It's My Birthday! Cake Batter Pie

Today is my actual birthday!  That's right kids - yours truly is officially 32 today! 

Yay me?

As I was perusing my cache of cake batter treats - I decided that Lindsey's Cake Batter Pie would be the PERFECT way to wrap up 5 days of firsts and 5 days of Birthday celebrations!

Um, Lindsey?  I'm moving to Oregon and setting up camp on your doorstep until you feed me treats.  Any kind of treat that you may dream up - I will stuff in my face.

Just so ya know.

Another first this week has been making this pie. 

It's a custard pie and I'd never made one before, so I was pretty excited!

First - start with the base.

Oh, Golden Oreos - how I love thee.

Lindsey uses the big packages of Oreos - but I couldn't find any of the big bags, so I had to improvise - although Lindsey didn't make it too hard.  Two cups of obliterated Oreos - coming up.

I thought it was a little easier to grind up the Oreos if I broke them up a little first.

Once there are two cups of crushed up cookies, add sugar.

Then add melted butter.

Mix together and press into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a pie plate.

So - um.  Upon writing this post I realised that I used the exact same pie plate as Lindsey!  This was totally an accident!  The plate was from my Grandmother, but I think it may have been my Great-Grandmother's pie plate... And I so badly wanted to use it!

Bake the crust at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes then set aside to cool completely.

Now - here's the tricky part.  Well - it was tricky for me anyway.

The pudding part.

The only pudding I've ever come close to is the instant stuff.

So I was pretty intimidated by this.

In a medium pot over medium heat, scald the milk.  I think.  Lindsey's recipe says to bring it to almost simmering - that's like scalding right?

Meanwhile, add the yolks to the bowl of a stand mixer.

Then add cornstarch.

Then add the sugar and salt.

And mix to combine.  Look for a smooth, creamy texture.

Now - my yolk mixture isn't nearly as prettily coloured as Lindsey's.  I think a little bit of egg white had gotten in there... And I think my eggs were a paler color. 

So now there's a yolk mixture and scalded milk.  Slowly add the milk mixture into the stand mixer bowl with the egg yolks with the mixer on low speed.

Lindsey suggests pouring the milk into a measuring cup to make this easier and it definitely was.  Listen to Lindsey - that lady knows what she's talking about.

And mix well.  Just be careful - it gets really sloshy.

After the milk and yolks are combined, pour the mixture back into the pot that you used to scald the milk.

Over low heat, stir constantly until thickened. 

I think this is where I made my oopsy.....  Lindsey's recipe says it should take 7 to 10 minutes to thicken...  Mine went ON and ON without thickening even a little.  But now I think I had the heat TOO low to start out with.  And instead of upping the heat A LITTLE - I CRANKED it to medium.  I turned my back for like two minutes thinking I wouldn't have to worry about it and when I turned around again it was seriously bubbling. 

Fearing I'd burnt it, I ripped it off the heat and stirred furiously.

After I calmed down a little bit, I stirred in the butter and vanilla and put the pudding through a fine mesh strainer (to get out any lumps there might be) into a fresh bowl.

Then add in 6 tablespoons funfetti cake batter mix and mix well.  I used Betty Crocker Rainbow Bits - not EXACTLY funfetti - but the closest I could get.

Pour onto the cooled pie shell.

Cover with saran wrap.  Make sure to very gently press the saran wrap onto the pudding - if not, the pudding will develop a film.

Refrigerate for 6 hours at least.

Once refrigerated, top with whipped cream and sprinkles!

Okay - so my center swirly-cue wasn't perfectly centered - but it's still kinda cute!

I was so excited to EAT the pie - I kindof forgot to take pictures on a slice on the first day.  But this helped teach me an important lesson.

Don't put sprinkles on until just before serving!  The colours run!

I loved, loved, loved this pie.  I'm not embarrassed to admit that I ate it for breakfast the following morning. 

What?

It's my birthday!

I thought the crust married PERFECTLY with the filling and the whipped cream was a lovely touch.

I suppose the thing I was most sad about was that the pudding didn't hold it's shape and was runny.  This is most definitely my fault.  I heated the egg/milk mixture too quickly and too much.  I'm sure that's what happened.  I snooped around and that's the general consensus.

But even though it ran and was not perfect looking - it was deeeeeelicious!

Thank you Lindsey!

Happy Birthday to the Cane girl!

Cake Batter Pie

Crust
235 gram package Golden Oreo Cookies (will measure out to 2 cups after ground up)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Break up the cookies and add to the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until cookies are ground into fine crumbs.  Measure 2 cups of crumbs.
3. Add the cookie crumbs to a mixing bowl and stir in the sugar.
4. Add the melted butter and stir until well mixed.
5. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate.
6. Bake crust for 8 minutes and set aside to cool completely.

Filling
3 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks, room temperature
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt (kosher)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons funfetti cake mix (I used Rainbow Bits)

1. In a large pot over medium heat, heat the milk through until scalded (about 180 degrees F).
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar, and salt on medium speed for 4 minutes.  The mixture will be thick.
3. Pour the scalded milk into a measuring cup and slowly pour down the inside of the stand mixer bowl with the mixer on low speed.  Don't add the milk too quickly as this could cause the yolks to actually cook.  Pouring the milk down the inside of the mixer bowl will help slightly cool the milk to help avoid this.
4. Mix on low speed until well combined.
5. Add the mixture back into the pot and heat over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until thickened.  This should take about 7 - 10 minutes to thicken.  If it's not thickening, slightly increase the heat.
6. Once thick, take the pot off the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract.
7. Pour the pudding through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl.  Straining the pudding will help remove any lumps that may have formed.
8. Whisk the cake batter mix into the pudding.  Continue whisking until no lumps remain and the pudding and mix are well combined.
9. Top the cooled crust with the pudding and spread evenly with a spatula or spoon.
10. Cover the pudding with saran wrap, gently pressing the saran wrap onto the pudding (not sitting above).  If not properly covered, the pudding will develop a skin, the saran wrap helps prevent that from happening.
11. Chill for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Whipped Cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, beat the whipping cream on high speed and slowly add the sugar.  Continue beating the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.

Remove the pie from the fridge and top with whipped cream and sprinkles.

Source:  Gingerbread Bagels