Friday, August 26, 2011

Chocolate Pie topped with Meringue

This recipe for chocolatey-goodness was adapted from myrecipes.com ("Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pie"). My first and second attempts at it were delicious, though I was not completely satisfied with the meringue (and new endeavor for me which still needs some perfecting).

Chocolate Pie topped with Meringue

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients:
1 prebaked pie crust
2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup + 3/8 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons white flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:
Make and bake your piecrust, and set aside to cool. Seperate the 2 egg yolks from the egg whites and set each aside for 30 minutes.

To make the meringue: once you've started making the meringue, don't stop beating until it is finished. Beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar at high speed until foamy, using an electric mixer. Gradually add 3/8 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks for and the sugar is dissolved (you can check this by rubbing a bit of meringue between your fingers - still gritty? Keep beating...) Set the meringue aside.

To make the chocolate filling: whisk the remaining 1 cup sugar, cocoa, flour and salt in a small bowl. In seperate bowl, whisk egg yolks and milk. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add the sugar mixture gradually to melted butter, whisking until blended. Add milk mixture gradually and cook, whisking constantly until thick and bubbly.

Remove from heat, add chocolate chips and vanilla, and stir until melted. Add pecans if you're including them, stir. Pour into piecrust.

Spread meringue over hot filling right away (the meringue will start to cook from the heat of the filling, which is good.) Try to spoon it on in large dollops, connecting them gently with a spoon. Make sure to seal the edge of the meringue to the piecrust to help keep it from shrinking later.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes or till golden. Cool completely.

Meringues do weep, which is the problem I've had with this one. It has not been much, though, and it certainly did not effect the taste. I tried cooling my second pie on the counter instead of in the fridge, but it still beaded up a bit on top.

This pie can be stored happily in the refrigerator, but be warned - meringues are certainly best on the day they are first made.

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