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become so enamored

January 24 2011 by Kristin at The Kitchen Sink in Dessert,Recipe » 20 comments

I’m a big believer in a homemade pie crust. Pate brisee, in fact, is one of my favorite phrases to say aloud. Try it: pate brisee. Pate brisee! PATE BRISEE. See? And it’s not just that. It’s the magic that is made of butter, plus flour, plus salt, plus water, plus heat. That magic is flaky and rich, and is a wonderfully accommodating receptacle for all kinds of delicious. Apples, peeled and chunked, cinnamon-spiked and saucy, for instance. Or, for another, dizzying trails of pecans atop a super-sweet, salt-cut chocolate base. And don’t forget the classic: a silky, burnt orange pumpkin custard.

I’ll happily try to convince anyone who’ll listen that the homemade pie crust is nowhere near as tricky a feat as some will have you believe. Sure—it takes a couple tries to get the hang of it. Mainly, you need to learn not to have too heavy or too light a hand when it comes to adding water to the flour-butter-salt base. And it helps tremendously to work very quickly and to keep your ingredients cold. Beyond that, I swear, pate brisee (pate brisee, pate brisee, pate brisee—sorry (but not really)) is a snap. Not to mention incredibly worth it.

What’s more—one of my favorite early eating memories involves pie crust. Or, rather, the scraps that were trimmed from a round of dough after it had been fitted into a tin. My grandma’s pie tin, to be exact. The crust was to be filled with sugared, just-picked wild blueberries—plunked, one-by-one, into the tin pails that my grandpa tossed into the bed of his pick-up while we made the short drive up Palisade Head, where we plucked the tiny blue fruit, with a sweeping view of the great sparkling blue beauty that is Lake Superior. But it was those scraps of pie dough—tossed in sugar and cinnamon, rolled and baked—that I remember best. If memory serves, my grandparents called them Washington Cakes and I loved them.

So, with all of this in mind, it surprises no one more than me that I’ve become so enamored of the simple, humble graham cracker pie crust. I blame the pudding. You see, it’s the pudding-y pie fillings that pair so perfectly with a cinnamony, crumbly, just sweet graham cracker crust. First, it was chocolate cream. And then it was peanut butter pudding.

Now, though, it’s butterscotch pudding. Topped with bourbon-laced, softly-whipped cream. Oh, yes, I blame the pudding.

Butterscotch-Bourbon Cream Pie
Adapted from Gourmet & Bon Appetit

For the Crust:
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For the Pudding:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
1 tablespoon bourbon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Whipped Cream:
1 liquid cup heavy cream, cold
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon bourbon

Make the Crust: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.Stir together crumbs, butter, sugar and cinnamon and press on bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate (1-quart capacity). Bake until crisp, about 15 minutes, and cool on a rack.

Make the Pudding: Whisk together brown sugar, cornstarch, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a heavy medium saucepan, then whisk in milk and cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking frequently, then boil, whisking, 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in butter, bourbon and vanilla. Pour the pudding into the cooled pie crust. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Make the Whipped Cream: In a large mixer bowl, place all the ingredients and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. (Chill the whisk beater alongside the bowl.)

Beat the mixture until soft peaks from when the beater is raised or the cream mounds softly when dropped from a spoon. Do not overbeat. Spread the cream on top of the butterscotch pudding.

20 comments so far. »
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molly says on January 24 2011 at 8:04 pm:

Indeed! Graham cracker crust is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Excellent, also, for summer fruit pies (think strawberry). But for now? Pudding, indeed.
Jessica @ How Sweet says on January 24 2011 at 8:31 pm:

graham cracker crust is one of my favorite things. sometimes i heat melt butter and press grahams down into a bowl, making a crust, and top it with random things… fillings, melted marshmallows, etc. love it!
Erin E says on January 24 2011 at 10:13 pm:

My boyfriend doesn’t have much f a sweet tooth, but I do… This looks like a treat that we would both LOVE! Thanks for the recipe and lovely pictures!
Liz says on January 25 2011 at 4:43 am:

sounds amazing! bourbon pudding who would have guessed, i”m sure it goes perfectly with the graham cracker crust!
Caroline Shields says on January 25 2011 at 5:18 am:

I was just talking about pie scraps the other day. And I’m with ya on the graham cracker crust.
My Little Expat Kitchen says on January 25 2011 at 6:36 am:

Such a great pudding. I love graham cracker crust especially with chocolate but this bourbon flavored delight must be delicious. It surely looks the part
Magda
Nicole @ the dirty oven says on January 25 2011 at 7:02 am:

Looks great! I have not made a pie with graham crackers for some time. Will have to give it a try as we always have crackers in the house due to my son! Thanks
Whitney says on January 25 2011 at 7:47 am:

You had me at Bourbon-laced whipped cream. Hot damn!
Barbara says on January 25 2011 at 10:14 am:

Yum on butterscotch pudding pie! I love graham cracker crusts. My mother used to make some kind of butterscotch pudding (very dense) and put it in a baked meringue with whipped cream on top. Of course, it’s one recipe she never wrote down and now it’s lost!
Sprinkling of Sugar says on January 25 2011 at 12:23 pm:

Wow, the layers in this pie are such a work of art! Sometimes I like a graham cracker crust and sometimes I prefer a more flaky pastry sort of thing, but here it looks like it works so perfectly. The colors and flavors look delish! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
lauren @ spiced plate says on January 25 2011 at 6:28 pm:

I LOVE graham cracker crumbs — I used to put them in milk and eat them like cereal. I’m going to try to make this with gluten free graham crackers — it looks so delicious!
laura @ alittlebarefoot says on January 26 2011 at 6:46 pm:

yum x infinity! i love making graham cracker crusts, they are so rewarding with so little effort! this looks incredible.
Colleen says on January 27 2011 at 12:45 pm:

I am with you – homemade pie crust all the way. I am the oldest of 4 kids. My mom believed that you were ready to leave home when you had mastered doing your own laundry and making a homemade pie crust. If you can do those two things, you are all set for the real world.
diane says on January 28 2011 at 9:04 am:

Those little pastry cakes were so good from Gma…the pie looks fabulous…why do you live so far away? Thanks for the lucious item. Take Care.MOM
Joyce says on February 03 2011 at 1:52 pm:

Mm you always have such great recipes! Butterscotch pudding AND pie sound incredible – I think this will be a weekend baking project!
steph (whisk/spoon) says on February 06 2011 at 2:09 pm:

butterscotch is the best kind of pudding. and it’s made to go with a graham crust, too!
Keri says on February 16 2011 at 6:48 am:

Gave this a go over the weekend – smells amazing, tastes even better, but I couldn’t get the pudding to set properly (not a surpise, having never made anything but, ahem, instant pudding). Any tips?
tammy says on February 17 2011 at 10:03 am:

The pie looks great. i want to make it, and was wondering, what is the equivalent of 9 inch pan in centimeters?

Thank you!
The Perils of Pastry | Cooking from the heart says on February 17 2011 at 7:13 pm:

[...] a crack at sweet short crust pastry, or pâte brisée (pronounced paht bree-zay). I came across a few recipes and then remembered my husband is a big fan of custard tart – which was perfect for all [...]
other places online « Erstwhile & dear says on April 08 2011 at 9:36 am:

[...] a recipe: bourbon and butterscotch pie, with graham cracker crust [...]