Follow posts tagged #dessert, #food, and #chocolate in seconds.

#cake

Making French Silk Pie

Almost a fortnight ago, I received an e-mail from a Sonja Schmitt and she wrote, and I quote:

“Help, help, oh lord Jesus, where has the chocolate silk pie recipe gone? i wanted to write it down for a friend of mine who’s going to get married in June. can you save her wedding by sending me the recipe? ;) would be so nice

Thanks a lot

greetings from Dresden,Germany”

Now the chocolate silk pie in question is actually this pie;

a recipe I posted a few years back and have since taken down because of the low quality images. Now I’d hate to be the cause for the possible demise of someone’s wedding, so I urgently, sensibly and responsibly replied with:

“Oh noes! Whatever will I do to avert this crisis? :D

I’m going to re-do that post and upload the new recipe and photos by next week. Fingers (and toes) crossed!

Best,

Piga”

And so come about this recipe post that might look a little rushed, but rest assured, I had the best intentions. Oh and before I forget, this recipe comes with a **WARNING: it contains raw eggs, so don’t feed it to the very young, the very old, the expecting mothers and those who are immuno-compromised. I’m going to include an alternative recipe that’s vegan friendly, should you want to give that a try instead. You can use a pre-made crust for this, or make your own if you feel like it.

PIE CRUST (recipe from Simply Recipes)

[ 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour + 1 cup cold, unsalted butter - cut into cubes + 1 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon sugar + 6-8 tablespoon cold water ]

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie plate; set aside

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. Add a little more water and pulse again if the dough doesn’t hold together.

Remove dough from machine and gently shape the dough mixture into two disks. Sprinkle a little flour around the disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down to line the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

Put a piece of aluminum foil in the bottom and fill it with baking beans or rice or any dried beans you have to keep it from shrinking while it bakes.

Bake blind for 20 minutes, take out the pie crust and remove the aluminium foil with the beans or rice. Bake again for 5-10 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Now make the pie filling:

FRENCH SILK PIE:

[ 4 ounces dark chocolate, melted and cooled + 1 cup salted butter, softened + 1-1/2 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 4 eggs ] OPTIONAL: Whipped cream and chocolate shavings for topping.

Beat sugar and butter on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 6-7 minutes.

Add the melted (and cooled!) chocolate and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add eggs two at a time, beating 5 minutes after each addition.

Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Add filling to cooled pie crust and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight - all that graininess you taste will magically disappear!) and keep it refrigerated until you are ready to serve.

and here’s the vegan alternative:

VEGAN FRENCH SILK PIE (recipe from Connoisseur for the Cure)

[ 13 ounces semisweet chocolate chips + 1/3 cup coffee liqueur + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1 12.3 ounce package silken tofu, drained + 1 tablespoon agave ]

Melt the chocolate chips with the coffee liqueur and vanilla in a metal bowl over simmering water, or in a double boiler.

Stir frequently until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the tofu, chocolate mixture, and agave to the bowl of a food processor or a blender. Process the mixture until smooth.

Scrape down the sides of the work bowl as needed to make sure the ingredients are fully mixed. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Whoops! It looks like someone got a little too excited and spilled the whipped cream. Lots of it. On the pie. Thinking that it would make a good picture. Take note folks - be patient and whip that cream first!