Ginger Pie

It's no secret that my favorite movie is Harold and Maude. Not only has this movie influenced my life, but my diet as well. Maude serves two things to Harold that I'd never heard of and wanted to try, oat straw tea and ginger pie. (Two things perfect for this fall weather, as a matter of fact.)


"Maude: Here we are. Oat straw tea and ginger pie. Excuse the mismatched saucers.


Harold: This is definitely a new experience for me.


Maude: Oh, wonderful. Try something new each day.
After all, we're given life to find it out. It doesn't last forever."


So many of life's joys are shared over a good meal or good cup of tea (or coffee). I ran across oat straw tea in a health food store years ago and immediately put it in my basket. It didn't strike me to give ginger pie a shot until earlier this year, and imagine my surprise when I saw there were pretty much no recipes out there for it! Luckily, a much more experienced and imaginative baker than myself who has a blog Rowley's Whiskey Forge had already run into this problem and solved it. His delicious solution to this problem (after what sounds like a lot of searching and many attempts at getting it just right) was a ginger custard pie. As with so many other recipes I find, I didn't make this right away and I'm glad I finally have. Please click on the link above, as his blog post describes this pie better than I ever could. Here's my experience with making this ginger pie, inspired by no other than Dame Marjorie Chardin.

Ingredients

Unbaked pie crust
1/4-1/3 cup minced young ginger
2.5 oz aged (white) rum
1 1/2 cups sugar
8 Tbl unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 1/2 Tbl all purpose flour

1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest

In a small bowl combine peeled/minced ginger and the rum. Set aside and make the pie crust. (Or if you've already made the crust, allow the ginger and rum to sit for at least an hour).

Beat together the butter and sugar until well combined (about a minute on med/high). Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Mix in all remaining ingredients. Pour the mixture into your unbaked pie crust and bake at 350 for about 50 minutes. The top will become a warm golden color and the middle should be a bit jiggly (but not raw). Use a toothpick to check it if you aren't sure.

The flavor of the ginger gives this pie a warmth even when it isn't directly out of the oven, though that's a great way to enjoy it, too. I kept my fresh slice small- this is a pretty rich pie.

Serve to friends and family, and bring some to your grandparents as I did, so they can enjoy the comfort food too!

Happy eating!