Southern Chocolate Pie

I know the last thing most people think we need after a decadent Holiday season of over-indulging is more chocolate or desserts.  However at this point, I say we need more of both.  There's still New Years Eve coming and if you're planning a get together, this pie is a great dessert to help celebrate New Year.  It's really so easy and simple to prepare and can be made in advance to avoid any stressful post Christmas breakdowns; yet it's still festive enough to bring out at any party. 

This recipe makes me think of the south and summer, something wonderful when the weather is cold outside.  I first heard of such a chocolate pie in the movie "The Help". Viola Davis is one of my favourite actors, so I was quick to go see this movie when it came out.  Of course, while I enjoyed the movie immensely, I was predictably drawn to all the southern cooking that was depicted in the movie.  I left the theatre with a serious craving for fried chicken and chocolate pie (despite the 'secret ingredient' they add to the pie in the movie).

I set out to find a recipe for the pie, or to come up with my own and ended up doing a combination of both.  I started looking up recipes for a chocolate pie and most of what came up was for Chocolate Cream pie.  While this is also lovely, I was looking for a chocolate pie that's baked, chilled and served with a dollop of whipped cream on top.  At the time, it wasn't easy to find.  However, I did come across a recipe in Food & Wine magazine for Minny's Chocolate Pie named for the character in the movie who bakes the pie.  The recipe in Food & Wine was a perfect jumping off point for me, I used it as a general outline and made some changes from there. 

Here's my version of Southern Chocolate Pie:

What you will need:
Medium/large mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Rubber spatula
Whisk
8 inch pie plate

Pastry:
I always use the same recipe for all of my pies: Pate Brisee from the cookbook "Pastry" by Michel Roux.  This is the best pasty recipe I know, hands down.

*The ingredients are listed in traditional cup measures as well as in metric weight measurements.  If you have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend weighing out your ingredients as it's much more accurate.  As well, I've often used a large pinch of Kosher salt in place of fine sea salt and also used a pinch of regular granulated white sugar instead of superfine sugar, and both substitutions worked well for me.

1 3/4 cups (250g) all purpose flour
2/3 cup (150g) butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp (6g) fine sea salt
Pinch of superfine sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp (15ml) cold milk

Heap the flour on a counter and make a well,  Put the butter, salt, sugar and egg.  Using your fingertips, mix and cream the ingredients together. 

Little by little, draw in the flour, working the dough delicately until it has a grainy texture. 

Add the milk and incorporate gently with your fingertips until the dough begins to hold together. 

Using the palm of your hand, work the dough by pushing it away from you 4 to 5 times until smooth.  Roll it into a ball, divide in half and flatten into a disc.  Wrap each half in plastic wrap and chill until ready to use. 

I find one half of the recipe is sufficient for a pie like this that doesn't have a pastry top like Apple Pie.  Freeze the leftover half for another use.

Chocolate Filling:

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 squares of bakers chocolate melted (or 2 tablespoons of any dark chocolate)
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter melted
2 eggs at room temperature
1 can of evaporated milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of fine salt
Whipped cream for garnish

Preheat oven to 350F.

Roll out dough very thin (I find a thinly rolled out pastry really compliments the filling in this recipe) and place in pie dish, dock the pastry with the tines of a fork.  Place the pie plate with pastry in the freezer while you get on with making the filling.

In a mixing bowl break up the sugars and cocoa powder with the wooden spoon, then whisk the dry ingredients until they are all the same the texture (coarse sugar).  Add the remaining ingredients (minus whipped cream for garnish obviously) and whisk until everything is incorporated and smooth, do not skip this step as it will effect the texture of the finished pie.

Take pie shell out of the freezer and pour the filling in carefully not spilling up onto the sides.  I use a rubber spatula to scrap out every bit of the oozing chocolate filling from the mixing bowl.  Do this on your stove top for easy transport to the oven.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes (depending on your oven as they all vary), or until the pie is mostly set but the middle jiggles when the pie is moved.  Once finished baking, remove the pie and let sit out on the counter until room temperature.  Then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.  Serve each slice topped with whipped cream.