Salty Chocolate Cream Pie (+ Giveaway!)

It’s a special edition of #PieDayFriday!  Today I’m bringing this salty chocolate cream pie to a Friendsgiving Potluck hosted by Renee at Will Frolic For Food, and featuring J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works!

You know, just in case you didn’t get your fill yesterday (#thanksgiving).

…What?  More pie is always a good move.

This was actually my first-ever attempt at a chocolate cream pie, and I’m prettyyyyyy pleased with how it turned out.  There are three different components at work here, all of which are surprisingly easy to pull off.  One: dark chocolate cookie crust.  Crush and mix.  Easy.  Two: creamy chocolate pudding.  The most involved step of all (melt, whisk, boil, strain), but still, easy.  And three: fresh whipped cream.  Whip whip whip.  Eaaaasy street dot com!  Plus extra salt for flavor and a small avalanche of chocolate shavings because we’re not savages, jeez.

As I mentioned above, this virtual Friendsgiving celebration is sponsored by J.Q. Dickinson Salt Works, a rad company out of West Virginia that harvests super fresh, clean-tasting sea salt (from an ocean source that flows underneath the WV Appalachians, OBVI), and they were kind enough to provide me with an extra jar of their delicious sea salt to give away!

So if you’re interested in a nice lil jar of hand-harvested sea salt amazingness, simply leave a comment below telling me about your favorite Thanksgiving dish, or tradition, or whatever, and I’ll choose a winner on Monday evening (December 1st)!

Contest is over!  Thanks friends!

Happy #PieDayFriday, all!

Salty Chocolate Cream Pie

Adapted from Gourmet, February 2004

Ingredients:

For crust:

• 1 1/3 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (from about 26 cookies such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar

For filling:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 cups whole milk
• 5 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), melted
• 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

For topping:

• 3/4 cup chilled heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• chocolate shavings
• pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F, with a rack in the center position.

Pulse together cookie crumbs, butter, and sugar in a food processor until well combined.  Press the mixture on bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until crisp, about 15 minutes, then let cool completely.

To make the filling, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a 3-quart heavy saucepan.  Add the yolks, and whisk vigorously until smooth.  Add the milk in a stream, whisking to combine.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high head, whisking, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, still whisking, for 2 minutes (mixture will thicken, just keep whisking).

Press the filling through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl, then whisk in the melted chocolate, butter, and vanilla.  Place a greased piece of plastic directly on top of the pudding and cool completely, about 2 hours.

Pour the filling into the pre-baked crust and chill pie, loosely covered, at least 6 hours or overnight.

To make the whipped cream topping (don’t top the pie until just before serving), use an electric mixer to beat the cream with the sugar just until it holds stiff peaks.  Spoon the whipped cream on top of the chocolate pie, and finish with a sprinkling of chocolate shavings and an extra pinch of salt, if desired.

Pie will keep, uncovered, in the refrigerator for about a day.