Cappuchino Pie with Gingerbread Crust

Since I had bought two rolls of the gingerbread dough last week, I thought I would bake off one and use the cookies to make a gingerbread pie crust.  Since coffee and cookies make a great combo, decided to do some experimenting with pie filling and what I came up with is a combo pre-made/made-up/made-from-scratch concoction that I think you will enjoy.

Cappuchino Pie with Gingerbread Crust

crust
1-1/2 cups crushed gingerbread cookies (or gingersnaps)
1 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp butter, melted

Mix the ingredients and press into a 9" pie pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool.  Crust might be bubbling a little bit when you pull it out of the oven but that's okay.

custard filling
1 box Jell-O Flan with caramel sauce
1-2 tsp instant expresso

Set the caramel sauce pack aside.  Follow box directions to make flan, adding the instant expresso to the milk with the flan mixture.

Once done, pour the flan mixture into the gingerbread pie crust.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.

whipped topping
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1-2 tsp instant expresso
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar, sifted

Blend instant expresso with heavy cream.  Mix until dissolved.

In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, whip expresso cream until it forms soft peaks.

Add in powdered sugar and continue whipping until cream forms hard peaks.

Spread whipped topping over top of pie and drizzle with caramel pack from the flan mixture.

Ready to serve.

NOTES

If you really like coffee, go with 2 tsp instant expresso.  If you kind of like coffee, go with 1 tsp instant expresso.  If you don't want to be up all night, use decaf instant expresso instead.

If you make a custard from scratch or don't use the Jell-O mix that has the caramel sauce, you can use caramel ice cream topping.  Or drizzle with chocolate syrup (making it a mocha).

My pie looks a little more "rustic" because I kind of threw it together, but you can make it look pretty by taking more time than I did.

If you want to make individual desserts, use tart pans to make smaller "pies."