• Pie Gallery
  • The Cookbook
  • Why pie?

The Peace of Pie

The Peace of Pie

Tag Archives: oreo

Chocotastic

18 Saturday Sep 2021

Posted by jessica@peace-of-pie in Chocolate Pie

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

chocolate, icebox, malt, malted milk balls, oreo

A lot has happened since April! Which is the month I fell totally behind on pie posting, once again, so – here we are, doing a bit of time traveling together. I just looked through every one of my photographs from April, remembering the little and big things we did that month. Levi and I took a two-night trip to Palm Springs sans Pippa. We did an outdoor sound bath and stayed at the Ace Hotel and lounged by the pool and ate an incredible meal which included chicken-fried oyster mushrooms, and also talked about how much we missed little P. That’s parenthood, I guess. In April, I repotted my Pilea and Monstera houseplants. Pippa was loving virtual Sunday School crafts and got her first real dental cleaning (and loved it). We were vaccinated against Covid-19 and wondered how much longer this disease would continue to cause enormous suffering around the world.

Our church’s school held their yearly Silent Auction over Facebook; typically it would have taken place as part of the annual Spring carnival, but a big in-person carnival still wasn’t really a thing at that time. I volunteered to make a pie to auction off (in part moved by the awesome pie auction I was party to earlier in the year). I spend some time mulling over which of the remaining pies in my book would appeal most deeply to my audience, and be fairly transportable/sturdy at the same time. I decided to target the chocolate lovers, and landed on Chocolate Malted Pie.

Before I show you process pics, this is the image I used to try to lure people into bidding for my pie. If Pippa were to describe this pie, she would call it Chocotastic. Would this image have worked on you?

I made this pie twice; once as a test run (in the past I’ve tended to scorn test runs but now I really like to know what I’m selling, plus I needed the above drool-inducing photos to get people to bid). Oh, and it goes without saying that I would have been disappointed to not get to taste this pie myself. As I show you the step-by-step below, I’ll be mixing photos from my first and second Chocolate Malted Pies.

First step: as you might expect for such a chocolatey pie, an “Oreo” crust is laid down, baked and cooled.

Then, here, we’ve got a filling made with heavy cream, semisweet chocolate, vanilla, and malted milk powder.

The pie contains, in addition to 1/3 cup of malted milk powder, a whopping (pun intended) 1 1/2 cups of malted milk balls. Half are crushed and pressed into the filling at this stage of the game.

Now seems like a nice time to quickly plug an online food vendor our family has been greatly enjoying lately: Nuts.com. They sell all kinds of awesome snack foods, including, but not limited to – you guessed it – a great selection of Nuts. I am personally a fan of how many organic offerings they have. Also, it’s a New Jersey based company (which you know always counts for something in my book). From Nuts.com I was able to order very high quality malted milk powder as well as malted milk balls. (They also have dark chocolate malted milk balls, the centers alone, mint cookie malted milk balls, peanut butter malted milk balls…I mean…come on!) If you’re interested in putting an order in, (their shipping is crazy fast) some of our favorite non-dessert products are the Nori Maki Arare Rice Crackers, the Organic Strawberry Granola Bark, the ABC 123 Pasta, the Organic Dried Mango.

Continuing on…whipped cream, with some of the aforementioned chocolate filling folded into it, prepares to be heaped over the top of this quickly-getting-out-of-control creation.

Clearly, still not enough malted chocolate goodness going on here, so the pie is now garnished with whole malt balls that you’ll wonder how you’re supposed to eat daintily while shoveling in mouthfuls of pie.

I tested out the model pie with some of our good friends who had recently moved back to California after many years of living in Oregon. Pippa and I went to their new home for an overnight visit. They gave the pie their stamp of approval, and we even had an educational moment together very much related to the pie crust.

On the day we were visiting, a box of Hydrox cookies arrived on Amber’s family’s doorstep. Never heard of them? I hadn’t either. If you follow the link to the short Wikipedia article, you’ll see they look like an Oreo knock-off. HOWEVER, (important historical information here) they actually are the predecessors of Oreos, invented 113 years ago! Apparently the brother of the guy who invented the Hydrox cookie started a competing factory, making Oreos, and eventually ran Hydrox brother’s business down…really nice, right? It doesn’t get nicer. Hydrox cookies had a slight historical advantage among the Jewish community for being kosher, and Oreo/Nabisco couldn’t handle that, even though they were still by far the more popular cookie. They changed their recipe to omit lard and met a host of other expensive requirements to become kosher, so they could corner that market as well!

