The Best Chocolate Cream Pie I Ever Ate

"You always had it, Dorothy." It's my favorite moment in the Wizard of Oz when Glinda the Good Witch gives a gentle reminder of what should have been obvious all along. By "it" of course, she is referring to the power to return home, an answer Dorothy spent the entire film searching for. I've always believed she missed it because she was expecting something bigger, something that would hit her over the head, rather than quietly whisper in her ear. It's true that sometimes exactly what we're looking for has been right there all along and it doesn't always hit us over the head.

I got that reminder recently when I was searching high and low for the perfect dessert to serve at a dinner party. I'd been pouring over my favorite cookbooks and websites. For me, it's not really a dinner party without something sweet and homemade to cap off the evening. I was looking for something homey and familiar, not overly fussy, but impressive and delicious enough to make my guests think I'd spent all day preparing it. I wanted them licking their forks and groaning in pleasure with that look that says: "I really want another piece even though I'm stuffed." I live for that look on people's faces.

The answer came in the form of chocolate cream pie. Not just any chocolate cream pie, but the best chocolate cream pie I ever ate, according to my friend Beth. It was a very exuberant endorsement. "You have to make this pie, Dave. You HAVE to. You. Will. Die!" she exclaimed, in a giddy and overly-punctuated tone that drove her point home with laser-like precision. She explained that she'd just made a mile-high cream pie that appeared in the latest issue of Saveur magazine and it was so delicious, so over-the-top, she had to give most of it away because she couldn't stop eating it. I pictured a goldfish that just keeps eating until it explodes. "I don't know Beth...," I hesitated, as images of Jell-O Instant Pudding pushed their way into my head, "I have that magazine and I saw that pie and it looked pretty good, but I need something AH-mazing." The truth was I get so many food magazines every month I sometimes do little more than scan them walking back from the mailbox. I really had seen the recipe; it just didn't seem exciting enough to make me stop on the page. Beth wasn't having it. "You don't understand!" she replied breathlessly. "This pie is beyond amazing, it's RI-diculous! It starts with 9 egg yolks and almost a pound of chocolate! It's sooo good!" She had me at 9 egg yolks. That was all the convincing I needed.

On the way home I stopped by the market and picked up the ingredients I needed to make this Holy Grail of chocolate pies. Standing in the checkout line I flipped through a copy of Saveur, found the recipe and took the time to actually read it. I was immediately hypnotized by the drool-worthy picture of the pie in the magazine and the geniusness of its back-to-basics simplicity. As I read further it became clear this was no ordinary chocolate cream pie. I bought that copy just in case I couldn't find my original at home.

As I made the custard and piled it high into the chocolate shell to chill, I was of course licking the wooden spoon and scraping at the bowl to get every last bit of custard. It was heavenly. It was so dense with rich chocolate flavor and so creamy (undoubtedly from the 9 egg yolks) that I briefly considered skipping dinner all together and going straight to dessert. Needless to say the pie was a huge success at the dinner party. After the first bite, silence fell over the table. After the second bite, one of my guests spoke almost reverently, "OMG! This is the best chocolate cream pie I've ever eaten. This is really good!" I replayed the story of how I wasn't so easily swayed when Beth tried to convince me to make it for dessert. "It just seemed so ordinary," I confessed. Secretly I was a bit embarrassed that I gave her such a hard time. Licking their forks and groaning in pleasure my guests exclaimed, "Are you crazy?! This pie isn't ordinary, it's orgasmic! You HAVE to share this recipe!" Orgasmic indeed.

Turns out the perfect dessert was right there under my nose, it was just buried in a large stack with all my other food magazines and unless that stack toppled over on me, it wasn't about to hit me over the head.

Like Dorothy I just needed a gentle reminder that I'd always had it.

The Best Chocolate Cream Pie I Ever Ate

The title alone should tell you everything you need to know on this one. A crunchy crust and pudding-like filling make this pie a standout. This pie should be well chilled before it’s served.

