Eggnog (dairy + eggs + sugar + nutmeg + alcohol) is basically melted ice cream that will get you drunk, and that's pretty hard to improve upon.
The basic food groups.
UNLESS YOU TURN IT INTO PIE.
Here's how:
Start by crushing a bag of gingersnap cookies until they're finely crushed. You can do this easily in a food processor, or just by, you know..smashing them with a rolling pin.
Add 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1 teaspoon of grated nutmeg and 1 tablespoon of sugar to the crumbs.
Add in 1 stick melted unsalted butter and mix to combine everything. It should look like wet sand.
Transfer all the crumbs to a pie plate and using the palm of your hand, press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the pie dish.
Look! A pie crust! Bake this at 350° for 15–20 minutes.
While that bakes, make the filling. Heat 1 cup of heavy cream, 2 cups of milk, and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium pot over medium heat until it comes to a boil.
Whisk 6 egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup cornstarch together in a medium bowl until everything is well blended and there are no lumps.
SLOWLY whisk in the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture. It will start to kinda thicken immediately which is good.
This is called ~tempering~ the eggs. If you dumped the eggs directly into the hot milk mixture, you'd have scrambled eggs which is NOT what we are going for here. Whisking the hot milk mixture into the eggs first slowly brings them up to temperature so they don't cook.
Return this mixture to the same pot you heated your milk in and cook it over low heat until it is thickened (it will look like pudding).
Remove the mixture from heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons of bourbon or rum (whichever you have/prefer is great).
Then whisk in 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter until the whole mixture is ultra ~creamy and smooth~.
So creamy! So smooth.
Then transfer the filling to the pie crust. Don't worry about it getting too smooth on the top, you're gong to cover it all up with whipped cream. Chill this for at least 2 hours.
You can also do this part a day ahead, if you want.
Sure, you could use whipped cream out of a can, but to MAKE YOUR OWN, pour two cups of cold heavy cream into a large bowl.
And whisk in 1/4 cup sugar. Keep whisking until it reaches STIFF PEAKS, which means it can stand up on the whisk with out dripping off.
This will take a few minutes and some elbow grease, but it's insanely rewarding. You can of course use a hand or stand mixer if you've got it.
Spread the entire surface of the pie with whipped cream. Sprinkle the top with grated nutmeg and place a few gingersnaps around the edge for ~fancy decoration~.
Then it's time for PIE. Slice into it and EAT IT.
PPPPPPIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE
Watch the video here:
Eggnog Pie
By Alison Roman
Makes 1 9" Pie
For the pie crust:
2 cups gingersnap crumbs (from about 3/4 bag of cookies)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp. grated nutmeg
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
For the pie filling:
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, divided
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons bourbon or rum
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
For the whipped cream topping:
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
Nutmeg, for topping
Gingersnaps, for decoration
For the pie crust:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine gingersnap crumbs, sugar, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Add melted butter and using your hands, mix until all the crumbs are evenly coated (it will look like wet sand).
Transfer mixture to 9" pie dish. Using the palms of your hand, press crust into the bottom and up the sides of the pie dish.
Bake until it's set and starts to toast along the edges, 15–20 minutes.
For the custard:
Bring milk, cream and 1/4 cup sugar to a boil in a medium pot over medium heat.
Whisk egg yolks, cornstarch, salt and remaining 1/4 cup sugar together in a medium bowl until it's super well-blended and no lumps remain.
Slowly whisk the milk mixture into the eggs until it's totally blended (this is called tempering: It prevents the eggs from scrambling).
Return this mixture to the same pot you heated the milk in and cook it over low heat, whisking constantly until it's thickened (it'll look like pudding).
Remove this from the heat and whisk in the bourbon followed by the butter. Whisk until the butter is totally melted and incorporated into the custard.
Pour it into the pie crust and spread it evenly (don't worry about it being too smooth, you're covering the top up anyway).
Chill for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
For the topping:
Whip the cream and sugar together until it reaches stiff peaks, which is to say it doesn't drip off the whisk and will hold a peak when you stand it up on a whisk. Spread this over the pie, giving it some dramatic peaks and valleys. Sprinkle the top with grated nutmeg and stick in some gingersnaps.