Chocolate Silk Pie
A simple yet outstanding dessert. Chocolate quality and egg freshness are both critical to success!
Servings: 12 slices
Ingredients
Chocolate Crust
- 1 ½ cups (130 g) chocolate-wafer crumbs*
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar
- pinch of salt
- 5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 12 tablespoons (170 g) butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 3 oz (85 g) unsweetened chocolate*, melted and cooled
- 3 large eggs*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish
- 1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Optional: chocolate curls shave from bittersweet chocolate bar
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter such that it's evenly dispersed.
- Press crumbs evenly across bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie dish (this takes some patience, at first it will seem like you don't have enough).
- Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then set aside to cool completely before adding filling.**
Filling
- Whip together the butter and sugar until the mixture is fluffy and pale, about 3 minutes.
- Drizzle in the melted chocolate while mixing at low speed.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating at medium speed for 5 minutes after each addition. Then scrape down the bowl.
- Add the vanilla and blend again to evenly distribute the flavor.
- Spread the chocolate filling across the prepared (and cooled) crust. Smooth the top, place in fridge to chill at least 6 hours.***
Garnish
- Immediately**** prior to serving, whip the cream with the sugar until soft peaks are formed. Spoon this cream onto the pie and finish with bittersweet chocolate shavings.
Notes
*I used Nabisco-brand chocolate-wafer cookies (aka the cookie part of an Oreo). These are sold separately, but they are quite expensive. One package in NJ costs $4.99 at the local supermarket, and this recipe will use half the pack. It's perfectly acceptable to use chocolate graham crackers or even regular graham crackers instead.
*The quality of chocolate you use is critical to the flavor of your pie, since it's really the shining star and major ingredient. I used Scharffen-Berger chocolate for my pie, and it was heavenly.
*Since you're using raw eggs in this pie, use the freshest eggs possible. This is not the recipe for Costco/mega-supermarket eggs.
**Use the refrigerator to speed along the crust cooling once it's been out of the oven for a bit.
***If you choose to cover the pie at this point with Saran wrap, know that it will cling to your pie filling, however, you'll be covering the marred surface with whipped cream later. Or, believe that your refrigerator won't impart any "extra" smells to your pie.
****Whipped cream is best when fresh, but if you need to transport this pie, don't fret. I whipped the cream for this in the morning around 8:30am, stored it (and the pie) separately in the refrigerator, and then topped the pie just before serving at 1:30pm. The whipped cream didn't weep and was still lovely.
*The quality of chocolate you use is critical to the flavor of your pie, since it's really the shining star and major ingredient. I used Scharffen-Berger chocolate for my pie, and it was heavenly.
*Since you're using raw eggs in this pie, use the freshest eggs possible. This is not the recipe for Costco/mega-supermarket eggs.
**Use the refrigerator to speed along the crust cooling once it's been out of the oven for a bit.
***If you choose to cover the pie at this point with Saran wrap, know that it will cling to your pie filling, however, you'll be covering the marred surface with whipped cream later. Or, believe that your refrigerator won't impart any "extra" smells to your pie.
****Whipped cream is best when fresh, but if you need to transport this pie, don't fret. I whipped the cream for this in the morning around 8:30am, stored it (and the pie) separately in the refrigerator, and then topped the pie just before serving at 1:30pm. The whipped cream didn't weep and was still lovely.