Chocolate Pie

This is the ultimate chocolate pie; rich, silky, and indulgent yet so light and dreamy that you'll have finished a piece in the blink of an eye.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings pieces

Calories 382kcal

Author John Kanell

Equipment

10.5 inch deep pie dish

Ingredients

For the Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 300g, plus more for rolling
4 tbs granulated sugar 36g
1/2 tsp sea salt 3g
1 cup unsalted butter 225g, chilled
4 tbs water 60mL, ice cold

For the Egg Wash

1 egg
1 tbsp cream

For the Chocolate Filling

8 oz dark chocolate 228g, nice quality
8 eggs divided
1/4 cup coffee 60mL, very strong
1/2 cup granulated sugar 134g, plus 3 tbsp divided
1 pinch kosher salt 
1 1/2 cups heavy cream 354mL

For the Whipped Cream Topping

1 cup heavy whipping cream 236mL
2 tbsp granulated sugar 24g
1 tsp vanilla extract 5mL

Instructions

For the Pie Crust

Add the flour, sugar, and salt to a large bowl and whisk to combine.
Cut COLD butter into tbsp size pieces then add to flour mixture and use your clean hands to break It into pieces ranging in size from almonds to lentils.
Sprinkle in about 3 tablespoons of the ice water then mix with a fork. Add more Ice water a tablespoon at a time and mix until you have a shaggy mixture that hold together when squeezed.
Knead the dough 2-3 times in the bowl just to help it come together a bit. Gently flatten into a one inch-thick disk, and cover in plastic wrap.Place in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes to an hour.
Preheat the oven to 425F. Unwrap the dough and place on a well-floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll out into a circle 1/4" thick and at least 1 inch larger than the pie pan, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough so it doesn't stick to the board.
Ease it into the pie pan without stretching and press to fit the pan.
With a small sharp paring knife, cut the dough 1 inch larger around than the pan. Fold the edge under and crimp the edge with either your fingers or the tines of a fork.
Dock your pie crust. Add tin foil to the inside, pushing it against the edge of the crust. This will keep your pie crust propped up during backing.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
Take out the tin foil and brush crust with an egg wash. Dock the pie crust again.
Add foil around the sides. reduce temperature to 375 degrees and bake until the center is golden, 15-20 minutes. Tent the crust with foil If the edge is getting too dark.

For the Filling

Place a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water.
Add chocolate, coffee, and 1/4 cup brandy if using.
Heat chocolate in the double boiler until mostly melted. Take the bowl off the heat and give the mixture a whisk. Set aside to cool.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add 8 egg yolks (set egg whites aside) and ½ cup sugar. Whip on high for about 4 minutes or until a light lemon color.
Add the cooled chocolate mixture and mix then set bowl aside.
Add a whisk attachment and a clean bowl to your stand mixer then add the 8 egg whites, 2 tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt. Whip until stiff but not over-whipped peaks.
Fold in ¼ of the whipped mixture to the chocolate mixture. Lightly whisk together.
Fold in the remaining whipped mixture to the chocolate until combined.
Put the egg white bowl back on the stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add 1 1/2 cups heavy cream and 1 tbsp sugar. Whip until soft peaks form.
Fold the whipped cream into chocolate mixture. This will give the mousse more structure and creaminess.
Pour the filling into the baked pie shell and refrigerate for at least two hours.

 For the Whipped Cream Topping:

Add heavy cream, sugar and vanilla to a stand mixer. Whip on high until you reach soft peaks.  
Add the whipped cream to the top of the pie.
Sprinkle on some shaved chocolate.

Video

Notes

You can make this pie a day ahead, served chilled and it will be delicious!
I LOVE this pie with 1/4 cup brandy added but definitely not to everyone's taste as it's not heated and none of the alchohol burns off.
The filling is pretty flexible, you can skip the meringue, omit the eggs altogether, or skip the whipped cream and I bet you'll still enjoy it! I of course recommend following the recipe, dietary restrictions permitting.
I used a large pie dish, which really holds a lot of filling. It you have the shallower and smaller standard 9" dish then either HALVE the filling recipe, make two pies or our the extra filling into glasses and chill for delicious chocolate mousse!
Using pasteurized eggs is a good idea, if you can't find them at your market it's super-easy to do it yourself! Just place the eggs in a sauce pot and cover with water. Heat to 140F and maintain that heat for 3 minutes.

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