Ginger Lemon Cream Pie

I had made gingerbread cookies last week, and today there were 5 or 6 cookies left, but they were too hard to eat.  Beyond even being ginger snaps.  But I couldn't throw them away and thought they'd make a yummy crust.  I had a cheesecake recipe that used a ginger snap crust.  But then I remembered these cookies I see by the bread at Costco.  Carr's Ginger Lemon cookies.  I always want to buy them but never had, so I thought of lemon and ginger.

But I didn't want the lemon to be tangy like using real lemon juice and having any hint of sour.  I was thinking of sweet lemon flavor and thought of Erin Walker's lemon ice cream recipe.  I wanted to make a pie out of that ice cream flavor.

I think it worked out pretty good.  I felt like I was eating the Walker ice cream in pie form.

Slightly spicy ginger crust with creamy, smooth, lemon filling.

Top it with real whipped cream and it would be divine.

We only had Cool Whip.

Lemon Cream Pie with Ginger Snap Crust

CRUST:

ginger snap cookies

     (6 homemade, probably 10-12 store bought)

      enough to make 1 1/2 c. crumbs

2-3 T butter,  melted

Crush cookies into fine crumbs, or I just threw them in the food processor.

Dump your crumbs in pie tin/ plate.  Drizzle melted butter over crumbs, press in butter with fork, and form to bottom and sides of pan.

Freeze.

PIE FILLING:

1 T milk

1/3 c. cornstarch

3 egg yolks

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c. sugar

2 1/2 c. milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp lemon oil OR 1 tsp lemon extract (I was out of extract, thus resorted to oil, which is mainly for candy I think, but it worked)

1 T butter

 

In medium saucepan combine the 1 T milk, cornstarch, yolks, salt, and sugar.  Whisk until it's a smooth paste.  Add the 2 1/2 c. milk.  Whisk until it's a smooth liquid.  Stirring constantly, cook on medium heat until filling thickens to pudding like consistency.  I test it by scooping a glob with the whisk, and it should somewhat stay in the whisk.  If it runs right out, keep cooking.  Basically until it's like pudding. 

 

Remove from heat. Add the vanilla, lemon and butter.  Whisk a minute or so to help it cool down.  Grab your crust and pour filling over crust.  Smooth it over and cover with plastic wrap, pushing it down right on the pie without air bubbles to prevent "pudding skin". 

That always reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George tries to invent Pudding Skin Singles.

 

Refrigerate for a few hours to set.

Serve with whipped cream, or if you're lame like me.."whipped topping"

 

**In a hurry: Microwave in glass bowl 1 min at at time, stirring between, as it begins to thicken at all, cut cook intervals to 30 seconds so you don't make it too thick.