Just a little something for Valentine’s Day: French Silk Pie. Ok. You have five days to shop for the ingredients. Get going.
Things You Probably Already Have That You Will Need:
A 9-inch round pie plate – I like glass plates.
A large glass or metal mixing bowl – Again, I like glass.
An electric hand mixer – I suppose you could use a stand mixer, but I like the results from the hand mixer.
A flat space to roll out dough and a rolling pin – I use a large glass cutting board the same depth as the kitchen counter and just about equal width.
Double boiler
Wire rack
A clock or timer
Ways to Cheat or Ways to Speed along the Process (Depending on Your Viewpoint):
Purchase ready-made pie crust. Pick up the recipe at the plating step (#7).
Purchase ready-made whipped topping. I really don’t recommend this one. Homemade whipped cream is tastier than store-bought, and it’s super easy to make.
Things You Need to Know Before You Begin:
Start to finish takes several hours. The pie filling needs to sit at least five hours in the refrigerator to set before adding topping. If you are able to make it first thing in the morning, it will be ready for dinner.
The pie contains raw eggs. I love the sweetness of raw eggs, but some people might be a bit leery of eating them. If you use fresh, clean eggs and are careful about refrigeration, you should be just fine.
Ingredients
For Crust:
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
4 Tablespoons cold water
For Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup butter at room temperature (Use the real deal. Don’t use margarine or spread. Trust me.)
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
For Topping:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Shavings (or curls if you’re fancy) from unsweetened chocolate (approximately ½ to 1 ounce)
What to Do
- Over medium heat, melt chocolate for filling in a double boiler. Stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat and cool completely. While you are waiting for the chocolate to cool, make the pie crust.
- Preheat oven to 450˚. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until flour mixture pieces are the size of peas (If you have a pastry blender, this process might be easier. I use two forks).
- Add 1 Tablespoon of water to the flour mixture. Toss with a fork until combined. Repeat process with remaining water (1 Tablespoon at a time). All of the flour mixture should be moistened.
- Form the dough into a ball.
- On a lightly floured surface, place dough and flatten with your hands. Sprinkle a small amount of flour on dough, if it is too sticky. Flour the rolling pin and roll the dough from the center to the edges to make a circle. Continue rolling to create an even crust approximately 12 inches in diameter.
- Wrap the edge of the circle on the rolling pin and roll the dough onto the pin being careful not to stretch or tear the dough.
- Unroll the dough onto the pie plate. Gently press the dough onto the plate making sure to leave the edges overlapping the plate. Trim edges to ½ inch. Fold excess dough under and flute the edge.
- Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork or place pastry balls on the dough and bake for 10 minutes or until golden (or according to package directions if you purchased crust).
- Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
At this point, I suggest you find something else to do for awhile. The filling doesn’t take long to make, and the crust will still be too warm to hold the filling if you make it now. When you are ready to make the filling, pay close attention to the time. The time spent on each step really does make a difference.
- In a large glass or metal bowl, beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for four minutes.
- Stir in the cooled chocolate and vanilla.
- Add one egg to the mixture. Beat on high speed for five minutes. Seriously. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add the second egg. Beat on high speed for five minutes. You should start to see the reason why this pie is called French SILK Pie. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add the third egg. Beat on high speed for five minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer chocolate mixture to pie crust. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least five hours.
Make the topping right before you are ready to use it. To make the topping faster and fluffier, make sure the whipping cream, the bowl, and the beaters are cold before beginning the recipe.
- In a large glass bowl, add whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. That’s all. See. I told you it was easy.
- Gently scrape the whipped cream onto the chocolate filling. Fluff and spread with a flat knife or offset spatula. Top with chocolate shavings.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
Eh, voila! French Silk Pie. Happy Valentine’s Day!
