Ultimate Cook Book_ 900 New Recipes, Thousands of Ideas - Bruce Weinstein [395]
Chocolate Cream Pie
We use a lot of chocolate here, so much that the filling tastes like chocolate mousse. The whipped cream topping is stabilized by cornstarch and thus is slightly thicker, a better foil to the rich filling. Makes one 9-inch pie
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, 3 ounces of it chopped and 1 ounce reserved
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
½ teaspoon salt
2½ cups milk (regular, low-fat, or fat-free)
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 recipe Short Crust, WalnutCrust, or Almond Crust, lined into a 9-inch pie plate and prebaked (for instructions on prebaking,)
1½ cups heavy cream
Bring about 1 inch of water to a simmer in the bottom half of a double boiler set over medium-high heat; place the chopped unsweetened and 3 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate in the top half and set it over the simmering water. Alternatively, place the chocolate in a medium bowl that fits snugly over a medium saucepan with about the same amount of simmering water. Stir until half the chocolate has melted, adjusting the heat so the water simmers slowly. Remove the top half of the double boiler or the bowl from the pan underneath (be careful of escaping steam); stir off the heat until smooth. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and salt in a large bowl until creamy; set aside.
Place the milk in a large saucepan and whisk in 1 cup sugar and ¼ cup cornstarch. Set the pan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and bubbling, about 4 minutes.
Whisk about half the hot milk mixture in a slow, steady stream into the beaten egg yolks; then whisk this combined mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture.
Reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until thickened, until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly whisk in the melted chocolate and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and into the prebaked crust. Press a large sheet of plastic wrap right onto the filling and refrigerate until chilled, about 4 hours or overnight.
Just before serving, place a large, clean bowl and the electric mixer’s beaters or whisk attachment in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Remove the bowl from the freezer and pour in the heavy cream. Beat with the electric mixer at high speed until frothy, about 20 seconds.
Beat in the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and the remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a slow, steady stream; continue beating at high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, until the mixture forms soft, wavy peaks on the spatula. Beat in the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Gently peel the plastic wrap off the pie filling. Spoon the sweetened whipped cream onto the pie, using the back of a flatware spoon or a rubber spatula to make little hillocks and waves. Shave the remaining 1 ounce semisweet chocolate over the top of the whipped cream, using a chocolate grater or the large holes of a box grater.
Chocolate Almond Cream Pie: Make the Almond Crust for the pie. Line the prebaked piecrust with ½ cup toasted sliced almonds before gently pouring in the filling, taking care not to disturb the almonds as you do so.
Chocolate Heath Bar Pie: Add three 1.3-ounce Heath Bars, finely chopped, to the whipped cream in the final seconds of beating just until well combined.
Chocolate Mint Pie: Substitute ½ teaspoon mint extract for the 1 teaspoon vanilla in the whipped cream. Also add 3 or 4 drops green food coloring to the whipped cream.
Mexican Chocolate Pie: Add ¼ cup toasted sliced almonds, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon almond extract to the filling with the melted chocolate and vanilla. Dust the top of the whipped cream with a little ground cinnamon as well as the shaved chocolate.
Chocolate Meringue