The Chocolate Lady Dishes

I’m serious about this chocolate pie thing.

I’m on my second recipe now – determined to find the perfect chocolate pie.

This recipe actually turned out! It was creamy – just as the name indicated – and had a nice chocolate taste.

It filled the pie shell to the very top, giving very generous pieces. (Which of course, my children loved!)

It also used up several of the egg yolks left over from Dagmar’s Farmer’s Market baking.

The kids voted this one a rousing success and finished it off in record time!

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
5 egg yolks (beaten till lemon colored)
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, water and evaporated milk until smooth in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

Remove from heat. Take 1 cup of the hot mixture and add it to the beaten egg yolks.  Mix thoroughly to temper the eggs.

Return the egg mixture to the pan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup butter and vanilla.

Cool slightly and pour warm into a 9″ baked pastry or graham cracker shell.

Refrigerate until set.

Serve cold with whipped cream. We loved it best with Cool Whip French Vanilla whipped topping .

Although this pie was very good – I can’t stop after only 2 recipes.

And so the search continues…

At the latest Farmer’s Market there was a new vendor – a 14 year old girl who was selling pie by the slice.

When I heard she had chocolate pie – I immediately found some money and sent Dagmar over to buy one.

Then I started to worry – what if I just spent that money for a store bought crust and Jello- pudding filling?

No worries.

That pie was fabulous! The crust was light and flaky and definitely  homemade!

But the filling was the star of the show – it was rich, creamy and delicious.

Of course I asked the young lady for the recipe. She just smiled sweetly and said she was so glad we liked it.

But she didn’t share the recipe.

I was bummed.

The memory of that pie still lingers in my mind.  It was fabulous. Unbelievable. Delectable.

I had to find a recipe to match it. I scoured my recipe files and cookbooks and made a pile of all my chocolate pie recipes.

I intend to try them – one at a time – until I find the perfect one.

I began over the weekend.

Obviously – by the picture – the first recipe didn’t work so well. The filling never did set up and seeped right through a crack in the crust leaving a mess on the bottom of the pie.

But it did taste great!

Chocolate Pie #1

1 -9 inch baked pie shell
2 cups of chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate – but I think I would prefer semisweet)
1/3 cup of powdered sugar
1 cup of milk
1/4 cup of butter
1 tsp almond flavoring
1/2 cup almonds

Place chocolate chips and powdered sugar in your blender, process until it is coarsely chopped.

In a saucepan, place the milk and butter. Bring to a boil. Pour into the blender and process until smooth and creamy. Add almond flavoring.

Pour it into a pie shell and refrigerate. Serve with cool whip and almonds.

In a perfect world it would set up beautifully – in my world it remained a runny mess.

But it did taste good!

And so the search continues….

I’m nuts about nuts.

This was not something that I was born with. When I was growing up the only nuts in our home were the peanuts in our Christmas bags from Santa Claus and the black walnuts that we got free from grandpa and grandma.

Peanuts I like, black walnuts are another story.

I remember well my first English walnut. So mild and delicious! Then I was introduced to pecans and almonds and even cashews! I was in love! There was an entire nutty world out there for me to discover!

This recipe includes both of my favorites – chocolate and nuts!

Chocolate Fudge Pecan Pie Bars

2 2/3 cups flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter or margarine
4 eggs
1 cup corn syrup
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (melted)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Mix together the flour with 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives in a scissors motion, cut in butter until the mixture has the texture of coarse crumbs.

Press into the bottom of a greased 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 15 minutes.

In a separate bowl beat eggs, corn syrup, 1 cup brown sugar, melted chocolate, vanilla and salt.

Stir in the nuts and pour the mixture over the warm crust.

Bake another 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set. Cool completely.

I didn’t have pecans, but substituted a mixture of walnuts and almonds.

Delicious!

My mom, the original chocolate lady, shares this yummy recipe with us-

Several years ago Papa Jim had shoulder surgery. He spent a lot of days at home alone recovering while I was working.

One afternoon when I got home he had supper started as usual and also had baked this pie.

He found the recipe in a magazine, drove the 6 miles to town to get a ready-made pie crust at the local grocery store and made the pie! I was impressed!

He felt as though he had finally been able to accomplish something after being an “invalid” for so many weeks!

Now we keep ready-made pie crusts (he does not want to try to do that from scratch, yet) in the freezer for this pie and other new recipes he finds!

Black Forest Pie
Papa Jim’s Favorite

¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
2 Tablespoons flour
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup butter or margarine
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 can (21 Oz) cherry pie filling, divided
1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)
Whipped topping, optional

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa, flour and milk until smooth. Add butter. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into eggs. Return all to the pan.

Fold in half of the pie filling. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until filling is almost set. Cool completely on a wire rack. Just before serving, top with remaining pie filling and whipped topping if desired.

Yield: 6-8 servings. Freezes well.

Until next time,
Nana Shirley

I was thrilled to hear that my good friend and college roommate was planning a stop at my house in route to pick up her daughter!

I haven’t seen Kimmie in 6 years! This called for an amazing chocolate dessert!

Dagmar and I scoured our cookbook collection to discover the perfect “I haven’t seen you in so long- I’m so glad you are here” dessert. (Chocolate of course.)

The winner and huge hit at our meal was this rich chocolate brownie with a creamy mint topping.

Mint Brownie Pie
from Taste Of Home Annual Recipes- 2000

Melt together in a saucepan 6 tablespoons of butter and 2 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate.

Stir in 1 cup of sugar until well blended.

Add 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well.

Stir in 1/2 cup flour until well blended.

Pour into a greased 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Filling:

In a mixing bowl, beat 8 oz. of cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar until smooth.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of mint extract and green food coloring (optional).

Fold in 1 carton (8 ounces) of Cool Whip.

Spread evenly over brownie layer, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Remove sides from pan just before serving.

Melt 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and drizzle over the top. Garnish with more Cool Whip and chocolate chips.

Dagmar used her cake decorating kit to make the top extra special. She piped melted chocolate chips into stars and refrigerated them until they were hard.

It was a very special dessert, perfect for our very special company!