Chocolate Cream Pie

Sometimes you just gotta have it. You lust after it, dream about it. Chocolate Cream Pie

A Pompeian wall painting depicting a Roman dinner party, from the 'House of the Chaste Lovers'

From reading my blog you may think all I do is lay around on silk cushions eating hummingbird tongues and drinking ancient wines out of silver chalices. Not true (only do that sometimes, friends)! I will admit, as the world grows more homogenized I crave the unusual and individual and love looking backward to reclaim original dishes from all that has come before. This works for everything from Roman banquet food to … chocolate cream pie! It was not always a diner food made of plastic and corn syrup. In my mind it is a great thing rich with chocolate and good cream. A luxury… a cool rich chocolate treat when prepared correctly.

Milton Hershey 1857-1945

The pie probably had its roots in the depression and was served at the Hershey Hotel in Hershey PA., the town and the Hotel that chocolate built… or at least that the founder of Hershey built. Milton Hershey was a community spirited man who built quality affordable housing for his workers who loved him. This is my idea of a great industrialist and a lovely man.

Heliopolis Hotel, Cairo

He and his wife had wanted to build a hotel for many years but his initial plan to duplicate the Heliopolis Hotel in Cairo was prohibitively expensive at $5 million (and rather mad for a tiny company town like Hershey PA) The death of his beloved wife Kitty in 1915 put a stop to the plan.

Hotel Hershey

However, when he saw so many out of work in the Depression (even though he kept his factories going and his workers paid) he decided to build a less ambitious hotel (based on one he had seen with his wife on the Mediterranean) for his community in 1932, putting 600 men to work and taking advantage of depression prices on materials. The 2 million dollar hotel opened in 1933. The Hotel still thrives, Hershey PA is still the “Sweetest Place on Earth” (where else can you meet at the corner of Chocolate Avenue and Cocoa Avenue beneath Hershey’s kiss shaped streetlights?) and the Hershey Hotel still serves Chocolate Cream Pie!

Chocolate Cream Pie

Crust

1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs or chocolate wafer crumbs

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together crumbs, butter, and sugar and press on bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake about 15 minutes, and cool on a rack.

Filling (Based on a King Arthur Recipe)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (sorry Mr Hershey, I used 70% Callebaut)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 Drops Jasmine Absolute from Aftelier (optional)

2/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large egg yolks

1 cup heavy cream, divided

2 cups milk

1) Place the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract in a 2-quart mixing bowl; set aside.

2) In a medium saucepan away from heat, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa and salt. Whisk in 1/4 cup of cold heavy cream until the mixture is smooth, with no lumps. Repeat with another 1/4 cup of the cream. Whisk in the egg yolks

3) Place the saucepan over medium heat, and gradually whisk in the remaining cream and milk.

4) Bring to a boil, whisking constantly as the mixture thickens; boil for 1 minute

5) Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture over the reserved chocolate and butter.

6) Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

7) Pass the filling through a strainer into a bowl to remove any lumps.

8) Place plastic wrap or buttered parchment paper on the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and chill thoroughly

Topping

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whip the cream till it begins to form soft peaks, Sift the powered sugar over the cream and add the vanilla and whip to blend

Topping


1) Place the heavy cream in a chilled mixing bowl.

2) Whip until the whisk begins to leave tracks in the bowl.

3) Add the sugar and vanilla and whip until the cream holds a medium peak.



Transfer the cooled filling to the cooled crust. Level the top with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Let it chill thoroughly.

Serve with the whipped cream on the top of the pie or top individual slices with the cream.