Tongue in Cheek's Key Lime Pie Ice Cream Nails It

Summer is a take it or leave it time of year. It's great when you're a kid because you get three months of vacation, but as an adult, you still have to go to work, assuming that you're employed. Plus, there's the heat. The only unqualified good thing about summer is that we live in an age of delicious frozen treats.

A retired Richardson firefighter opened Tongue in Cheek Ice Cream in 2019. The shop delivers some of the best ice cream in all of DFW, and the owners recently opened a second store in Plano. They rotate out seasonal flavors but never stray into novelty territory by, say, trying to make a ham sandwich ice cream.

One of the shop's more successful experiments is its re-creation of the classic Key lime pie in ice cream form. It is the greatest slice of pie that's not a pie that you'll ever eat.

Key lime pie is the Bermuda Triangle of desserts. It stands out from other pies by defying the very definition of what it means to be a pie. It's light and pillowy, but not covered in a flaky pastry, and when it's made correctly, the texture feels like a fluffy cheesecake. Key lime pie dares to pick as its filling a citrus fruit that's not even consumed in its rawest form except perhaps as a dare.

Tongue in Cheek's re-creation of this must've taken a lot of trial and error. But what really matters is that they nailed it.

For the base they use vanilla, a flavor that mixes well and isn't loud, lazy and brash like some pop punk, overly tart lime sherbet. For the lime, the recipe incorporates just the right amount of deftness and decorum; it doesn't punch you in the mouth nor does it try to hide. The balance is so perfect that it'd be a serious challenge to discern a spoonful of this ice cream from a bite of Key lime pie filling minus the whipped topping.

Another key ingredient for Key lime pie is a graham cracker crust to hold everything together. Tongue in Cheek folds in just the right amount of crumbles. You won't want any toppings on this ice cream, whether it's in a cone or a cup. Anything other than the ice cream's perfect mix of carefully concocted ingredients will ruin the delicate balance.

Our only complaint is that it's primarily available only in the summer. But that happens to be when we need it most. The whole experience feels like you're giving the middle finger to the sun in dairy form.

Follow Tongue in Cheek on Facebook. If they choose your name, you can get free ice cream. And if they're out of Key lime pie when you visit, check their freezer for pies. Right now they have a Key lime pie ice cream pie.

Tongue In Cheek Ice Cream, 526 W. Arapaho Road, Richardson. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Monday – Thursday; 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 12 – 9 p.m. Sunday