Gingerbread Cream Pie

Yield: one 9-inch pie
Recipe: 48/200
“Back to Baking”, pp. 95

    It had been some time since I had made a pie, so I decided to try this recipe for a gingerbread cream pie, mostly because it sounded so scrumptious! I did not have any problems make the dough or the filling and everything seemed to be going as planned. I left the filling to set overnight and prepared the topping only the following day. The filling was delicious and the topping was just as tasty. However, for some reason when I cut the first slice of pie after having let everything set for a couple of hours, the pie essentially collapsed. It’s almost as if the topping was too heavy for the filling, and this led to the filing becoming more liquid and dispersing everywhere. Perhaps the filling had not set enough or maybe the topping was in fact too dense (I may inadvertently have went a little past the soft peak stage when beating the cream). Although the pie was not very pretty-looking, it was excellent and had a very present yet not overwhelming gingerbread taste. I will definitely attempt this again again to try to have a pie that retains its composition!

Ingredients for filling:

• 1 recipe Double-Crust Pie Dough
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup fancy molasses
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1  3/4 cups milk

Ingredients for topping:

• 1  1/2 cups whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1  1/2 tablespoons instant skim milk powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Pull the chilled dough from the fridge 30 minutes before rolling. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick and line a 9-inch pie shell with the dough. Trim and pinch the edges and chill the pie shell for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line the pie shell with aluminium foil and weight down with pie weights, rice or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and the weights and bake for 10-12 more minutes until the centre of the pie shell is dry and the edges are lightly browned. Allow the pie shell to cool while preparing the filling.
3. To prepare the filling, heat the butter and brown sugar in a saucepot over medium heat, stirring until bubbling.
4. Whisk in the whipping cream and the molasses, and stir until just below a simmer.
5. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, fresh ginger, spices, salt and milk.
6. Slowly pour the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly until homogeneously blended. Return the mixture to the saucepot and whisk over medium heat until thickened and just beginning to bubble, about 4 minutes.
7. Strain into a bowl and pour into the cooled pie shell. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the filling and chill until set, about 6 hours.
8. For the topping, whip the cream to soft peaks using a stand or hand mixer. Fold in the sugar, instant skim milk powder, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Spread generously over the gingerbread filling and chill until ready to serve.

Valerie