This month’s Tried and True Recipe, Earl Grey Cream Pie, comes from Henry Moore. Henry and his parents Laura Koennecke (MO# 460) and Jim Moore (MO# 756) were excited to share this delicious pie at our Beloved Community Pie Social in January!  We heard lots of good things about it - and hope you got a chance to try it!

Henry discovered the recipe on YouTube and decided to give it a try. We are so glad he did!
 

Earl Grey Cream Pie

Ingredients (Recipe makes two pies)

1. Two pie rounds (we bought frozen shells to save time)

2. Pie Cream

•  10 earl grey standard tea bags

• 32 ounces (4 cups) whole milk

•  1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (we used vanilla extract along with scraping a couple beans from the extract jar)

•  1/2 teaspoon salt

•  60 grams cornstarch (around 8 tablespoons) 

•  230 grams sugar

•  4 large eggs

•  8 tablespoons unsalted butter

3. Chocolate Ganache

•  1 bar of good quality dark chocolate

•  A few splashes of heavy cream

• Whipped Cream

•  4 cups of whipped cream 

•  3 tablespoons powdered sugar

•  1 teaspoon vanilla 

Directions

1. Pastry Cream 

• Add 32oz (4cups) whole milk to a large pot. Then add the 10 tea bags of earl grey tea to the milk. Turn the heat on to low and bring the milk to a simmer. Be careful not to bring it to a boil as it can easily overflow once boiled. Once the milk starts to simmer, turn off the heat and let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

• After waiting the 20 minutes, I like to squeeze the tea bags to extract as much flavor. 

• Add 1tbsp vanilla bean paste and 1/2 tsp salt to the milk mixture. Turn the heat back onto low to return the mixture to a simmer.

• While the milk is heating up, add 75ml cornstarch and 230g sugar to a bowl and whisk to combine. Then add 4 large eggs and whisk once again to combine.

• Temper the eggs by slowly adding the heated milk to the egg mixture while continuously whisking. Add  around half of the milk mixture to the eggs. 

• Then return everything back to the pot and turn the heat to medium, while constantly whisking. The pastry cream will suddenly start to change from a liquid to more of a whipped cream consistency. Once the pastry cream starts to boil (the custard will start to release bubbles), keep whisking for around 30 more seconds. Then turn off 

• Incorporate half the butter, then add the remaining butter, doing the same.

• Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl. 

• Strain the cream through a metal sieve at this point to get rid of any lumps, milk solids, or stray tea leaves. 

• Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic is touching the surface of the cream so that a skin does not form. Refrigerate the cream.

2. Pie Crusts
(Use your favorite recipe - or buy them like we did, just make sure to pre-bake them)

• Roll out both pie doughs. Transfer to pie plates and crimp the edges. Dock the dough to prevent it from rising. Then place them back into the fridge, loosely covered, to firm up once again for around 15 minutes.

• After 15 minutes, take the pie doughs out of the fridge and place parchment paper over the pie doughs along with pie weights of your choice 

• Bake in a 375 degrees F oven for around 15 minutes. Then remove the pie weights (plus parchment) and continue cooking uncovered for another 15 minutes or so. You want the pie to be golden brown and crisp. Use a fork to once again dock the pie crust real quick before its second bake.

2. Chocolate Ganache

• Chop one bar of dark chocolate of choice (reserve a little to shave on top of pies)

• Then place in a heat-proof bowl along with a few splashes of heavy cream. Place this bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. You want to take this nice and slow to gently melt the chocolate. 

• Once the chocolate is melted, transfer and evenly spread it over the cooled pie crusts. Let the crusts sit at room temp until the chocolate firms up or place them in a refrigerator to speed up the process.

3. Whipped Cream

• Pour 4 cups (minus the amount used for the chocolate ganache) of heavy whipping cream into a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

• Blend with a hand mixer, by hand, or using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed until medium peaks form. Don’t overwhip as it can curdle the cream.

4. Assembly

• Take the earl grey pastry cream out of the fridge and whisk it up well to break it up. Then add half of the whipped cream to the loosened pastry cream and fold the mixture by hand using a spatula. You want to maintain the light airiness of the whipped cream. (We forgot this step for the pie we brought to the pie social, but it was still yummy.)

• Divide the diplomat cream (pastry cream + whipped cream) equally and fill the two pie shells (with the chocolate ganache already at the bottom). Smoothen out the cream to create a flat surface.

• Then divide the remaining whipped cream in half and place evenly on top of the diplomat cream.

• Top with some chocolate shavings 

• Refrigerate for a few hours (preferably overnight) and serve!

Recipe from: 
https://www.joshuacooksthendraws.com/blog/8a2zm9kl6r4twp8ygstwf4751hccxi-7zhcs