Dusting off the blog again…there, that’s better! We didn’t mean to go a month without posting, but it’s inevitable when your brothers graduate high school and then the rest of your family moves an hour and a half away (we’re staying in our area for now to work, but we’ll join them in mid-August before we head back to school). All of this chaos has meant less time for cooking new things, but we still made time for some special baking. We served this chocolate silk pie (along with a buttermilk cake with Swiss meringue buttercream and lemon curd) at our brothers’ graduation party, and every last crumb was enjoyed!

This delightfully decadent pie starts off with a simple Oreo crumb crust, and filled with a slightly less simple but very delicious chocolate silk filling. It’s topped off with a generous layer of whipped cream and some chocolate shavings. The filling is so rich and smooth, and goes excellently with the contrasting crunchy crust and ethereally light whipped cream. Another bonus is that, unlike with many chocolate silk fillings, the eggs are cooked so it’s safe for everyone to enjoy. We recommend making the crust and filling the day before, chilling the pie well overnight, and then topping with whipped cream just before serving. The pie is great straight out of the fridge but also can be brought closer to room temperature before serving.

Happy 4th of July!! We hope you’re enjoying a pie this good today to celebrate.

Chocolate Silk Pie

Makes 1 9-inch pie (serving 8-10)

Crust from The Pioneer Woman, chocolate filling from Annie’s Eats (originally Cook’s Illustrated)

Ingredients:

For the crust:

25 whole Oreos (no need to remove the filling!)

4 tablespoons butter, melted

For the filling:

1 cup heavy cream, chilled

3 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

2 tbsp. water

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and cut into 8 pieces

For topping:

Lightly sweetened whipped cream (we beat about a 1/2 cup of heavy cream in a mixer with a spoonful of sugar until fluffy, and it was just right. But sweeten to taste!)

Semisweet chocolate, for shaving

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Crush the Oreos finely (a food processor works well here, or the old-fashioned Ziploc bag and rolling pin trick). Pour in melted butter and combine. Press into a pie pan and bake for 5-7 minutes until set. Let cool fully.

For the filling, add the cream to the bowl of an electric mixer and whip on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.  Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate.

Rig together a makeshift double boiler but placing a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring that the water doesn’t touch the bowl (this will cook the eggs too quickly and cause them to scramble). Combine the eggs, sugar, and water in the bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until the mixture has thickened and reaches 160˚ F on an instant read thermometer, about 7-10 minutes. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and from the heat and beat 6-8 minutes more, until the mixture is fluffy and cooled to room temperature.

Beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla until well blended. Then, beat in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time until well blended. Gently fold in the chilled whipped cream until the mixture is streak-free. Spread the filling into the cooled crust and chill the pie for at least 3 hours until set (we refrigerated it overnight).

When ready to serve, top with a generous layer of whipped cream. Grate some chocolate over the pie using a microplane zester. Slice and serve. Enjoy!