I like to talk a lot. Had you guessed as much?
Today, I’m going to restrain myself. Just to allow you to concentrate.
Concentrate on chocolate.
Concentrate on pie.
Concentrate on a chocolate pie that will hopefully rock your world.
Are you concentrating? OK. Good.
I’ve been married for several years so I know that whispering makes interrupting OK.
I’m whispering right now when I tell you that we’re using Mexican chocolate in this particular pie. The flavor of Mexican chocolate is not to be trifled with. I’m partial to the Ibarra label.
We’re also pressing some instant espresso powder and ground ancho chile into our crust. There will be no trifling today.
One more whisper-interruption, just to remind you to whisk regularly as you prepare your custard filling. This pie is incredibly easy to assemble so you can spare the extra minutes on your whisk work.
And don’t forget to pass your finished custard through a fine mesh sieve. The custard will ultimately remain just a little grainy, since Mexican chocolate is grainy and coarse. But the sieving will allow you to achieve some degree of smoothness as the custard cools. Don’t skip it! (I’m still whispering.)
I’m not even whispering at you when I say that all pies are better when topped with whipped cream. Duh. You already know that – no whispering necessary.
I’ll use just a little telepathy to suggest that you sweeten the cream that tops this pie. A nice compliment to the rich chocolate filling and spicy crust.
You’re a really good concentrator. And I’m so good at not talking! Let’s celebrate with some pie.
You can have the first piece if I can stop whispering. Deal? Deal. Cheers!
Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie
recipe adapted from Gourmet Comfort Food magazine
For the crust:
1 1/2 c. chocolate graham cracker crumbs (You can really use any chocolate wafer cookie here. I ground my grahams in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Approximately 10 whole crackers yielded the one and one half cups of crumbs that I needed for this pie.)
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 tsp. ancho chile, ground
For the filling:
4 large egg yolks
2/3 c. white sugar, granulated
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. whole milk
2- 3.14 oz. disks of Mexican chocolate, chopped, melted (Mexican chocolate is sold in disks or ‘tablets’ that weigh approximately 3 ounces each. If you are substituting American chocolate in this recipe, you should use 6 ounces.)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
For the topping:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp. white sugar, granulated
cocoa powder for finishing
Preheat oven to 350°.
Mix cracker/cookie crumbs, melted butter, espresso powder and ancho powder in a small bowl until mixture is approximately the consistency of wet sand. Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9″ pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a large saucepan. Place pan over medium heat and, while continuing to whisk, pour in milk. Bring mixture to a boil and boil for 1 minute while whisking constantly. Reduce to a simmer and whisk for one additional minute. Remove thickened mixture and whisk in melted chocolate and butter. Pour custard into a large bowl and cover with a buttered piece of wax paper (refrigerated custard will form a skin – you’ll want the wax paper to be in direct contact with the top of the custard to prevent the skin from forming).
Once the custard has cooled to at least room temperature, pour it over the baked crust.
Meanwhile, using a chilled bowl and beaters, whip heavy cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Spread cream over the top of the pie and finish with a dusting of cocoa powder. Chill and serve (pie can be chilled up to 1 day before serving).
YIELD: approximately 8-10 servings
The flavors in this pie are just amazing! I’m sure the addition of the ancho chile powder added a wonderful level of flavor. Your pictures are so enticing!
Absolutely my kind of pie…I love Ibarra too and love to substitute it for regular chocolate…now that ancho crust is new…and a must try!
Everything about this recipe is perfect. I can only imagine how delicious this tastes!
Good morning! I see from the “trackbacks” that you already know I featured your Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie as something I bookmarked this week. It looks awesome! Thanks for sharing.
http://praycookblog.com/2012/03/weekend-roundup-march-31-2012/
Yes, thank you, Catherine! Have a great week (and don’t forget to sneak some chocolate)!!
This cake is absolutely beautiful. It sounds amazing, and your photos are gorgeous.
I have a totally shocking revelation: I have never had Mexican chocolate yet. Not something you come across easily in Italy… I am sure it takes this lovely cake to a whole new level.
Oh wow, what a beautiful pie! I love me some chocolate pie. It’s the best kind of pie there is! The Mexican chocolate really kicks it up a notch.
Yum! I will have to try this combination. It sounds and looks fantastic! I made the recipe from the same cookbook/magazine (which I am currently obsessed with) a few weeks ago with a Thin Mint crust and a bit of peppermint extract in the filling. So. Good.
BEAUTIFUL photographs!!!
Apparently I need to find some Mexican Chocolate, and fast!
Love the crust! What a killer choc cream pie.
You are a naughty, naughty girl — this was the first post in my box this morning. Now how can I possibly eat oatmeal for breakfast when all I want is PIE! Blessings, Catherine http://www.praycookblog.com
Decadent! Yum. Love the combination of flavours in the crust! This looks heavenly. Perfect photos too!
Oh wow, this looks absolutely delicious. I love cream pie and I love chocolate so that’s absolutely nothing I wouldn’t adore about this!
I would whisper too if this pie was lazing around my kitchen…the less folks knew about it the better it would be for…me!
Cheers.
Chocolate talks to me all the time so I’ve honed my chocolate concentration skills. I want to eat this pie very, very badly. It looks so decadent. You need a cookbook my lady. I’d be first in line.
hahaha love the little whispers here and there! This pie looks absolutely fabulous! Awesome creation.
I love this idea – Mexican chocolate is such a wonderful thing
Bookmarked!
This looks wonderful! I’m posting something chocolaty and spicy myself tomorrow. I didn’t have any luck finding Mexican chocolate, but I’ve used Chuao Spicy Maya Chocolate Bar with pretty good success
This pie sounds wonderful! Mexican chocolate in a cream pie is genious! I would love a large slice, and I appriciate the ample amount of whipped cream on top!
this look so good! I love ibarra chocolate too!
It has a really great flavour!
I would be whispering too but only to hide what I made so I wouldn’t have to share. Looks wonderful!
Mmm… I love spiced chocolate and this creamy pie sounds soooo good! The custard skin is actually my favorite part.
I so want to make this! Why did I never think of using Mexican chocolate in chocolate cream pie? Probably because I don’t make chocolate cream pie very often. That could change.