dark chocolate

Some something magical happened at Christmas…

My mom got me a 12-cup food processor. Oh, the joy! I have wanted a food processor for so long. I’ve managed to make pestos and sauces in our blender but it is just the same. So I knew having a food processor would making pesto, sauces, mayo, grated cheese, and ground meat so super easy. But best of all I was looking forward to making pie dough in it.

I’ve been pinning different pies like crazy on Pinterst. My “Sweets-Pie” board is filing up. I have some plans to start to tackle the pins this spring. So, well, you’ve been warned. The first thing that jumped out to me was a Dark Chocolate Pie from One Ordinary Day and I knew I had to make it asap. But guess what… no need to use the food processor as it has a graham cracker crust. Well, go figure! ha!

Making a graham cracker crust is so easy so I felt I should make my own instead of buying one. Plus this was when we were snowed in last week so going out for a pie crust was not an option. Just 3 ingredients and a bit of mixing and you’re already half way done to a homemade graham cracker pie crust. The one disadvantage of making the crust is that is thicker than a store-bought crust, which meant I could not get all of the pie filling in the pie. Oh the horror! A bowl of just chocolately pie goodness. noms!

The pie is basically a cooked pudding so it is quick and easy to make. You really need to keep stirring the mixture while it is heating up since you don’t want clumps or for it to burn  to the pan. My mixture didn’t come to a boil as I have the tendency to burn milk to pans (and then subsequently swear at them or throw them out) so I cooked the filling on a medium-low heat. This meant the overall process took 25 minutes. The most important thing is for it to cook and thicken so I don’t really think boiling is key.

Try this pie. You can whip it up easily. Perfect for Valentine’s day to show the person you love that they deserve something sweet (besides you). Or make these at any time to show yourself that you deserve the best chocolate pie.

Gone to Heaven Dark Chocolate Pie

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Pie Crust

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/3 cup sugar

Chocolate Pie

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 3 cup milk, any fat content (I used 2% milk)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips
• whipped cream nad chocolate shavings, optional for garnish

Process

To create the pie crust:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9-inch pie plate non-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine all of the ingredients.
3. Evenly press the crust into the bottom and up sides of the pie plate.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool completely.

To make the pie:

1. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a 2 quart saucepan.
2. In a medium sized bowl, cmbine egg yolks and milk.  Slowly pour milk mixture into sugar mixture and stir to mix.
3. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.  Boil while continually stirring for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract.  Add the chocolate chips and stir until chips are melted and the mixture is well blended.
4. Pour into the graham cracker pie shell.  Lightly lay a piece of plastic wrap on top of pie filling before refrigerating for several hours until chilled.
5. Garnish with whipped cream and shaved chocolate before serving.