Chocolate Silk Pie

I've been craving sweets more often lately than I usually do. Generally, salt, cheese and butter are what do it for me. Give me some cheesy pasta, crackers and cheese, homemade popcorn or some buttery mashed potatoes and I'm one damn happy girl. Still, there's a lot to be said for sweets. (Especially sea salt chocolate caramels from Trader Joe's which offer the best of both worlds but they always sell out and this is the SECOND YEAR they sold out before I could buy ANY and they were gone before THANKSGIVING.... but I digress.)

Part of why I'm not a huge fan of rich sweets, namely chocolate, is that I'm a bit of a sweets snob. When I want sweets, I want the good stuff. Homemade or expensive are usually the two ways that will mean I'm going to really enjoy it, and let's be honest. If I'm going to eat 500 calories in about 10 seconds, I want to really enjoy it, right?


Enter Thanksgiving menu planning.

Each year I make the green bean casserole, fancy style. I add sauteed mushrooms and use portabella mushroom soup instead of the boring old Campbell's one. Throw in some extra fried onions and voila! Delish.

Usually, I also make a dessert on holidays. It's rare for my family to have anything chocolate for dessert on these days. Instead, we enjoy fruit pies and other sorts of goodies. This year I wanted something rich and decadent, so I made this chocolate silk pie. Think chocolate mousse but way better. Unfortunately, I messed up on the crust, BUT, if you're going to mess up the crust, this is a good pie to do it with. The filling is good enough to eat on it's own. (And really, let's face it. After a Thanksgiving meal, you're fighting to get that dessert down anyways, right?)

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream, chilled
3 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp. water
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and cut into 8 pieces
1 9 in. pie crust, fully baked.

To begin, whip the heavy cream. This is the FIRST TIME I have successfully done this! Cream and I never got along- now we do. The tip my Mom gave me that made this whipping a success was to chill the metal bowl and metal beaters before starting. (I put them in the freezer for about 25 minutes.) Beat the cream on high for several minutes with these and really, it works. No more sloppy, watery whipped cream for me, thanks! Transfer the cream to a small bowl and refrigerate.

Combine eggs, sugar and water in a heatproof bowl (I used my mixer's bowl) and set over a pot of boiling water, so that the bowl isn't touching the water.  Beat until the egg mixture is thickened and reads 160˚ F on an instant read thermometer, about 7-10 minutes. I don't have a hand mixer (that I am aware of... maybe in my basement of treasures?) so I manually did it with a whisk which worked just fine. Arm workout for my flabby arms!

Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to beat until the egg mixture is fluffy and cooled to room temperature, about 6-8 minutes.

Add the melted chocolate and the vanilla to the cooled egg mixture and beat until well blended. Beat in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until well combined. Using a spatula, gently fold in the chilled whipped cream until no streaks remain.

Transfer the filling to the baked pie shell. Refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours.

I also added some chocolate to the top. (I used a cheese slicer on a chocolate bar. Doesn't it look professional?)

I chilled this pie overnight and it was just fantastic. I highly recommend it for anytime you need a dessert for a group. Don't make it for yourself though, and if you do, don't blame me for the death by chocolate.

Happy holidays!