Pearl Bailey's Cream Pie
1 Matt's Pie Crust, pre-baked (see related recipe)
Filling
1½ cups heavy whipping cream, whipped
¾ cup sugar
½ tablespoon Instant ClearJel (available on kingarthurflour.com)
3 ounces Irish cream liqueur (be ready to adjust to taste)
12 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup ground chocolate (such as Ghirardelli)
12-15 Ladyfingers, store bought
1 banana, cut into thin slices
1 large chocolate bar, for making curl garnishes
Topping
2 cups whipping cream
5 tablespoons sugar
For the filling: Whip the whipping cream to soft peaks. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the sugar and Instant ClearJel together and stir thoroughly.
Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the Irish cream with the cream cheese and sugar mixture and beat together for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth. Start mixing slowly or else the liqueur will splash all over.
Gently fold the cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream. Adjust the cream cheese mixture to taste (this usually means to add more Irish cream).
Place about a half of the flavored cream cheese mixture on the bottom of the cooled, pre-baked pie crust. Top the cream cheese with the ground chocolate, sliced banana and a row of ladyfingers. Place a few chocolate curls on top of the ladyfingers. Top that layer with the remaining cream cheese mixture.
For the topping: In a large bowl, add the sugar to the 2 cups of whipping cream and whip until stiff peaks. Spread or pipe onto the top of the pie and garnish with additional chocolate curls. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving so the flavors can come together.
Serves eight.
Cook's notes: Use a vegetable peeler on the chocolate bar to make the chocolate shavings. This works best if the chocolate is room temperature. Heavy whipping cream has a higher milk fat content than whipping cream. If you do not have the time to make your own pastry crust, this pie is great in a graham cracker crust as well.
Matt Zagorski, Arlington Heights. First place Cream Pie category at the 2015 National Pie Championships