Matcha buttermilk white bottom pie

I am a month late to the party, but can we talk about Cat Person? You would be hard pressed to find a millennial woman who hasn’t experienced something similar, or at least can relate to a fraction of the short story. Something that maddened me most, aside from the patronising tone Robert took with Margot (oh sweetheart, oh honey), was the way Margot wanted to please Robert by giving her body away, even though she felt uncomfortable - she wanted to please him even after the attraction dissipated. How can this still be a common theme in sex, especially during those peak years of adolescence (albeit the most vulnerable years). How many more decades will go by before women finally feel like they have the confidence to say no before it’s too late, to recognise that they own their body and can do whatever they want with it, even if that means hurting someone’s feelings.

Talking of feelings, this pie will hurt yours if you don’t like the taste of matcha. I’m actually not the biggest fan, and if I were to bake this again I’d use one tablespoon instead - but I was making it with a matcha-lover in mind, so the flavour is at the forefront of this version. All of the other components, the almost savoury and deeply cocoa-y shortcrust, the white chocolate ganache bottom (inspired by four and twenty blackbird’s genius black bottom), really do act as an (enhancing) backdrop for the matcha buttermilk custard.

Matcha buttermilk white bottom pie

For the chocolate pastry

• 370g plain flour
• 4 tbsp icing sugar
• 30g cocoa powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 225g unsalted butter
• 3 egg yolks + 1 more for egg wash
• 3-5 tbsp ice cold water

Pastry makes enough for two open pies. Split the dough in half and place the second half in the freezer where it'll keep for one month. You could also half the quantities, i'd recommend using one large egg yolk and more water. 

For the matcha buttermilk custard

• 200g sugar
• 1 tbsp fine polenta
• 1 ½ tbsp matcha powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
• 290g buttermilk
• 40g double cream
• 50g butter, melted and cooled

For the white bottom

• 100g white chocolate, chopped
• 40g double cream

Method

1. Start by making the pastry. Put the flour, icing sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a food processor and blitz to combine, then add the butter and pulse to breadcrumb consistency. Pour in the egg yolks and 3 tbsp water and pulse again, add the rest of the water if the dough is too dry. As soon as a ball of dough takes shape, stop the mixer. Pour the crumbly dough onto a layer of cling film, then lift up the sides and press together to create a round disc, being careful not to overwork it. Put the dough in the fridge to rest for half an hour (or overnight).
2. Make the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, polenta, matcha and salt. Add the eggs and whisk again, followed by the buttermilk, cream and melted butter. Pour the mixture into a food processer or Nutribullet type vessel and blitz to remove any lumps of matcha powder. Refrigerate the mix while you roll out the dough.
3. Split the chilled dough in two, and place the second half in the freezer to use for another pie. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, it needs to be large enough to cover a 9-inch pie plate with overhang and should be the thickness of a £2 coin. Put the dough in the pie plate and trim the edges so you have an inch of overhang. Fold the excess pastry into itself to create a thicker lip around the pie. Use your thumb and index finger to crimp the edges, then place the pie in the freezer for 30 minutes. While the dough rests, preheat the oven to 170C/190F. Blind bake for 37 minutes, remove the pie weights and reduce the oven temperature to 160C/180F. Egg wash the pastry case and put back in the oven for 5-10 minutes until you see a bit of colour on the dough, then let the pie shell cool and reduce the oven to 120C/100F.
4. Make the white chocolate ganache. Put the chocolate and cream in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. Microwave in 10 second increments until smooth. Pour the ganache into the cooled shell and spread to the edges. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes to set the ganache hard.
5. Put the pie on a baking tray, then strain the custard straight into the pie plate and carefully put in the oven. Bake for 1-2 hours, covering the edges with foil if they are over-browning. There should be a slight wobble in the middle but the sides should be set. Let the pie cool completely before slicing and demolishing.