My friends showed us a YouTube video about this drawn-out war of the cookies – the same one they had originally watched and that had led to the order of a case (?!) of Hydrox cookies. Taste testing was done, as if we weren’t already meeting our daily chocolate intake.

Hydrox pros: Crispier cookie. Possibly would lend a nice texture to a pie crust? Non-GMO/cleaner ingredients than Oreo.

Oreo pros: Predictable taste. Better name. (It’s not just you. “Hydrox” really is meant to make you think of the words “hydrogen” and “oxygen” – apparently the original marketing team thought this would trick buyers into imagining they were eating a health food, made of pure elements. Hmmm. But it’s…still…a cookie…)

Joe-Joe’s pros: Available at Trader Joe’s. And therefore probably what I’ll mostly always use for my “Oreo” crumb crusts. Though I’ll be sure to notify you, interested readers, if it’s ever a Hydrox crumb crust you’re looking at.

Here are some photos of Amber’s kids and Pippa adorably befriending each other (i.e. the only photos I took during our visit. Another “this is parenthood” moment, I suppose.)

By the way, the pie was eventually won at auction and re-created for Amber’s brother-in-law. This is one chocotastic family!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Nostalgia Pie

19 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by jessica@peace-of-pie in Chocolate Pie, Ice Cream Pie

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

cherry, ice cream, marshmallows, oreo, Trader Joe's, vegan

How are you, my friends? This post is being written during the COVID-19 pandemic, and right about now, it seems like we’re all longing for days in the past…even a few weeks or a few months in the past. I am doing my best (though I’m not always succeeding perfectly) to cast my cares on the Lord, be responsible and thoughtful of others, and focus on the unexpected blessings that come from suddenly having many canceled plans. I recognize that not everyone has extra time on their hands. Many of you are working much longer hours and/or under more stress than usual. So it is only my experience (maybe shared by a few of you) that I am speaking to when I say, I’m getting around to doing some things that I’ve literally been meaning to do for YEARS. Like, for example, updating my Pie Gallery page.

Check it out; there are still 2-3 pies that have been buried in time that I still need to go back and excavate stories for, so the number is for sure actually past 150. A little disappointing that I can’t nail down yet exactly which pie was the HALFWAY PIE, I’ll announce that exciting information when I’ve solved the mystery for myself. But, what I do know for sure is that I’m over HALFWAY DONE with my 300 pie journey. (Cue applause.) If anyone was curious, my current goal is to finish the book by the time I’m 40, and have a birthday party to which you are invited and for this party I will make the final five pies so that none of them gets the honor/disgrace of being chosen last.

Now for the pie at hand; a pie that was actually baked nearly two years ago now. Chocolate-Cherry S’mores Ice Cream Pie.

I thought I’d try something a little different this time, gettin’ fancy here. The slideshow below tells this story in a nice way, a better way than my typical format would tell this particular story (i.e. It’s the 4th of July. Maggie and Wendy make a pie from my cookbook with some orchestration but little help from Jess, José feeds everyone Spanish-cut Sandia/watermelon, Pippa is the star of the show and gives the pie her best side-eye glances, Sara and Levi are not pictured and it’s no wonder because Levi fainted at 3 am that day and long story short everything is okay but he now has many staples in his head and nurse Sara had to calm everyone down.)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Footnotes/Other bits of memory:

  • It was about 110 degrees Fahrenheit every dang day that week. Ice cream pie was so so so needed.
  • José also went running every day that week. Consider in light of above detail. Wild.
  • I think I actually did make the Joe-Joe (Sub for Oreo) Crust myself. But also I gave birth three weeks before this pie was made and do not stand by any of my memories.
  • None of these pictures can be real because Pippa was nevvver that tiny (says the mom of the almost-two-year-old with a wail).
  • To make a vegan version of this pie (which we did), use Trader Joe’s Soy Creamy Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, make sure your marshmallows are vegan, and skip the Warm Mocha Sauce in the topping (it’s optional to the recipe anyway). You can use chocolate covered graham crackers or make your own. Making your own, it’s also easier to ensure that the melted chocolate you use is dairy-free.
  • The topping is supposed to be marshmallow creme. Turns out it’s much harder to find vegan marshmallow creme than vegan marshmallows and hence the creative topping you see in the photos (melted chocolate drizzle and calligraphy, broiled marshmallow hunks, chocolate dipped Joe-Joes).
  • We always have great vegan pies with Wendy. 🙂 Here’s another one. Bonus below, a cute picture of Wendy, Pippa and I much more recently at Magpies Softserve in Silver Lake eating Maple Banana and Peanut Butter Chocolate vegan ice cream pies to end all ice cream pies. If you get on their website and start drooling (and if you’re somewhat local) I’m sure they, like all small businesses, would appreciate it if you impulse bought a pie for pick-up. Just a thought!

