Two Cream Pies

Thank goodness for friends with spring birthdays, and thank goodness for Cooking Light ! I have had a subscription for about three years and I love this magazine to death. When I got my May issue and found the cooking class section to be on cream pies, I got really excited. Elisa’s husband, David’s birthday shindig was fast approaching and I thought these cream pies would be just the thing to contribute. I did seriously consider doing two Mexican Chocolate Pies, but the Chai Cream just seemed too interesting to pass up. I did pass up the lemon this time, but I feel sure it will make an appearance later this Spring.

These pies were easy. I was able to get these done while chasing a little rugrat around and actually keep my steps straight… not necessarily a usual for me.

These pies were good.
I gotta say, the mexican chocolate wins. The chai was good. It tasted like a chai latte at a coffee shop, yes. I liked that you steeped the tea in the spices and made chai for real, but then I guess I was disappointed that it tasted just like boxed chai. Nonetheless, I’m sure I will make both of these again.

CHAI CREAM PIE From Cooking Light INGREDIENTS 1 refrigerated pie crust 2 C milk 8 whole cloves 1 cinnamon stick, broken 1 (1/2 inch) piece peeled ginger, crushed 1 black tea bag 1/2 C sugar 3 T cornstarch 1/8 t salt 2 eggs 1 1/2 T butter, plus more for greasing pie pan 1 1/2 C frozen whipped topping, thawed 1/8 t ground cinnamon PREPARATION Place dough into a 9-inch pie plate and flute edges. Prick with a fork and cook according to package directions. Combine Milk and next 4 ingredients (through ginger) in a saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture reaches 180°. Remove from heat and add tea bag; cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Strain the mixture over a bowl and discard the solids. Return milk mixture to heat and cook until milk reaches 180° again. Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, and eggs in a large bowl and stir well. Gradually add the hot milk mixture to sugar mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan and cook over medium heat while stirring constantly, until thickened.  Remove from heat; stir in butter. Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl for 10 minutes or until filling cools, stirring occasionally. Spoon into crust; cover surface with plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours. Top with whipped cream; garnish with ground cinnamon

 

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE From Cooking Light INGREDIENTS Crust: 1 1/1 C graham cracker crumbs, about 10 cookie sheets), divided 2 T sugar 1 t ground cinnamon 1/8 t salt 2 T egg white 2 T butter, melted butter to grease pie plate Filling: 1/2 C sugar 2 T cornstarch 1 T unsweetened cocoa 1/4 t instant espresso powder 1/8 t salt 1/8 t ground cayenne pepper 1 egg 1 egg yolk 1 3/4 C Milk 2 OZ. dark chocolate 1 1/2 C frozen whipped topping, thawed PREPARATION Preheat oven to 375° To prepare the crust, reserve 1 T crumbs for topping. Combine the remaining crumbs, 2 T sugar, cinnamon, and 1/8 t salt in a bowl, stirring well ( I used my food processor for this crust). Stir in egg white and butter. Press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with butter. Bake at 375° for 9 minutes or until lightly toasted; cool completely. To prepare filling, combine 1/2 C sugar and the next 7 ingredients (through egg yolk) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Place the milk in a medium saucepan over med-high heat; cook until milk reaches 180° (do not boil). Gradually add hot milk to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan; cook over heat 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until smooth Place pan in large ice-filled bowl for 10 minutes or until mixture cools, stirring occasionally. Spoon filling into crust, and cover surface of filling with plastic wrap. Chill for 3 hours or until set; remove plastic wrap. Spread with whipped cream and sprinkle with the reserved graham cracker crumbs.

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