Cereal Pie Crust Recipes

Steps:

• Stir crispy rice cereal, butter, cocoa powder, and sugar together in a bowl; press into bottom of a pie pan.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, stir the crumbs, sugar, if using, and salt together to combine. Stir in the melted butter and mix to combine. The crust should easily hold together in clumps when you press it together between your fingers (if it doesn't, add a little more melted butter, 14 g / 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does).
• Press the crust evenly into the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-inch / 23-cm pie plate: First make an even layer in the bottom of the pan, then press the rest of the crumbs up the sides. Sometimes I use the bottom of a small dry measuring cup to help press the crust in evenly; this is especially helpful in the corners of the pan.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C (don't use a Baking Steel/stone when baking a crumb crust). To parbake the crust, bake (no docking or pie weights required) for 10 to 12 minutes, until it begins to lightly brown at the edges (or, for darker crumbs, smells lightly toasty). To blind-bake the crust, bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until it is deeply golden brown and/or smells toasty.
• Do Ahead: This crust is best used the day it's made but can be parbaked or blind-baked up to 1 day ahead and stored at room temperature.
• Variations:
• Mini (Two-Bite) Crumb Crusts: Grease the cavities of a mini muffin pan with nonstick spray. Crumble or spoon 15 g / 1 tablespoon of the prepared crust mixture into each of the cavities. Press each portion with your fingers to be flush against the base and up the sides, taking care to press evenly all the way around. Chill the pan in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes, before baking at 350°F / 175°C for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely, then use a small offset spatula to unmold the shells before filling. Alternatively, the mini crusts can be frozen for 2 hours after assembling before using a small offset spatula to unmold the pie shells. Keep frozen until ready to fill.
• Unbaked Crumb Crust: For cream, chiffon, and cold-set pies, the crust doesn't need to be baked at all! After lining the pan with the crust, freeze it for at least 15 minutes before adding the filling.
• Pie Pep Talk
• What to do when a crumb crust shrinks: One of the most common problems I've seen with crumb crusts is that they can shrink or slump down the side of the pie plate when the crust is parbaked. Luckily, this is easily corrected. If you notice that your crust is starting to shrink, remove it from the oven and use a crust tamper or a small metal measuring cup to press the crust that slumped down back up the sides of the pie plate. If this happens consistently when you make crumb crusts, try tamping them down more aggressively and/or refrigerating for 30 minutes before baking.

Steps:

• Make the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle position. Combine cornflakes, sugar and salt in a food processor and process until finely ground. (You should have about 1 1/2 cups). Add butter and pulse until the mixture looks like wet sand.
• Transfer cornflake mixture to a standard 9-inch pie plate. Using the bottom of a flat-bottomed measuring cup, press the mixture up the sides and into the bottom of the pie plate. Bake on the middle rack until dry and deeper golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. (If the crust slumps or puffs while it bakes, gently press it back into place while still warm with the measuring cup and proceed.) Let cool completely.
• Make the filling: Whisk the egg yolks, egg, honey, sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in milk and cream and place over medium-high heat. Cook, whisking continuously, until mixture thickens and starts to bubble, 4 to 7 minutes. Continue to cook, whisking continuously, for 1 minute more. Pour mixture into the cooled crust and spread in an even layer. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding and refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours and up to overnight.
• To serve: Beat cream using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Dollop cream on top of pie, top with plums and drizzle with honey if desired.