Zerg Pudding Pie

Zerg Rush

It's less than a year since Diablo 3 came out and there it is - another wonderful opportunity to celebrate a computer game release with a baked goodness. Heart of The Swarm, the first expansion to the very popular RTS StarCraft 2, is coming out on 12th March, the upcoming Tuesday, and it is going to focus on the Zerg swarm and its fate after the big thing at the end of the Wings of Liberty. I dare not to spoil anything because it's awesome and you should find out on your own.

When I was thinking how to make a Zerg pie, I had couple ideas but I always came back to that it had to be slimy. Of course, Zergs are all about being slimy and what's slimier than The Creep? The purple microorganism that the race spreads on its colonies to allow faster movement, regeneration and mutating into structures was the perfect filling of the celebratory pie.

I went for a pudding made from scratch that would be poured into a pie shell and then eaten. As you can see, there are pudding pies... But I found out that the recipe I used resulted in the pudding being way too slimy and spilling from the cut. In hindsight, I shouldn't have used the whipped cream to soften the pudding or maybe use less of it. The recipe here is already reworked.

Zerg Pudding Pie

for the pie crust you will need:

• 125g all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling 
• 100g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes 
• a pinch of salt 
• a pinch of sugar 



that's how the yolk and sugar mixture should look

• 3 tablespoons of ice water

for the creep you will need:

• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• a pinch of salt
• 225g caster sugar
• 500ml whole milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 180g blueberry baby food
• 200ml whipped cream
• purple food coloring
• chocolate for decoration
• 0 hearts
• 0 swarm

1. Combine flour, salt and sugar, then add cubes of butter and mix well. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time until it's sticky and gooey. Put it on a floured surface and knead it into a disk shape, add a bit of flour so the dough doesn't stick to your fingers. When it's done (soft and with no chunks), wrap it in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (but it could be overnight too).
2. In a bowl, combine cornstarch, the salt and 100g of sugar. Whisk it and add the yolk and keep whisking until the mixture is pale yellowish white and soft.
3. Pour the whole milk into a deep saucepan, add the rest of the sugar and set over medium flame and bring to simmer, whisking occasionally. Once simmering, remove from heat and add a tablespoon at a time into the yolk and sugar mixture while whisking it steadily. When about a half of the milk is in the bowl, pour it all back into the saucepan. Set over low heat, whisking constantly until it thickens. When it starts making bubbles, whisk for another 2 minutes and then set aside. Add in the vanilla extract, the blueberry flavoured baby food and add the food coloring if the color isn't purple enough for you and whisk to incorporate everything well.
4. Line a small cake pan with plastic wrap. Pour in the pudding and place another layer of the wrap on the top so that the crust doesn't form. Let cool down to the room temperature, then place in a fridge for at least 2 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C. Roll out the pie dough, place it in the pie pan and line its surface with a parchment paper. Weigh down the paper with something like dried bean and bake for 15 minutes. Then remove the paper and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the bottom crust is nicely golden. Remove the pie shell from the over and let cool down completely.
6. When it's cool, transfer the pudding in a bowl and whisk it until it's smooth. Add two to four tablespoons of whipped cream and whisk it in (You might need to add more coloring at this point if the cream bleaches your purple pudding).
7. Pour it into the pie shell and return in the fridge to chill for up to 2 or 3 hour before serving. When it's time, you can top with the whipped cream and chocolate shavings but I found out that it actually isn't bad to let it chill in the fridge with the whipped cream on it.
8. Set down siege tanks as the zerg swarm invades your kitchen to steal your delicious pie.

the pudding after a night in the fridge