Serves 8 to 12

16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½ -inch cubes and chilled, plus more for pie plate
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 (9 ounce) package Nabisco chocolate wafers, finely ground
3 ½ cups half and half
2⁄3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
¼ cup cornstarch
9 egg yolks
9 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 ounces good quality unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
2 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream
Good quality dark chocolate, shaved, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch glass pie plate with butter; set aside. Heat 8 tablespoons butter and brown sugar in a 1-quart saucepan until sugar dissolves. Transfer butter mixture to a medium bowl; stir in ground wafers. Transfer mixture to pie plate; press into bottom and sides, using the bottom of a measuring cup to compress crust. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Bake until set, about 15 minutes; let cool.

Heat half and half in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat until it just begins to simmer; remove pan from heat. In a large bowl, whisk together 2⁄3 cup sugar and cornstarch; add egg yolks and whisk until smooth. Drizzle half-and-half into egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly, until smooth. Return mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until bubbles rise to the surface and mixture is very thick, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add remaining butter and chocolates in small batches, whisking until smooth; stir in 1½ teaspoons vanilla. Set a sieve over a medium bowl and strain chocolate mixture. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic onto surface to prevent skin from forming; refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

Remove plastic wrap from chocolate filling and, using a rubber spatula, stir mixture until smooth. Spoon mixture into reserved crust, forming a dome, and smooth surface with the spatula. In a large bowl, whisk remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, remaining vanilla, and heavy cream until stiff peaks form; spread on top of filling, forming a dome. Using a vegetable peeler, shave some of the dark chocolate onto top of pie. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

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Flourless Chocolate Cake with Orange-Scented Whipped Cream

This cake is something between a soufflé and a dense chocolate brownie. It's incredibly light and cloud-like. Light in texture mind you, NOT light in calories. In spite of that fact, I've always felt that if you're going to indulge in dessert it should be one that falls somewhere between nirvana and heaven and this cake certainly doesn't disappoint. If indeed there is a heaven, and if I make it there, I want to eat this cake every single day.

Enough said.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Orange-Scented Whipped Cream

Serves 8 to 10

FOR THE CAKE
12 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 large eggs, separated
12 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
Zest of an orange, grated
1 large marshmallow, to stabilize* cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line the bottom a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and set aside. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and the butter in a double boiler, or even better, in the microwave for about 2 minutes on medium power. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with 6 tablespoons of the sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla, fold in the melted chocolate and set aside.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites in another medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar and beat until medium-firm peaks form. Lighten the chocolate mixture by folding in a third of the eggs whites, then fold the remainder gently into the chocolate mixture, being careful to just incorporate, but not overwork the batter. A few white streaks are okay. Pour into prepared springform pan and bake in the center of the oven for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top is puffed and cracked and a tester inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool the pan completely on a wire rack, don’t be alarmed when the center sinks in and forms a crater. To release, run a small sharp knife around the the edge of the cake and release the sides of the pan.

To make the orange scented whipped cream, whip the cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Add the sugar, orange zest and the marshmallow to stabilize. Dollop the cream in the center of the cake and serve in large slices. Pure chocolate bliss!

*To “stabilize” whipped cream, beat as usual and whip in one large marshmallow that has been softened for about 10 seconds in the microwave.

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Life is Just a Bowl of...Cherry Garcia?

Forgive the obviousness of the title. Clearly the brain freeze that comes from nearly non-stop ice cream making (and eating) is getting to me, stifling my creativity for writing perhaps, while vehemently fanning the flames of an undying obsession. Let this also serve as my excuse for not posting in over a week, but I’m sure you’ll forgive me when you taste my latest creation. Well, my homage to a classic Ben & Jerry’s creation really. One inspired by the bountiful red cherries of the summer season.

