Thai Iced Tea Pie with Whipped Cream “Ice Cubes”

Makes One 9-inch pie

Pie dough for a standard single crust

213 grams (1 1/2 cups or 7.5 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 1⁄2 teaspoons sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄8 teaspoon baking powder
43 grams (3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons or 1.5 ounces) vegetable shortening
113 grams (1 stick, 8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) Cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
57 grams (3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons or 2 ounces) cold water (see instructions)

- Measure the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder directly into the bowl of a food processor.
Pulse the ingredients once or twice to combine them.

- Scatter the shortening across the top of the flour mixture in three or four roughly equal
nuggets. Pulse three to four times until the shortening seems to be evenly dispersed into the
flour. If there are still large visible clumps, pulse one or two more times.

-Scatter the butter pieces across the flour mixture, and pulse four or five times. At this point the
flour should appear textured, like coarse cornmeal, with small (1⁄4-inch) tidbits of butter
flecked throughout. If not, pulse one or two more times.

- Place a liquid measuring cup with a spout on the scale and tare (zero out) the scale to subtract
the weight of the measuring cup. Add the measured amount of vinegar to the cup (do not re-
tare the scale); now add the cold water to the vinegar so that the combined vinegar plus water
equals 57 grams. Drizzle the liquid over the flour in the food processor.

- Using 1-second pulses, process the mixture until it transforms from dry and powdery and just
begins to form into a large clump of cohesive dough, five to eight pulses. Stop pulsing once
most of the dough is clumped together. The dough may look like pebbly curds of cottage
cheese and there may be unincorporated flour in the bowl. That is what you want at this point.
If you process the dough until it forms one large ball of dough and starts thwacking around in
the food processor bowl, it will be overworked and bake up tough.

- Gather all of the dough and press it into a 5- to 6-inch disc about 1 inch thick. Wrap the disc in
plastic wrap, and smooth the outer 1-inch-thick edge with your fingertips or by rolling the disc
along the countertop. These smooth edges will make the dough easier to roll out in a circle.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.
- Prepare a standard 9-inch pie plate by spraying it lightly with cooking spray. Roll the dough to
into a circle 1/8-inch thick. Drape the dough into the pie plate and trim the excess. Crimp the
edge simply or decoratively as desired. Freeze the dough-lined pan for at least 20 minutes
while preheating the oven to 350°F.

- Lightly spray one side of a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray. Line the crust with the
foil, sprayed side down. Fill the pan with 4 cups of pie weights such as ceramic beads. Bake the
pie for 50-60 minutes until the surface of the pie is evenly golden brown. Remove the pie
weights and cool the crust completely before filling with the Thai tea cream.

Thai tea cream

28 grams (1⁄3 cup or 1 ounce) Thai tea mix, such as Pantai Norasingh
472 grams (2 cups or 16.7 ounces) water, boiling
121 grams (1/2 cup or 4.25 ounces) whole milk
30 grams (1⁄4 cup or 1.05 ounces) cornstarch
25 grams (2 tablespoons or 0.9 ounce) sugar
397 grams (one 14 ounce can) sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
Pinch salt
43 grams (3 tablespoons or 1.5 ounces) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- Brew the Thai tea by steeping the Thai tea mix in the boiling water for 6 minutes. Strain the
tea using a fine-mesh sieve. Measure out 1 1⁄2 cups of tea and set aside to cool.

- In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cooled tea, whole milk, and cornstarch until the
cornstarch is dissolved and then whisk in the sugar, condensed milk, egg yolks, and salt. Over
medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer (a few large bubbles should break the surface),
whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, whisking
constantly, for 1 minute to ensure that the mixture is fully thickened.

- Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla until the butter has melted
and is incorporated. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and then pour the tea cream
into the cooled pie crust and smooth the top. Press plastic wrap onto the top of the cream and
refrigerate until cold throughout, at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
Vanilla whipped cream “ice cubes”

232 grams (1 cup or 8.2 ounces) heavy cream, cold

1⁄2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
14 grams (2 tablespoons or 0.5 ounce) Confectioners’ sugar
38 grams (2 tablespoons or 1.35 ounces) Piping gel, preferably Wilton

- Using a hand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream and vanilla in a medium
bowl on medium-high speed until the cream forms soft peaks when the beaters are lifted from
the bowl. (You can also whip the cream with just a whisk and some elbow grease if you’re into
that.)

- Add the confectioners’ sugar and piping gel, if using. Continue beating the mixture at medium-
high speed until stiff peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Do not overbeat or the mixture will appear
stiff and somewhat curdled.

- Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with butter or cooking spray. Line the
long side of the pan with a 14 by 8-inch strip of parchment (or waxed paper) and grease the
parchment.

- Evenly spread the whipped cream into the prepared loaf pan. Freeze the mixture until
completely frozen, at least 4 hours or up to 8 hours. It is important that the mixture is
completely frozen before continuing. Remove the frozen whipped cream from the freezer, run
a thin knife along the edges of the cream to loosen it from the pan, and lift the parchment sling
out of the pan. Turn it out onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut the frozen whipped
cream into 1-inch squares to create cubes. Remove the plastic wrap from the pie. Arrange the
cubes over the top of the pie.

- Refrigerate the pie for at least 2 hours or up to overnight before serving to allow the frozen
whipped cream cubes to thaw (they will keep their shape because of the piping gel). Store any
leftovers in the refrigerator.

Reprinted with permission from The New Pie: Modern Techniques for the Classic American
Dessert. Copyright © 2019 by Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin. Photographs copyright © 2019 by
Andrew Thomas Lee. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.