Monday, October 17, 2011

Cinnagrog Pie

 When I saw vanilla spice eggnog in the grocery store, I could not pass it up.  Regular eggnog is good by itself but the extra spice sounded like it would be better.  Also, for the same cost as plain, why not?

I decided that I would make an eggnog pie, but I wanted to have another extra flavor in there.  I started considering all the fall spices and decided on the cinnamon.  Instead of just adding this spice to the pie, I thought about a layer of a cinnamon cream pie.  The best ingredient for that would be Biscoff spread.

After trial and error, I came up with a pie that has a Biscoff cream cheese layer topped with an eggnog rum cream.  The crust is made out of ground Biscoff cookies and I sprinkled the top with the crumbs as well.

My original intent was to swirl the two, however, the consistency variation did not allow for that, the eggnog cream is lighter than the biscoff. That is how I arrived at the layers.  I was a little worried about the eggnog layer, because when I tasted the batter before putting it on the pies the rum was very strong.  The chilling overnight cause the flavor to dissapate, so the true flavor comes with time. I have included the measurement for rum extract for those that do not like alcohol. This recipe makes 6 mini pies, 4 1/2 inch in diameter or one 9 inch pie.

Cinnagrog Pie
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Crust
1 1/4 cup ground Biscoff cookies (plus 1/2 cup extra for sprinkling on top)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs melted butter
2 1/2 tbs sugar
3/4 tsp nutmeg

Ingredients/Biscoff Filling
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 cups  heavy cream (whipped)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Biscoff spread

Ingredients/Eggnog Filling
1 1/2 tsp of unflavored gelatin
1 tbs conrstarch
2 tbs cold water
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbs rum or 3/4 tsp rum extract
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 cup eggnog

For the crust. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together cookie crumbs, sugar and nutmeg.  Then stir in the melted butter.  Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and up the insides of your pie pan(s).  If making mini pies, place pies on a baking sheet.  Place baking sheet or 9 inch pie pan in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Remove pie pan(s) and let cool on rack.

For the Biscoff filling, beat together the cream cheese, Biscoff spread and sugar until smooth.  Then fold in the whipped cream.  Fill each of the cooled pie crusts halfway with the filling, smoothing the top.  Place in fridge to chill while you prepare the next layer of filling.

For the eggnog filling, put the water in a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin on top and set aside.  In a medium saucepan, stir together the cornstarch, sugar and eggnog.  Place over medium heat and cook, continuing to stir.  Once you can run your finger through the mixture on the back of a spoon and it leave a streak, it is done cooking.  My cook time was about 8 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin. Then use a sieve placed over a heat proof bowl and pour the mixture into the sieve.  You may have some cornstarch and/or gelatin that is left in the bottom of the sieve but push it through with a spoon and scrape all off of the bottom outside into the bowl.  Chill the mixture in the fridge until it turns into a pudding like consistency, about 30-40 minutes.

Then fold in the whipped cream and rum.  Take this batter and finish filling the pies.  Sprinkle the cookie crumbs on top of the pie(s). Let chill overnight before serving.
                             **LAST YEAR:Almost Tortuga Rum Cake