Dirty Chai Custard Pie
Indulgent. Seasonal. Creamy. Good-for-you ingredients. Easy. Perfect for Thanksgiving.
This is my new favorite pie. It tases like you spent forever on it and like it probably is bad for you, but it takes minutes of hands on time and doesn’t contain ingredients that’ll fill you with regret.
I went into this never making a custard pie before. But I HAD A DREAM and I made it reality in this pie. Some recipes took a million steps and some were filled with junk ingredients. I didn’t want any of that nonsense. I wanted it to be easy to add to your thanksgiving spread, but also good for you (as good for you as desserts are that is). It came together for my test beautifully. Honestly, I’m in love with it and plan to make it 10 more times.
I did use duck eggs which are more on the jumbo scale than regular chicken eggs, but I did try to find smaller ones to test with. If you use chicken eggs and they’re little, I’d add an extra egg and an extra yolk. Or you could just get the superior egg from me to make this pie. ;)
If you want to skip the dirty part of this, don’t use the espresso powder. It would just be chai then. But I really love the bitterness and the sweet and the spice together. It makes for such a good complex flavor.
If you can do gluten and want to make it even easier, you can buy a graham cracker crust. But my crust is made with maple syrup so it’s even better for you!
Dirty Chai Custard Pie
Crust Ingredients:
2 cup graham cracker crumbles (I used Pamala’s gluten free graham crackers because they’re my favorite)
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Filling Ingredients:
3 large/jumbo eggs (if your eggs are small, use 4 or 5 pending on how small)
2 large/jumbo egg yolk (if your eggs are small, use 3 yolks)
1 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cardamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch cloves
pinch black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup cream
1 1/2 cup whole milk
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 375F.
For the crust, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and maple syrup. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9x2” pie pan. Bake the crust until just starting to get golden or about 8 minutes.
While the crust bakes, in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, instant espresso, spices, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined. Add in the maple syrup, cream, and milk. Whisk well.
Pour the custard into the par baked pie crust. Bake for 25-35 minutes. You want it to still be a little jiggly. It will set up in the fridge. The edges shouldn’t jiggle but the middle should.
Let it cool on the counter for a few hours. Place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight. Slice and enjoy!
