Skip to main content

Green Tea Pie

I spent some time trying to create a version of the excellent Earl Grey pie from my recent visit to LA's The Pie Hole. They explained the architecture of the pie to me: tea-infused white chocolate top, chocolate ganache on the bottom. It sounded different enough to be a good subject for experimentation. The white chocolate filling was the most intriguing part to me. As I ate the pie, I didn't think that the filling was a custard, but I couldn't figure out on my own what alternative made sense.

I decided to make a green tea pie; in my advanced age, I thought that's what I had eaten in LA. I had never tried this form of infusion before. I was a little skeptical of boiling tea in cream, but I gave it a try. To my surprise, after a minute the tea slowly started to turn green. I added two tea bags because I didn't want to boil the cream for too long. In retrospect, I should have added more tea bags for a stronger tea flavor.

The ganache was a classic recipe, with white chocolate, cream, corn syrup, and butter. I decided to whip it both for structural integrity and texture. Even after an extraordinary amount of whipping, the filling still wasn't quite stiff enough to stand on its own. A little less cream and a little more corn syrup probably would have helped. I did see the mixture turn more green as it mixed; the tea particles must settle quickly.

I blind-baked a crust and coated the bottom with some dark chocolate ganache that was left over from my earlier cake.

Here is the finished pie. To be sure that it didn't run as I ate it, I put it in the refrigerator. Given the huge amount of dairy, refrigeration was probably appropriate in any case. I ate a piece for breakfast the next morning. It was interesting, but not quite as satisfying as I had hoped. A little more tea flavor would help; the tea really cuts the fat in the cream. I think that letting the pie thaw a little before eating would make the texture less dense.

Overall, it was an interesting experience. This technique is similar to that of green tea ice cream, which I am now interested to try. A little white chocolate would be a great addition to the ice cream. And I still look forward to recreating the decadent richness of that pie from LA.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eating Around Georgia Tech: Ecco

Our Texas Instruments colleague Cathy Wicks was gracious enough to host several of us at Ecco tonight. This is one of those restaurants that has been on my list for a long time. Even though it is within easy walking distance of Georgia Tech, I hadn't made it there until tonight. The menu is a combination of Italian, Spanish, and French that make use of some local Georgia ingredients. The combination of those three countries is sometimes a little forced, although the georgia ingredients (fruit, cheese) were all great and perfectly appropriate. We started out with a meat and cheese board. This actually reverses the French tradition, where cheese usually follows the main course. Everything was excellent. The Georgia cheese was a big hit, as was the French cow/goat cheese. I thought the sauscisson was very subtle and very good. The waitress said that the roast pork pasta was their signature dish, so I had to try it. It had traditional broad pasta (fresh, of course) ...
Post a Comment
Read more

DCA: Cava Mezze Grill

Cava is a DC area chain with light Mediterranean food. Saibal encouraged me to try lunch at their airport location and I was very happy with the experience. I ordered falafel on SuperSalad with assorted other toppings. The falafel was tasty. The SuperSalad was light, flavorful, and very easy to eat. Overall, a healthy and enjoyable lunch, something you can't always say about airport eating.
Post a Comment
Read more

Pressure Cooker Candied Ginger

I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...
2 comments
Read more