It’s been a good long minute since I’ve done a Star Trek recipe, but the funniest thing happened not too long ago. My roommate is a stand-in on Marvel’s The Gifted and didn’t realize (until running into him at Dragon Con’s Walk of Fame) her boss, Robert Duncan McNeill, played Lieutenant Tom Paris in Star Trek: Voyager.
She was then required to watch all seven seasons of the show as punishment for this heinous crime. I know, worse than the rack or vat of boiling oil, right? I kid, of course. Fans of the blog already know my love for Captain Janeway and her little Starfleet vessel lost in the Delta Quadrant. So to help her along on her Netflix binge, I decided to make a Tom Paris-inspired recipe for Fudge Ripple Cherry Pie!
Click here to skip to the recipe for Tom Paris and Harry Kim’s Fudge Ripple Cherry Pie!
The Ensign and The Lieutenant
The recipe I’m referring to comes from Season 3, Episode 3: The Chute. Tom Paris and Harry Kim find themselves framed as terrorists and imprisoned in a prison colony. Relying on a 300-foot shoot for your dinner is bad enough, having a neural implant (the Clamp) that makes you want to murder everyone around you makes this alien Alcatraz the closest thing to hell.
The only way to battle the Clamp, though, is thinking positively. Being the foodies they are, Harry and Tom dream up a seven-course-dinner as something to look forward to when they find their way back to Voyager.
Tom Paris opens the bidding with a crown roast of lamb, with a bed of wild rice and a 2296 Chateau Lafite Rothschild. Harry Kim takes the next round with shrimp with fettran sauce, flambé noodles, and fudge ripple pudding. Tom then finishes the meal with barbecued t-bone steaks, with baked risan beans, and cherry pie.
The Clamp proves itself difficult to handle, however. It’s later revealed that its purpose lies in heightening feelings of paranoia, aggression, and anxiety so that the prisoners control their own population. It also keeps prisoners from cooperating with each other enough to escape. Positivity can only make one survive for so long when you’ve had a knife in your gut. So when Tom Paris finds himself in that exact situation, it’s up to Harry Kim to fight the Clamp for them both.
After their rescue, Tom and Harry have the following conversation:
“You want to know what I remember? Someone saying, ‘This man is my friend. Nobody touches him.’ I’ll remember that for a long time…So, what do you say we blow a week’s worth of replicator rations?”
“So what’s for dessert?”
“Cherry pie, don’t you remember?”
“What about the fudge ripple pudding?”
“Ah, yes.”
So fudge ripple pudding and cherry pie each taste amazing, but I believe when brought together — Like Harry Kim and Tom Paris — they are unstoppable. That’s why I chose to make a fudge ripple pudding cheesecake, baked into a deep-dish pie crust and topped with cherry pie filling.
A Week’s Worth of Replicator Rations…
A fudge-marbled pudding cheesecake initially came to mind when I first thought of this recipe. Most recipes you’ll find will call for chocolate ganache, which you are more than welcome to make, I chose to save you some extra steps with some microwavable hot fudge.
The only problem with it, though? It’ll melt and redistribute through the pie as baking. It’s still delicious, though. If you want more visible marbling and don’t mind spending the extra time and money, you can find my chocolate ganache recipe here.
To get a rich flavor, you’ll need a premium dark chocolate pudding mix. I used Hershey’s, which was nice. Though if I were to make it again, I think I’d spring for Godiva’s, instead. You’ll also need a deep dish pie crust like Marie Callendar’s to fit all that chocolate-cherry goodness.
Since Tom Paris dreams of a 2296 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, I added a little Cabernet wine to the cherry pie filling for a taste of Chez Sandrine. For this I suggest go as cheap as possible. You will not find a drinkable bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild under $200. You will also not find a bottle of 2296 Chateau Lafite Rothschild for another two centuries. Trust me. Use some cheap wine that you’ll enjoy sipping as this cheese-pie bakes.
Baked up, this pie delivers a balanced bite of bitter chocolate and sweet cherries, sharpened and partnered through what has always brought Tom and Harry together — a splash of good wine from Chez Sandrine’s.
recipe
Dessert in the Delta Quadrant
Tom Paris & Harry Kim's Fudge-Ripple Cherry Pie
Equipment: Two mixing bowls, mixer, spatula, microwave, toothpick, baking sheet, oven.
Ingredients:
- 9-inch frozen deep dish pie crust
- 16 oz cream cheese, softened
- 3.4 oz dark chocolate pudding mix
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 3/8 cup granulated sugar
- 21 oz can of cherry pie filling
- 2 glasses of Cabernet wine
- hot fudge
- chocolate sauce
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 325° F.
- Beat the cream cheese, pudding mix, sugar, milk, and flour with an electric mixer. Beat in the sour cream, then the egg until the batter is smooth and free of lumps.
- Mix the cherry pie filling with a tablespoon of wine in a separate bowl.
- Heat the bottle of hot fudge according to package directions. Spread a third of the cream cheese batter into the pie shell. Dot the surface with hot fudge and use a toothpick to swirl. Repeat until you are out of batter. Smooth the top with a spatula.
- Pour the cherry pie filling on top of the cheesecake and carefully spread to cover the batter using a spatula. Place the pie on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Enjoy the rest of your wine with a friend while baking.
- Remove the pie from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Chill it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours afterward. Serve each slice with a drizzle of chocolate sauce.
