Black Bottom Pie

Alright- time to catch up on my pies! I made this one a while ago for dessert for Shabbat lunch and it's another from Haedrich's Pie! This pie is messy to eat but I can assure you it's worth all of the napkins it'll take to clean the cream from your chin! We start with a biscuit or graham cracker crust and then pile in a ganache, which is your black bottom. On top of that goes a whipped cream lightened pastry cream with a flavor that brings me back to my childhood Swiss Miss days. (I must say I love making these pudding/custard/cream pies, especially since the work can so easily be divided over a couple of days!) A nice fudge sauce would be nice but I opted out. To make the ganache parve, I used coconut milk instead of cream. My cream turned out sort of soft, (hence the mess!) so I would add a bit of gelatin next time to stabilize it. All in all, another successful pie. Pi(e) day, here I come!

Black Bottom Pie
adapted from Pie

1 graham cracker crust, store bought or your favorite recipe

Black Bottom Layer:
1/2 cup coconut milk or whipping cream
2 tbsp margarine, cut into pieces
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla

Topping:
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
4 large egg yolks
2 tbsp margarine
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream

Have your crust at the ready before you start. 

To make the black bottom layer, heat the margarine and milk. When the margarine has melted, add the chocolate and turn off the heat, allowing the residual heat to melt the chocolate. Add the vanilla, and whisk until smooth. Pour the mixture into the shell. Let cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate.

For the cream: Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium sized saucepan. Whisk in the milk and egg yolks. Heat over medium and cook, whisking frequently until the mixture starts to thicken and boil, about six minutes. Continue to boil, whisking non-stop for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain into a shallow bowl. Stir in the margarine, one piece at a time until it's all melted. Add the vanilla. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly over the surface of the pudding and cool. Refrigerate at least three hours or overnight.

Here is the finished cream. Beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.

Fold the whipped cream into the chilled pastry cream.

Spoon into the pie plate, tent with aluminum foil and chill until firm.