Strawberry Oasis Pie

Phoebe Thorburn -

Hoooli-dooli does this pie work! I personally feel that strawberry and chocolate (on their own, and indeed when paired together) are fairly basic, safe, family-friendly flavours. Of course sophistication can be bestowed upon them and taken to the next level - which in this instance the cinnamon and allspice most certain do. This is one stellar dessert you didn't know was out there. Spiced chocolate custard encased in a volcanic Oreo crust and topped with fresh slithered strawbs, magic!

Ingredients

Crust

  • 240g vegan & gluten-free chocolate crème biscuits (or similar)
  • 50g dairy-free buttery spread, melted (sub. butter, margarine or coconut oil)

Custard

  • 270ml coconut milk
  • 1 cup (250ml) plant-based milk (sub. dairy milk)
  • 90g dairy-free dark chocolate, chopped
  • 1/3 cup (75g) castor sugar (sub. preferred sugar)2 tbsp (12g) cocoa powder
    1 tbsp (14g) dairy-free buttery spread (sub. butter)
  • 1 tsp instant coffee
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 tbsp (27g) cornflour

Topping

  • 1 punnet strawberries, thinly sliced

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C, and grease a 24cm (or close enough) tart dish with fat of choice.
  2. To prepare the Crust, blitz the chocolate crème biscuits into fine crumbs in a food processor. Add the melted buttery spread and blitz again until it reaches a wet-sand texture that loosely holds its form when squeezed together between forefinger & thumb.
  3. With damp fingertips or the back of a spoon, press the mixture into the greased tart dish - first over the bottom, then up the sides, so that it forms one firm even layer (approx. 1/2 cm thick). This is the fiddliest part, so take your time and have faith, there will be enough biscuity crumbles to go around. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  4. Meanwhile, make your Custard by placing all the custard ingredients (sans cornflour) into a medium saucepan. Place over gentle heat and whisk until melted, and it’s looking like a cauldron of lusciously smooth hot chocolate. In a small bowl, whisk the cornflour with an extra splash of plant-based milk to form a smooth slurry. Pour into the hot chocolate mixture and whisk continuously for 5-10 minutes, until the mixture resembles a very thick (yet pourable) custard. Take off the heat & set aside to cool for 15 minutes.
  5. Whisk the custard to dissolve any skin that has formed, and pour into the crust. Jiggle to evenly distribute, then transfer to the fridge to set for at least three hours (it will cut more clearly thereafter).
  6. When ready to serve, arrange the sliced strawberries on top of the pie as you wish. Ta-da!