Grasshopper pie is an unlikely dish: bright green, mint-flavoured, combined with obscure liqueurs and set with marshmallows, all sitting in an Oreo crust. It feels like the fever dream of a sweet-toothed teenager who’s been let loose on their parents’ drinks cabinet, and will regret it tomorrow.
The pie is based on the cocktail of the same name, which combines equal parts crème de menthe, crème de cacao blanc and cream. It’s a heady mix of mint, white chocolate, dairy and alcohol. The cocktail hails from New Orleans and its origin is claimed by Tujague’s in the French Quarter, where it was supposedly invented by the owner, Philip Guchet, in 1918. It tastes exactly as you’d imagine and is, forgive me, far better suited to a pie filling than it is to a drinks party. The creamy, boozy froth is transformed into a smooth, balanced, no-bake filling. It became a popular pie in the 1950s, when chiffon no-bake pies were all the rage. But this filling is particularly clever. Instead of using the meringue and gelatine typical of a chiffon-style pie, the setting agent here is marshmallows. These marshmallows are melted down in milk before being whisked into double cream, along with the various types of liqueur that flavour the pie. The result is soft, fluffy and set with only the slightest wobble.
