Pie # 51: Chocolate Caramel Pie

This pie is very, very rich. When Steven ate his first piece, he said he could eat the entire pie in one sitting. If you love the chocolate and caramel combo, make this pie. I found this recipe in The Little Book of Pies & Tarts by Country Living. I will admit: I used a different (much easier) caramel recipe :)


Chocolate Caramel Pie
(Printable version)

Crust:
Oreo Crust (I bought mine)

Filling:
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 large eggs yolks
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 recipe Caramel Sauce (or buy your own!)



Place chocolate in large bowl and set aside. Whisk yolks 2/3 cup brown sugar, corn starch and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Heat the cream, milk, and 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until mixture begins to boil. Whisking constantly, pour into egg mixture. Return custard to saucepan and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil, stirring continuously. Cook for one more minute and stir in the vanilla. Strain into the bowl with chocolate and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Make caramel sauce by melting 1/4 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar in the microwave. Add 1/2 cup heavy cream and microwave on high until bubbly (1-2 minutes).

This was my first caramel attempt... I knew I had to find an easier recipe.

Pour caramel sauce into pie crust and chill in fridge for 10 minutes. Pour chocolate filling over the caramel sauce and chill for 2 hours or overnight before serving.

Pie # 49: Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie

 This is another version of chocolate cream pie... except richer and creamier. If you're a chocolate-pie-lover, you need to make this pie. If you're more of a fruit pie person (like myself) make it anyway :)

Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie
from Ken Haedrich's Pie
(Printable version)

Crust:
Graham Cracker Crust

Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 whipping cream
1/2 powdered sugar
Four 3-ounce packages of cream cheese (softened)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract




Combine regular sugar and egg yolks over a double boiler. Cook, whisking non-stop, until the mixture is thick and creamy. Scrape into medium-size bowl and let cool.

Melt chocolate chips in microwave. Beat the cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and beat briefly again. Refrigerate.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until light and creamy. Add vanilla and custard and beat until mixture is combined. Add chocolate and blend on low speed until evenly mixed. Fold in about half of the whipping cream.

Pour filling into pie shell and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Yum!

Pie # 35: Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream Pie

Do you like chocolate and peanut butter combined? Yes; everyone does. In which case: you will love. this. pie. You probably already know that I'm a huge fan of fruit pies... Cream recipes aren't always on my priority list. But I happen to have a lot of friends and coworkers that loved this recipe so, if you're into cream pies, add this to your pinterest board and plan on making it soon.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream Pie
(Printable version)

Crust:
Graham Cracker Crust

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups whole milk
4 large eggs yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup peanut butter chips


Prepare crust and allow to cool completely.

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium saucepan. Whisk in milk and egg yolks. Place over medium heat; stir non-stop until mixture starts to thicken and boil. Keep on heat for 1 minute longer. Whisk in vanilla and remove from heat.

Immediately pour half of mixture into small bowl. Stir in chocolate chips and half of butter.

Using a clean whisk, stir the peanut butter chips and rest of butter into remaining custard. Whisk both mixtures (separately) until they are well-combined.

 

Scrape the chocolate custard into the pie shell and smooth with a spoon. Carefully, pour the peanut butter custard over the chocolate custard. Be careful not to mix the custards. Smooth with a spoon and cover (with no air pockets or gaps) using plastic wrap. Chill in fridge or overnight.

Serve with whipped cream.

Pie # 32: Chocolate Cream Pie

This pie tastes exactly the way it sounds: chocolatey and creamy. If you're a chocolate lover, this is a recipe for you. A certain someone (Steven) has been requesting this pie for about 6 months. I think that level of perseverance deserves a pie :)

Chocolate Cream Pie
From Ken Haedrich's Pie
(Printable version)

Crust
Oreo Crumb Crust

Filling:
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
1/8 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped


Prepare crust and set aside.

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium saucepan. Whisk in milk and egg yolks. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly. Keep stirring until mixture starts to boil and thicken. Keep over heat for 1 minute longer.

Try to not eat all the filling before you serve this pie :)

Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter (1 piece at a time) and vanilla. Whisk in chocolate, 1/3 at a time, until smooth and completely melted. Slowly pour into the pie shell and smooth with spoon.

Press a piece of plastic wrap directly over the filling so that a skin doesn't form. Chill in fridge for 4 hours or overnight. Serve with whipped cream.

