Cook Like Mad

When I think of icebox pies, I think of those super sweet, cool-whip(or pudding) based, high rise pies often seen in diners and old country cookbooks. In one of my favorite southern cookbooks, A Taste of Louisiana, by the Louisiana Federation of Women’s Clubs, among the many pie recipes, there is a recipe for Peanut Butter Pie that calls for chunky peanut butter, raisins, vanilla pudding mix, whipped topping, and salted peanuts, all set up in a graham cracker crust. Now I haven’t made this pie, but it did give me an idea to make the one below, modified from this epicurious.com recipe.

The epicurious recipe uses creamy rather than chunky peanut butter, whipped cream rather than pudding mix, and swaps the raisins for a layer of chocolate ganache. I like the fact that epicurious keeps the graham cracker crust, but I thought the pie recipe needed to be (forgive me) “kicked-up a notch.” So I made raspberry preserves to spread over the chocolate ganache to revive the fruit component established in the first version by the raisins. The raspberry preserves give a much-needed tartness to the rich and creamy pie, without adding “chew,” which no doubt was an effect of adding raisins to a chilled pie. The chocolate ganache is made from 60% cocoa-content chocolate chips, adding to the complexity of the pie’s flavors. This is not your average refrigerator pie, it is a pie for adults, in addition to children, and speaking of children, it’s a great recipe to make with them. If you prefer to use store-bought raspberry preserves, just make sure you stir it up a bit before spreading it over the chocolate layer, so it’s loose and easy to manipulate. Also, feel free to make this pie in 8 of those individual graham cracker crust molds you can buy in the store- that way there’s no worrying about cutting perfect slices and each guest will feel particularly royal : ) So give this old-school pie a try. It’s a perfect, comfy winter dessert and it’s easy to boot. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pb & J Mousse Pie

Adapted from this Epicurious.com recipe

Makes 8 Servings

1 bag frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
7 whole graham crackers, finely crushed into crumbs (the food processor works best here)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
4 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 1/3 cups (about 8 oz) 60% bittersweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup plus 1 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream, divided
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

1 cup (about 6 oz) peanut butter chips
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Bittersweet chocolate chips, melted, to serve
Roasted, lightly salted peanuts, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If making raspberry preserves from scratch, dump bag of frozen raspberries in a small pot with 1/3 cup water and bring to a boil Lower to medium heat, stir occasionally, and add 2 tbsp sugar. Stir frequently for another 10 minutes and then turn off heat, transfer to a bowl, and let cool. Meanwhile, make other pie components.

2. Spray 9-inch pie dish lightly with vegetable oil spray. Mix graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 melted butter and 2 tbsp sugar with a fork until it comes together and spread out evenly in the bottom of the pie dish, making sure, to patch up any holes, as you work the mixture up the sides of the dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until just lightly golden brown and firm to the touch. Let cool on the counter.

2. Mix chocolate chips, 2/3 cup whipping cream, 2 tbsp corn syrup and 1 tsp vanilla in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on half power for 2 minutes. Let sit for 30 seconds, and stir, until fully incorporated. At first the mixture will look like it won’t combine, but be patient, it will become quite thick and dark with a little stirring. Pour overcooled crust and set pie dish in the freezer for 20 minutes.

3. Mix peanut butter chips, 3/4 cup whipping cream, 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter, and 1 tsp vanilla in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on half power for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir the same way as the chocolate chip mixture. Let cool in the freezer for 10 minutes.

4. Once chocolate mixture has cooled in the crust, spread cooled raspberry preserves over chocolate layer, ensuring to create an even layer, as it will be pretty thin. I like to use the back of a tablespoon for this if there is no offset spatula available.

5. Chill 10 minutes in the fridge. After this point, the peanut butter mixture will be cool, so whip 1 cup whipping cream with 2 tbsp sugar until it is thickened but has not reached soft peaks. It is very important to not whip the cream to soft peaks or beyond, to keep the mixture creamy. Fold in the peanut mixture to the whipped cream in thirds, trying to keep the volume you created. Dump this peanut mousse in the middle of the raspberry preserves layer and spread to the outer edges of the pie crust. It will look as if there is too much mousse mixture, but it is exactly the right amount, so don’t skimp. Place the pie in the fridge for at least one hour, but up to overnight, to allow it to set. Do not cut the pie until the pie has chilled for 1 hour. To serve, drizzle with melted chocolate and roasted, lightly salted peanuts. Enjoy!

-M : )

I used to work at this company where a few of my friends who like to cook would get together every Wednesday and one person would make lunch for the rest of the group. People in the group called it the “lunch club”, while people who wished they were in the group called it the “finer things club” because it reminded them of the club by the same name in The Office. While we didn’t sit around reading poetry and sipping tea from fine china the way they do in The Office, we were very lucky to have incredibly good food one day a week. Needless to say, while they were excited to have a culinary school grad a part of their club, I felt honored to be included. To shake things up for the holidays, we decided to have a potluck last week instead of burdening one person with cooking an entire holiday meal.

Now I choose to bring dessert for one reason and one reason only- it was an excuse to make my mom’s chocolate bourbon walnut pie. Now I know what you’re thinking- that’s not the title of the post! You promised Chocolate Pecan Pie and who said anything about Bourbon?? Well, us girls on a budget can’t buy bourbon just to add 1/4 cup in a pie, and we also can’t go searching around town for walnuts when there aren’t any at the supermarket. Thankfully, pecans are a great subsitute, and despite being non-alcoholic, its still going to be your new favorite Chocolate Pecan Pie. And if you don’t have an old favorite, you’re really in for a treat!

Now before I go into the recipe, I’ve got to say, corn syrup is not my favorite ingredient. It has no nutritional value, it spikes your blood sugar, and it can be substituted with honey when an invert sugar is called for in a recipe (such as in fudge making). However, I have found that in pecan pie, corn syrup lends the perfect texture to the finished product; the pie remains moist, the nuts distribute evenly, and there’s never a grainy feel in your mouth from crystallized sugar. So if you’re opposed to nutritionally devoid ingredients like corn syrup, feel free to substitute honey here, but if you’re willing to loosen the reigns this once, use corn syrup.

Mmm..don’t you love it when the top gets golden and caramelized?

Your New Favorite Chocolate Pecan Pie

Serves 8

• 1 (9 inch) pie shell
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a bowl over simmering water, combine sugar, corn syrup, and butter. Stir over medium-low heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat and cool slightly.

3. While the sugar mixture cools, sprinkle chocolate chips over the pie shell.

4. In a large bowl combine eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Whisking constantly, slowly pour sugar mixture into egg mixture. Stir in pecans. Pour mixture into pie shell, over the chocolate chips.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the center is just set and the top is golden. The pie is great warm, but I prefer it at room temperature, once the texture has fully set. Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or even creme fraiche, which counters its sweetness. Enjoy!

-M : )