What Is Grasshopper Pie And How Did It Get Its Name?
America is home to more unusual desserts than you can shake a proverbial high fructose corn syrup-covered stick at. From German chocolate cake (not German, but definitely both chocolate and a cake) to ambrosia salad to cheddar cheese apple pie, there's nothing we love more than inventing creative cakes, cobblers, ice creams, crumbles — and pies. And one with which you might not be familiar, but whose name and appearance will certainly grab your attention, is grasshopper pie.
OK, obviously, looking at it, it's definitely visually intriguing. But what the heck even is grasshopper pie? How did it get that name in the first place? You'll probably be happy to know that there are no grasshoppers in it (although funny enough, there actually is a 1904 New York Times mention of "grasshopper pie" from the Philippines featuring literal grasshoppers). Instead, the modern incarnation of grasshopper pie gets its name from a similarly-named but now-forgotten cocktail popular in the 1950s and '60s.
Grasshopper pie was named after a mid-century cocktail
Cocktails ruled the day in the middle of the 20th century, and this was especially true if they were brightly colored; the '50s and '60s were the heyday of the still-popular bloody Mary and piña colada. But for every cocktail from that era or before that survived to the modern day (the vodka martini, Moscow mule, and mai tai were all popularized during that time period), there are others that fell by the wayside. Ever heard of an "el presidente" or a "stinger?" Yeah, probably not.
Such a fate was the case with the grasshopper, a combination of green creme de menthe, white creme de cacao, and heavy cream. It was basically the creamy mint answer to eggnog, and would clearly have a destructive effect on anyone with lactose intolerance. It's easy to see how it fell out of favor — there isn't really that much widespread market space now for heavily dairy-based alcoholic drinks — but in the context of what got consumed back then, it's not even particularly strange.
So what is grasshopper pie, exactly?
Grasshopper pie was created around the same time as a diner chiffon pie (a custard pie set with gelatin and combined with whipped egg whites), but it has since outlived its progenitor. It consists of many of the same ingredients as the drink it's named for: whipped cream gets folded into marshmallows or cream cheese, then the filling gets infused with both creme de menthe and creme de cacao (and maybe even a bit of green food coloring if you really want to make it visually pop. The whole thing is set atop a cookie crust — typically a mixture of oreos, coconut, and butter — and basically tastes like a very fluffy mint oreo.
So if you're in the mood to try something unexpectedly retro, grasshopper pie is a surprisingly good choice. A lot of dishes from that era might not translate, but who doesn't want a light mint-oreo cake? Nobody, that's who.