Pie # 7: Peanut Butter Honeycomb Pie

Did anyone reading this blog have any idea that custard pies are difficult to make? Well, they are. I discovered this fact in the middle of making this pie after several swear words and threats of throwing the recipe out the window. I don't plan on making a custard pie or any other recipe out of Bon Appetit for a while. However, the end result was an incredible, creamy, sweet, delicious, peanut-buttery concoction. I don't even like peanut butter that much but this pie was awesome. If you're up to the challenge, this pie is worth all the effort. (Printable version)

Crust:

Use a basic graham cracker crust recipe and add 1/8 teaspoon fresh nutmeg. (Instead of fresh nutmeg, I lightly sprinkled dried nutmeg into the food processor before I pulsed.)

Honeycomb Candy:

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 Tbsp corn syrup

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp baking soda, sifted

Line baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. 

Combine sugar, corn syrup, honey and 1/4 cup water in heavy, deep saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat to dissolve sugar. Cook without stirring, instead, swirl the pan occasionally and brush the sides of pan with a wet pastry brush. Boil until sugar turns amber-colored. Add baking soda and quickly whisk just to combine. (Mixture will foam up so make sure you whisk at super-speed.) Pour mixture onto baking sheet. Do not spread. Cool until candy hardens (about 20 minutes). Use hands or knife to break up candy into small chunks. 

Unfortunately, I had to make this candy twice because the first time I didn't let it cook long enough and it came out white. It also refused to harden. The second time, I made sure that the sugar was as "amber" as it was going to get before I poured it onto the cookie sheet.

Custard Filling:

8 large egg yolks

12 Tbsp sugar, divided (6 and 6)

1 1/2 cups whole milk (I used 2%)

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (Yes, it seriously calls for a real bean. That should have been my first warning sign.)

3/4 butter, at room temp

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 Tbsp powdered sugar

1/2 tea kosher salt

Mix yolks and 6 Tbsp sugar. Beat on high for about 2 minutes or until ribbons form. Combine milk and remaining 6 Tbsp sugar in a large saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and add bean. Bring to boil and dissolve sugar. Remove bean.

With mixer running, slowly add hot milk mixture. (Apparently, this part is important because if you add the hot milk too fast, it will cook the egg unevenly and the filling will lack a smooth texture. I added everything really fast because I had no idea that this would ruin everything. After I "destroyed" the filling, I really didn't care anymore because I already had to remake the honeycomb and wasn't about to find another vanilla bean to scrape into another pot of boiling milk. I also didn't want to separate 8 more yolks from the egg whites so I decided to continue with the recipe with the chunky egg filling and take a risk that the flavor would turn out. Sorry for the rant - moving on!) I don't really have pictures of this process because all the f-bombs coming out of my mouth made me forget that I was supposed to be blogging. 

Pour mixture back into pan and bring to boil while whisking constantly. Remove from heat and continue to whisk vigorously for 1 minute. Return custard to (cleaned) mixing bowl. Beat on high for 4 minutes or until custard is cool. (At this point in the recipe, my custard wasn't "custard-like" enough for me so I returned it to the stove and reboiled it, cooking it for a longer period of time. This was also the point at which I decided custard pies were pure evil and the devil himself probably invented each recipe.)

Mix in butter 1 Tbsp at a time. Add peanut butter, powdered sugar and salt. Beat to blend; scrape filling into cooled crust and smooth. Chill in fridge for 2-3 hours.

Topping:

2 oz bittersweet chocolate (don't exceed 61% cacao)

2 1/2 Tbsp butter

Honeycomb Candy

Roasted, salted peanuts (I used honey roasted peanuts for the added honey flavor.)

Stir chocolate and butter together in small saucepan on medium-low heat. Keep stirring until melted and combined. Drizzle some chocolate glaze over chilled pie and smooth into a circle. Top with honeycomb and peanuts. (I really piled it on.) Drizzle more chocolate over the top. Now you are finally done with the world's most difficult pie recipe. Congrats on your achievement! 

I actually brought this pie with me to a bachelorette party and was shocked when it tasted so good. In fact, it was addicting. The filling even had a smooth texture despite my cooked-eggs issue. (Then again, I had been consuming several adult beverages by the time I ate this pie at 2:00 in the morning so it could have been the combination of alcohol and sleep-deprivation that made this pie taste so wonderful.)