French Silk Chocolate Pie

I love to bake.

I do sometimes like to cook actual meals with a variety of food groups, although typically not on weeknights when the second I get home, my 9-year-old is asking the proverbial question, “What’s for dinner?”  (Which is ironic, if you know my son, because he is the pickiest eater on the planet. Any answer I give him that is not Kraft macaroni and cheese, crispy chicken strips or Cheerios is met with disappointment. But I digress.)

I prefer weekend cooking, when I have time to enjoy the chopping and seasoning and, really, the entire process. Preferably with wine and some music playing on my iPad.

But baking? I LOVE to bake – and I have, ever since I was a little girl.

I can’t tell you how many times Teacher Man has walked into the kitchen after lunch on a Sunday afternoon and asked me what I was up to. “Baking {insert favorite dessert bars, cookies or layer cake recipe here},” I tell him. He doesn’t quite understand the satisfaction baking gives me, especially since he would prefer a Dairy Queen Blizzard to almost any dessert I offer up. I’m not bitter, I promise. But I don’t profess to understand why he would possibly choose the same variety of Blizzard every single Sunday night when he could have a gooey, rich, chocolate chip cookie or brownie warm out of the oven.

Teacher Man has his priorities and I have mine. Sometimes they don’t match up – and that’s okay. Marriage is all about give and take – and in this case, ice cream for him means more chocolatey goodness for me.

Which all brings me to eggs  – the versatile workhorses of all kinds of recipes, baking and otherwise. I’m pretty sure I take eggs a little for granted, given everything I put them in – egg bakes, frittatas, omelets, cookies, cakes, egg salad, deviled eggs, bread pudding (mmm …. have I mentioned I have kind of a thing for bread pudding?) and more.

And can we talk here? Eggs are super affordable! Packed with essential nutrients at just $.15 each, eggs are the least expensive form of high-quality protein per serving for families today.

Eggs are also my little holiday helpers. I often bake cookies and give them as gifts to the piano teacher, Sunday School teacher and neighbors. That’s probably why I always buy my eggs in a carton of 18 so that I know I have enough eggs around when I need them. Having extra eggs around, especially this time of year, is a no brainer for me.

If you read my blog regularly, then you know I’m pleased to be a Good Egg Ambassador for the American Egg Board. This month I want to share with you a very cool partnership going on right now with Share Our Strength, which seeks to combat childhood hunger in America. Over 16 million kids live in homes that struggle to put food on the table – mind-boggling, given how very blessed many of us in this country are.

There are ways we can all help. Beginning today, America’s egg farmers will have weekly giveaways on the Incredible Edible Egg Facebook Page. Watch for a post every Monday that has a special giveaway – each person who comments on that post will be entered to win a prize PLUS a dozen eggs will be donated on the winner’s behalf to help fight childhood hunger via Share Our Strength – up to 10,000 eggs total during the course of the giveaways.

Another cool part of this partnership is the idea of hosting your own community bake sale to fight childhood hunger. If you do that, you’ll qualify for six additional contest entries; sign up via this link.

I’ve never actually hosted a bake sale, but I think it would be a fun way for family and friends to work together and give back – plus what a fun way this time of year to share holiday baked goods!

Last week as I was gathering my thoughts for this blog post, I whipped up a French Silk chocolate pie with a homemade (and easy!) graham cracker crust – both recipes from the Incredible Edible Egg. This pie completely reminds me of the holidays with my family – my Mom has a favorite French silk pie recipe that is much beloved.

This recipe is very similar to my mom’s, I’m excited to report. If you love chocolate and pie, then you’ll love this recipe!

The egg, sugar and chocolate mixture is cooked to 160 degrees, then cooled and whipped to chocolate perfection. (I use a candy thermometer while cooking the mixture to track the temperature – super easy.) It’s a decadent version of French silk pie that would be a perfect complement to pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. (And you could easily swap out a store-bought or homemade pastry crust if you aren’t a fan of the graham cracker crust. It’s okay – I won’t hold that against you.)

You could also have a piece of this pie for breakfast, if you are so inclined. I may or may not have done that recently.

Do you like to bake? And if so, what are some of your go-to holiday baking traditions?

French Silk Chocolate Pie (full recipe from the American Egg Board also here)

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 6 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 4 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 graham cracker crumb crust (see below for recipe)

Mix sugar and cream of tartar in a medium saucepan. Add eggs and water; beat with a mixer until well blended. Add chocolate; cook over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Do not allow to boil. Remove from heat immediately.

Cool quickly – set pan in larger pan of ice water. Stir vigorously until temperature of mixture falls to 80-90 degrees F. Remove pan from ice water. Stir in vanilla.

Beat butter in mixer bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy – about 3-4 minutes. Add cooled egg mixture; beat on high speed 4-5 minutes. Pour into pie shell.

Refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving. (And add whipped cream and chocolate shavings on top if you so desire!)

Tips:

• Cream of tartar: You’ll find this in the spice aisle at your grocery story; this acidic ingredient promotes egg coagulation. Without it this pie filling might not be firm enough to slice.
• Shortcut: An already prepared 9-inch graham cracker crumb crust or baked pastry shell can be substituted for a homemade crust.
• Refrigerate any leftover pie promptly.

Pie Crust – Graham Cracker Crust (full recipe from the American Egg Board also here)

• 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 4 oz.)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup (2/3 stick) butter, room temperature

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add butter – mix until thoroughly blended.

Press crumb mixture evenly and firmly against the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate.

Bake at 350 degrees F. oven until center is firm to the touch and an edge is lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Variations:

• Graham Cracker Nut Crumb Crust Variation: Substitute 1/2 cup (about 2 oz.) ground almonds, pecans or walnuts for 1/2 cup of the graham cracker crumbs.
• Chocolate Crumb Crust Variation: Substitute 1-1/2 cups fine chocolate wafer crumbs for graham cracker crumbs; omit sugar.

Other egg-related posts you  might like:

A Good Egg

Feeling Festive (cinnamon cream cheese coffee cake recipe)

Sunday Wishes for Sunshine (mocha brownies)