Pie of the Week
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[Photograph: Sarah Baird]

When allowing the pie filling to set in the refrigerator, cover it securely with plastic wrap to ensure that a skin doesn't form on the top of the pie. While it should be ready to go in five or six hours, letting the pie get nice and firm overnight is your best bet.

About the author: Sarah Baird is a writer, editor, and petit four aficionado living in New Orleans, Louisiana. She likes planning elaborate dinner parties surrounded by her collection of dwarf citrus trees. You can read her latest musings and about her various misadventures on her website: hellosarahbaird.com or follow her on Twitter: @scbaird.

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About This Recipe

Yield: makes one 9-inch pie
Active time: 40 minutes
Total time: 12 hours 40 minutes
Special equipment: food processor, refridgerator, saucepan, plastic wrap

Ingredients

  • For the Crust:
  • 2 cups chocolate wafers, crushed
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  •  
  • For the Filling:
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon ground cloves
  • 1 tablespoon ground cardmom
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 chai tea bags
  • 3 tablespoons corn starch
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Procedures

  1. For the Crust: Place chocolate wafers in food processor, pulse until fine. Transfer wafers to small bowl, fold into butter and flour until well combined. Press mixture into pie plate, covering bottom and both sides. Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. Bake empty crust until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

  3. To Assemble:Combine milk, clove, ginger, cardmom, and cinnamon in heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until mixture begins to bubble around edges, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add tea bags, and let stand for 20 minutes. Remove tea bags, return mixture to heat and cook again until bubbling around the edges, stirring constantly.

  4. Whisk together cornstarch, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Slowly add the hot milk mixture to sugar mixture, stirring constantly until combined. Transfer chai mixture back to saucepan. Cook stirring constantly until bubbly and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in butter and vanilla.

  5. Allow mixture to cool, stirring occasionally, until thickened to a pudding-like consistency (about 20 minutes). Pour mixture into crust, cover with plastic wrap. Chill until firmly set, preferably overnight.