When it first occurred to me to turn those ruby colored, jewel-like fruits into ice cream I decided to take my search online to find a published recipe for Cherry Garcia. I was disappointed to find that none of the recipes started with a cooked custard base, something I’ve extolled the virtues of before and have become almost evangelical about. I’m convinced it’s the only way to get that densely rich, über-creaminess that is paramount in great ice cream. So, heaving a heavy sigh I decided the only thing to do was to write a recipe of my own.

And so the journey began. As is my creative process, my kitchen cupboards were soon plastered with post-it notes filled with my nearly indiscernible scrawl as I mixed, whisked, scalded and stirred my way to the perfect custard base. Too many egg yolks and the ice cream tastes “eggy.” Too few and it’s not dense enough. 7 egg yolks I decided were the perfect amount. Now it needed just the right hit of sugary sweetness. I added sugar starting with less, tasting and adding more as I went until I’d achieved the perfect balance of sweet but not cloying. Whenever I write a recipe the biggest challenge is remembering to scribble down each addition on those post-it notes as I go, before I forget what I’ve done. As you can surely imagine this becomes an even bigger challenge when I’m writing cocktail recipes, but I’ll get to that another day. I decided that a bit of black cherry preserves would be just the thing to give extra cherry flavor and a rosy blush to the ice cream base. When I was satisfied with the proportions of tart and sweet I whisked the cream into very soft peaks and folded it into the cooled custard. This extra step of lightly whipping the cream only adds to the dreamy, cloud-like texture that is both light and dense at the same time. A culinary contradiction of the fondest sort!

After a 25 minute whir in the Cuisinart, the ice cream was at the glorious soft serve stage. This is exactly when you want to mix in the cherries and chocolate and where I stand hovering over the ice cream maker, spoon in hand, greedily shoveling big mouthfuls of the frozen ambrosia. I heave another heavy sigh, but this time it's full of deep and utter satisfaction.

Ah yes, life is indeed a bowl of Cherry Garcia.

Homemade Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia
(With Two Flavor Variations)

Densely rich, über-creamy and studded with bits of fresh cherries and dark chocolate. Enough said.

Makes a scant 2 quarts

1½ cups whole milk
7 large eggs yolks
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons black cherry preserves
1½ cups heavy cream, lightly whipped
4 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and chopped

Heat the milk in a pan, and while it’s getting warm, beat together the sugar and egg yolks and vanilla extract in the bowl of a freestanding mixer with a paddle attachment until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and falls back on itself in a ribbon, about 3 minutes. When the milk is just below the boil slowly drizzle it in a thin and continuous stream while whisking briskly so the egg is gradually warmed up. Return everything to the saucepan and cook while stirring with a wooden spoon. Make sure that you are constantly scraping the spoon across the bottom of the pan so the custard does not scorch. The custard is done when it has thickened slightly and can evenly coat the back of the spoon and when you run your finger along the back of the spoon and it holds the “line.” Don’t let the mixture come to a boil, or it may curdle.

Strain the custard into a metal bowl through a fine sieve to remove any bits of egg and stir in the black cherry preserves. Nestle the bowl of custard into a large bowl of ice water to cool more quickly. I do this because I’m incredibly impatient, but you could just put the whole thing in the fridge to cool completely. Lightly whip the cream until it holds a very soft peak and fold into the cooled custard. Continue stirring occasionally until mixture is cold, about 20 minutes.

Transfer the custard to an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the ice cream is almost finished churning add in the chopped chocolate and the cherries to combine. Put the finished ice cream in a storage container and freeze until firm.

*Variations: This basic ice cream recipe is so versatile that you can add any flavor combinations you like to the base. Below are two of my favorites.

Toasted Coconut: Substitute 1 (15 ounce) can Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut (NOT coconut milk!) in place of the cherry preserves and 1 cup sweetened toasted coconut in place of the cherries and chocolate.

Peanut Butter Cup: Substitute 1 cup creamy peanut butter in place of the cherry preserves and 1 bag of Reese’s mini peanut butter cups, chopped, in place of the cherries and chocolate.

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