup at a time.

Once your dough is thoroughly mixed and a little flaky, split it into two balls. Individually wrap each dough ball in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1-24 hours. You can freeze them for up to a week, but they will need time to thaw in the fridge if you do that.

After your pie crust dough balls have had time to chill, preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease your pie pan.

Time to make the filling. Mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a large bowl, then toss the apple slices in the mixture.

Carefully roll out one of your pie crusts and place it in your greased pie plate.

Pour the apples into the crust.

Mix your caramel sauce or melted caramels with the milk. (We went the melted caramel route and melted them in 30-second intervals in the microwave, stirring them in between.)

Drizzle the caramel mixture over the top of the apples.

In another bowl, mix the brown sugar and butter together using a pastry cutter and fork until small buttery, sugary crumbs are formed. Pour them on top of the caramel apples.

Roll out your second crust and use a pizza cutter to cut 1 inch-wide strips.

Carefully place and interweave the strips across the top of your pie. I am not a lattice perfectionist, so I am fully aware mine might look a little janky (but it tastes wonderful!).

Brush the lattice crust with oil.

Bake the pie at 400°F for 20 minutes, then decrease the temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes.

The crust should be golden brown and the filling should be slightly bubbling.

Let the pie cool for about an hour.

Slice two pieces and cut them into blocks. Freeze them for about 24 hours (the same time period as your ice cream bowl or ice cream pints, depending on your ice cream maker).

Prep your ice cream. Put the frozen pie cubes from 1 slice in your blender and pour the caramel creamer, cinnamon milk and apple extract over the top. (If you don’t have these flavors of creamer or milk, plain or vanilla also work. Vanilla, cinnamon or caramel extract can also be used in place of apple.)

Pulse until everything is evenly mixed.

What happens next depends on your ice cream maker. If you have a more standard one, you’ll pull your chilled (for 24 hours) bowl out and make the ice cream.

If you have one like mine, you pour the mixture into two pints then freeze them for 24 hours. After that time, you put the pint into your ice cream maker and let it do its magic on the ice cream setting.

For the extra cacophony of caramel apple pie flavor, add the additional frozen pie cubes in there at the end of a normal ice cream maker’s cycle or using the mix-in setting if you have one like mine. Use half of them in each pint.

Scoop and serve, with or without a warm slice of the leftover pie underneath! Enjoy as you melt into the world of “A Warm December.”

The Easy Route
You could buy a premade vegan, gluten-free apple pie to blend up into your ice cream and drop in pieces at the mix-in stage.

If you know of a restaurant, ice cream parlor or brand that has premade vegan, gluten-free caramel apple pie ice cream, please share those details in the comments.

The Pairing
I’ve seen “A Warm December” three times now, and I really wish more people knew about this gem of a movie.

Sidney Poitier stars as Matt, a widowed doctor and father who crosses paths with the mysterious Catherine (Esther Anderson), and they instantly hit it off.

Poitier also directed this film based on a script by Lawrence Roman, and it is really a moving story that is part mystery, part romance, part tragedy and just part slice of life.

Unfortunately, it is a movie that is hard to find. I happened to catch it on TCM twice, and when I wanted to watch it again so I could write this post, I couldn’t find it on any streaming services or as a disc to check out from the Hennepin County Library system (which is not a small network).

I wound up buying the DVD online, and I’m glad to have it in my own library now.

Yes, I wanted to go big for my recipe pairing to celebrate my 100th blog post, but for the movie, I wanted to pick something very underrated.

“A Warm December” really fits that bill, and the performances by Poitier and Anderson, along with their chemistry, are worth tracking the film down.

If you decide to make caramel apple pie ice cream and/or watch “A Warm December,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, threads, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes