Going all the way with this pie by including a chocolate crust and a chocolate filling.
Do you make Christmas baskets to gift for friends and/or neighbors? If so, how do you decide who to give them to? This year, I'm finding it challenging to make my list of recipients. Here's my dilemma:
Many of my friends are on diets or very health conscious eaters.
I'm surrounded by work-out junkies and Paleo diet enthusiasts. My Christmas baskets contain sweets (fudge, cookies, hot cocoa) so I definitely do not want to put all the work into it and then they just toss the contents away in their trash. What to do?
I think the answer is making baskets for only my neighbors. This way, I'm not offending any of my friends by choosing to make baskets just for the ones I know will eat it and having to explain why the other friends didn't get one.
#firstworldissues
And maybe, just maybe, my friends will read this blog post so they understand why they didn't get a Christmas basket from me.
I'm hoping when I no longer have an 8-month old baby crawling around, getting into EVERYTHING, that I can just make as many baskets as I want. Then I wouldn't care about the time I'm putting into it and whether my friends toss it or not. Until then, my neighbors will reap the benefits. 🙂
My neighbors were also the lucky ones to receive this pie. Two weeks ago, I got the itch for pie. So like any 30-some year old mom of two would do late at night, I made a Pinterest board dedicated just for pie. 😉
Then a few days later I actually made pie. This was the second pie I made last week. The other one I'll share on Friday.
How can you go wrong with a chocolate crust AND a chocolate filling? You just can't.
Recipe Card
Double-Chocolate Cream Pie
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 package (14.2 oz.) regular Oreos
- 6 Tablespoons butter , melted
For the Filling:
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 cups whole milk
- 7 ounces semisweet chocolate (60-61% cacao), finely chopped
- 3 Tablespoons cold butter , diced
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the Topping and Garnish:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Chocolate shavings or additional crushed Oreos for garnish , optional
Instructions
For the Crust:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a blender or food processor, crush the Oreos until fine. Add the melted butter and process until just moist. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate and press to line the bottom and sides. (Tip: Use a ½ cup dry measuring cup to help press the crust evenly up the sides of the plate.) Bake for 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack.
For the Filling:
- Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, unsweetened cocoa powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add the whole egg, egg yolks, and ½ cup of the milk, then whisk until incorporated.
- In a large saucepan, bring the rest of the 1 ½ cups of milk to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately remove from the heat and pour the hot milk into the egg mixture in a very thin stream, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it returns to a boil and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat again, add the chopped chocolate and let it sit in the mixture for 1 minute before stirring. Add the butter and the vanilla, then whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and the filling is smooth.
- Pour the filling into the cooled crust-lined pie plate and use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to smooth it out evenly. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic is flush to the surface of the filling in order to avoid a film developing on top. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (I prefer at least 4 hours to ensure it is completely cold and set).
For the Topping and Garnish:
- When ready to serve the pie, make the whipped cream topping. Beat the whipping cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks almost form. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, then continue to beat until soft peaks form (thickened to the consistency of whipped cream). Spread evenly over top the pie. Garnish with additional crushed Oreos or chocolate shavings.
- Recipe Source: Adapted from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible
