Chai Pie

Chai Pie. I just love saying it! Chai Pie, Chai Pie, Chai Pie! Aside from the catchy name, this is a scrumptious, non-traditional creamy dessert that's my non-dairy adaptation of my more classic Butterscotch Pie (click here) recipe.



First, prebake a pie pastry. I use Crisco vegetable shortening, lard, butter, or a combination of the three, depending on what's in our cupboards and who I'm serving the pie to -a frozen purchased pastry, or a graham cracker crust would also work here.



Chai Custard
Heat 4 minutes in microwave:
2 c. almond milk
4 slices fresh peeled ginger root
2 Chai tea bags
Allow to steep for 10-15 minutes, squeezing gently a few times to extract all the spicy essence from the bags.

Mix in top of double boiler:
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
Add chai-spiced almond milk, after removing tea bags and ginger root slices, and stir until it thickens a bit. Cover and cook 15 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, beat 4 egg yolks with 1/2 c. brown sugar. Lighten with chai custard and add to top of double boiler. Cook an additional 2 minutes.

Stir in 2 T. butter until melted. Remove from heat and add 1/2 t. vanilla.



Pour into the prebaked pastry shell. At this point, the pie can be topped with a meringue made by whipping the egg whites separated from the egg yolks, as I did with the Butterscotch Pie. Or as I did here, it can be topped with non-dairy whipped topping, or whipping cream.



For a cream pie, cool the hot custard a bit, cover with plastic cling wrap, and then chill until it's cooled completely. In the past, my impatience has resulted in more than one occasion where I have had the unfortunate experience of watching helplessly as the lovely fluffiness of the cream topping melted into an unappetizing pool atop the custard.



When the custard has thoroughly cooled, top with non-dairy whipped topping or whipped cream, and sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon.