Now, you may be wondering why we chose to make a cream pie to celebrate such a big day. Well friends, it all comes down to the date. In our neck of the woods, March 14th falls squarely in a barren, fruitless period with nary a berry in sight. Apples were so last season, and we’re kind of pumpkin’d out. But cream? Cream is always in season here in Appalachia.
Of course, this isn’t just any old cream pie. This is a cake batter infused, sprinkle encrusted vanilla cream pie. Basically, if Fiesta could be represented in pie form, this might just be the pie to do it. It’s a cozy, casual classic that can be dressed up or down, depending on the occasion. And then there’s the sprinkles. Sprinkles embody the Fiesta lifestyle like no other pantry staple. In fact, we buy those festive little gems in bulk because, well, we’re just a colorful kind of people.
This pie couldn’t be simpler to make, which makes it perfect for a last minute get-together or an afternoon snack if you too get a bit peckish around the 3:00 mark. It all begins with a vanilla cookie crumb crust, for which we crushed golden sandwich cookies with a bit of melted butter in a food processor and baked for about 10 minutes (after patting into our trusty Pie Baker of course!). Crust: done.
The filling is a dreamy combination of vanilla pudding mixed with a bit of our magical cake batter whipped cream. We say magical because it really is that good. By incorporating some boxed vanilla cake mix into the freshly whipped heavy cream, you get a richer, more stable cream that is steeped in cake-y flavor.
The only way to top this dessert, is of course, with more whipped cream. Now, you could just slather a heaping mound of the cake-mix-laced-cream on your filling and be done with it, but we went the extra mile here and piped it on with a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Stunning!
Add some sprinkles to that masterpiece and voila! Fiesta, reimagined as a pie.
- 25 vanilla sandwich cookies
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup vanilla cake mix (just the dry mix)
- 2 small boxes vanilla instant pudding mix
- 2 cups cold milk
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Rainbow sprinkles
- Place the bowl for your stand mixer, or any mixing bowl for whipping cream, into the refrigerator to chill.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Process cookies with their cream filling in a food processor until they are a sandy texture. Mix in melted butter. Alternatively, place the cookies in a zip-top bag and crush with a rolling pin. Mix in the butter.
- Pat the cookie crumb mixture into a 9 or 10-inch pie dish and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, pour the heavy whipping cream in the pre-chilled bowl and beat on high for a few minutes until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the powdered vanilla cake mix and beat for an additional 2 minutes until stiff peaks have formed. Set aside in the refrigerator.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the two boxes of instant pudding mix with 2 cups of cold milk and the vanilla and almond extracts. The mixture will be thick. Fold in half of the prepared whipped cream and a handful of rainbow sprinkles.
- Dish the pudding filling into the prepared pie crust. Top with the remaining whipped cream by either spreading evenly over the top or piping a design with a pastry bag. For our pie, we used a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Top with more sprinkles.
- Refrigerate pie for 2 hours, or until set, before slicing. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
