Family Chefmate: Black Bottom Chocolate Cream Pie

Black Bottom chocolate cream pie is fun to make with your kids. My kids love stirring the rich custard filling while it cooks and painting the crust with dark melted chocolate. If your kids are like mine they need to bee doing something with their hands all the time. This recipe allows them to help you in the kitchen and keep those hands busy in a creative way. This recipe comes from Martha Stewart's cook book called "The Baking Handbook". I made this recipe healthier by adding none fat milk instead of whole milk. This lowers the fat content, but I bet you will not know the difference since you are adding a rich layer of dark chocolate to the crust. The black bottom crust helps keep the crust crunchy and will not allow it to get soggy even the next day.

Makes: 1 9 inch deep dish pie
Pre-Heat Oven: 400 degrees

1 9 inch deep dish pie crust, like Marie Callendar's
1 large egg plus 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
3 cups cold none-fat milk
1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ounces semi sweet chocolate, small pieces

1. Line the frozen pie crust with parchment paper. Add 2 cups dried beans to the top of the parchment paper. Cook pie crust at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment paper and continue to cook the crust for another 7 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow the crust to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

2. Whisk the egg and egg yolks in a medium size bowl with a wire whisk and set aside. In a medium size saucepan on medium high heat, place the cold milk, salt, sugar and cornstarch and whisk together until there are no lumps. Allow the milk to come to a simmer and then lower the heat and cook for 3 more minutes until thick. Remove from the heat.

3. Remove one cup of the hot milk and add it slowly to the eggs while whisking the eggs the whole time (tempering the liquids together). Then slowly add the eggs to the hot milk while whisking them all together (continue to whisk or you will have scrambled eggs). Put the saucepan back on the heat and cook the liquid until it starts to simmer again and thickens up about 2-3 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the 2 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate pieces. Place the saucepan directly into a large bowl of ice water (a bowl full of ice and cold water) for 20 minutes. When the custard has cooled remove the saucepan and place the custard into a medium size bowl that has a cover and continue to cool the custard in the refrigerator until cold. The custard is good for up to one day in the refrigerator.

Cooking The Chocolate Custard

Whip Cream And Chocolate Bottom Crust
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons powder sugar
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips like Ghirardeli 60% Cacao, melted

1. In a mixer with the whip attachment on high, beat the heavy whipping cream until soft peaks appear. Lower the speed and add the vanilla and powder sugar. Return the mixer to high and beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks appear. Keep the whip cream in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the pie.

2. In a small microwaveable bowl, add the chocolate chips and microwave on high for 45 seconds. Take the bowl out and stir the chocolate. Return the bowl back to the microwave for 1 more minute. Stir the chocolate and make sure all of it had melted. Using a pastry brush, brush on the melted chocolate over the entire pie crust. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes or until the chocolate has hardened then remove it from the freezer. The hardened crust can be saved in a cool dry place for 1 day.

Brushing The Crust With Melted Chocolate

3.Fill the crust with the chocolate custard. Then add a thick layer of whip cream to the top of the custard. Serve immediately or save in the refrigerator.

Topping The Chocolate Custard With Whipping Cream