Golden Monkey Banana Ccream Pie

Submitted by: Julie Delos Santos

This cream pie combines the full-bodied flavor of Golden Monkey tea with the light crunch of the crust and the soft sweetness of the banana. Chocolate shavings provide a nice accessory to the dish.

Prep Time: 45 min. + 3 hrs. to chill

Serving Size: 6-8

Ingredients:
Shortbread Cookies
4 Tbsp. Melted Butter
4.6 oz. package vanilla cook & serve pudding
3 cups whole milk
2 Tbsp. Golden Monkey Tea (divided)
1 large banana
1 cup Whipping Cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate chunk

Directions:

Place shortbread cookies in a ziplock plastic bag and pound into crumbs until you have 1 ½ cups of crumbs.

Transfer crumbs into a 9 inch pie pan and combine with the 4 Tbsp of melted butter.

Press the mixture into the pan to form a crust.

Place the 3 cups of milk and the pudding mix into a medium saucepan.

Cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a full boil, stirring constantly.

Add 1 ½ tablespoons of golden monkey tea to the saucepan and remove from the heat.

Let the tea steep in the pudding mixture for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the tea is steeping, slice the banana and place the slices on the bottom of the pie crust to cover.

Strain the pudding mixture into the pie crust using a spatula to force the pudding through. Discard the tea leaves.

Place plastic wrap on the surface of the pudding and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. To make the whipped cream, first steep the remaining ½ tablespoon of Golden Monkey tea in 1/3 cup of boiling water for 5 minutes.

Save ½ cup of the tea and chill.

Whisk the whipping cream in a mixer until soft peaks form.

Add the powdered sugar in three separate portions and whisk into the cream.

Once the tea is cooled, add it to the whipped cream and fold into it.

This may water down the whipped cream slightly, so whisk it back to form small peaks.

Spread the whipped cream over the pudding pie and grate the chocolate piece over the cream. Slice, and serve!