A Pie a Week - Who likes chocolate?

This weekend Our Son put in a request - he wanted a chocolate pie. Well. Who doesn't?

I decided to make a chocolate cream pie. The filling for chocolate cream pie is chocolate pudding, which is made with egg yolks. I am irrationally disturbed if I have to separate eggs and don't have a use for the other part of them. So instead of the classic whipped cream topping for chocolate cream pie, I decided to follow Ken Haedrich's recipe (from his book, "Pie: 300 Tried and True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie") and make Chocolate Cream Pie with Cinnamon Meringue topping.

First, a pre-baked crust. I didn't mess around, I used the Gordon Hammersly recipe that had worked so well for me before. If you don't feel up to the challenge, you can use a store-bought graham-cracker crust, or a store-bought pie shell - pre-bake it according to the instructions. (But the Hammersly recipe is so easy and so worth the effort you really should try!)


The filling is cooked in a saucepan over the stove. You mix milk, egg yolks, sugar, corn starch, vanillla and chocolate. I had Scharffenberger Bittersweet Chocolate in my cupboard, so I used that. I added just a drop or two of some strong French roast coffee. After 7 or 8 minutes of cooking, the pudding thickens and you pour it into the pre-baked shell.


Then you whip egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Add a 1/4 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar, and a 1/4 cup of sugar mixed with two teaspoons of cinnamon, and beat until stiff peaks form.

Spread on top of the filling, pop into a 350 oven, and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the meringue colors soft golden brown.


Oh, delicious! Who wants chocolate?