IMG_1506

Stay well, stay safe. Angels are real. Talk to you all again soon.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Summer 2015 Ice Cream Pie Files: Coffee Mud Pie with an Oreo Crust

11 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by jessica@peace-of-pie in Ice Cream Pie

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

chocolate, coffee, mud pie, oreo

Okay, I gotta get through this ice cream business because it’s legitimately California winter now (we’ve seen the 40’s several times this week) and everyone wants to hear about pumpkins and cranberries and apples and pears.

But may I tempt you with Oreo crumbs?

IMG_6414

This is a pie with merely a few ingredients: Oreos in various forms (I always use Joe-Joes), Coffee Ice Cream (I love TJ’s Coffee Bean Blast). In fact, the Warm Mocha Sauce contains more ingredients than the rest of the pie (cream, instant coffee, chocolate, corn syrup, vanilla, butter).

Trader Joe’s should pay me for this. IMG_6424

The Trader Joe’s commercial continues. (By the way, I don’t make a practice of keeping Hershey’s chocolate in my house. Not to get all defensive, but I had a bunch left over from when my science class kiddos build solar ovens to cook marshmallows. If you teach a child to cook a marshmallow, he’ll ask for a piece of Hershey’s chocolate and a graham cracker to go with it…isn’t that how the book goes?)

IMG_6420

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it a million times. ALWAYS make your own crumb crusts (graham cracker, Oreo, cookie, whatever) because they are like SEVENTY THOUSAND TIMES MORE DELICIOUS than anything you can buy ready-made.

You can tell I don’t feel strongly about that at all.

IMG_6417

Making the Warm Mocha Sauce…but obviously letting it cool before pouring it straight onto Ice Cream and melting the whole shebang.

IMG_6422

The Inside Scoop: What you don’t see that happens in the making of this pie is that there are actually several layers and several periods of freezing. It goes like this.

  1. Oreo Crust
  2. Ice cream. Freeze.
  3. Broken Oreos. Mocha Sauce. Freeze.
  4. More Ice Cream. More Sauce. Freeze.
  5. Salivate.

IMG_6426

Silly Obi, chocolate is for humans.

IMG_6428IMG_6427

I made two of these pies to celebrate a very happy occasion…my cousin Alisa and her husband Mike moved to our town! We love their new home and especially love having them close by.

IMG_6533

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Click here to receive my new posts via E-mail the moment I bake a new pie!

I’ll have a slice of…

almond apple banana berry bittersweet chocolate blackberry blueberry butter butterscotch caramel cherry chess chiffon chocolate chocolate chips Christmas christmas eve coconut coffee corn cranberry cranberry sauce cream cream cheese crumb custard date dutch apple egg fig five-spice freeform graham cracker holiday honey icebox ice cream Jenny and Tyler ken haedrich key lime lemon maple marshmallows meringue mini pies Minnesota mint mousse nectarine orange oreo peach peanut butter pear pecan pie-in-a-jar pine nut pluot pumpkin raisin raspberry Republic of Pie rhubarb savory sour cream spices strawberry tart Thanksgiving travel vanilla vegan walnuts whipped cream whiskey

Pin This!

My Twitter

  • Chocotastic peace-of-pie.com/2021/09/18/cho… 1 year ago
  • Margarita Bay peace-of-pie.com/2021/05/28/mar… 1 year ago
  • On a Chilly Thursday in March peace-of-pie.com/2021/04/10/on-… 1 year ago
  • Crack Pie and the 2021 Speakeasy Bakery Pi Day Auction peace-of-pie.com/2021/04/03/cra… 1 year ago
  • Calvados-Apple Custard Pie peace-of-pie.com/2021/02/28/cal… 1 year ago
Follow @ThePeaceofPie

Recent Pies

  • Chocotastic
  • Margarita Bay
  • On a Chilly Thursday in March
  • Crack Pie and the 2021 Speakeasy Bakery Pi Day Auction
  • Calvados-Apple Custard Pie

Calendar

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Sep    

Contact Me!

You can send me a private message at the.pie.diaries@gmail.com. Thanks so much for visiting!

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • The Peace of Pie
    • Join 87 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Peace of Pie
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: