Chocolate Pudding Pie

I love the smitten kitchen blog.  I first saw this recipe on that blog ( it was adapted from Gourmet Magazine) and I knew I had to try it.    Mr. D. liked it so much he wanted it for his 13th birthday instead of cake.  I decided to make both it and a french silk chocolate pie for his birthday to start off my personal pie challenge.  The french silk pie is really good, but quite sweet and rich.  Wouldn’t you know it, the kids all switched their allegiance to the french silk pie (much to my dismay, as it was harder to make!). Please note, the smitten kitchen uses a butter pie crust, while I prefer Paige’s Pie Crust for this pie.

Chocolate Pudding Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 9 inch prebaked pie shell, see below.
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup/ 2 T. sugar
• 3 T. unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 t. salt
• 3 cups whole milk
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 1 cup heavy cream
• chocolate shavings for garnish, optional

Cooking Directions:

1. To blind bake a pie crust, I, like the smitten kitchen, hate pie weights. Check out her blog for her method. This is what I do – fit your pie crust in a 9 inch pie pan, place/ press a disposable foil pie pan on top of it and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the the foil pie pan and bake until golden brown – another 5-10 minutes. Cool before filling.
2. Mix together cornstarch, 1/3 cup sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Mixture should be thickening.
3. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate and vanilla until smooth.
4. Pour the filling into the prebaked shell and chill until cold.
5. Beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form and then beat in the 2 T. of sugar. Spread over the top of the pie and garnish with the shavings if so desired.
6. This pie is Yum-my!