Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie

For the finale of the marathon, I thought of making molten lava chocolate. It has been on my to-bake list for a long time and that was the first recipe I listed down when I decided on chocolate theme for this marathon. 3-4 days ago I went to Whole Foods to pick up some pizza dough and when standing in the checkout line, I saw a Cooking Light special edition magazine. I browsed through the magazine and Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie caught my eye and moreover, it would go with my theme. I bought the magazine, showed it to Mr.U yesterday and asked him if he likes any of the recipes from the magazine, not necessarily desserts. I would make it. He wanted me to make Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie. I was in no mood to make it yesterday and more over, I am a little intimidated making custard/pudding with eggs. I have made it in the past, but I am always afraid I might mess it up.

This morning I was leaning towards molten lava cake and U asked if I was making the pie today. And here I am, with the Mexican Chocolate Cream Pie. I followed the recipe as given with a few substitutions as I did not have those ingredients in my kitchen. I substituted espresso powder with instant coffee, frozen cool whip whipped topping with reddi whip and I skipped chili powder as it is an optional ingredient.

The pie turned about good but I would make a few changes the next time. Pie crust called for cinnamon powder and I did not really care for it. I might cut back a little on it or skip it all together. U liked the cinnamon flavor though. I also found the pie crust little crispy and very firm. I would reduce the baking time for the crust, the next time I bake it, I wanted to get cool whip whipped topping but U wanted to tasty the pie right away, so I used Reddi whip. I would recommend using Cool Whip instead. Also, do not be intimated by the lengthy ingredient list. It is a very easy preparation. Make & bake the pie crust, prepare the custard, fill it in the pie and refrigerate until set. That’s it!

Source: The Best of Cooking Light 13 Special Edition
Total Time: 35 minutes
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 - 15 minutes
Baking Time: 7 – 9 minutes
Refrigerating Time: 3 hours
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
Crust:

• 1 ½ cups Graham Cracker Crumbs or 10 Crackers (can use any digestive biscuits)
• 2 tbsp. Sugar
• 1 tsp. Cinnamon Powder
• ⅛ tsp. Salt
• 2 tbsp. Egg Whites (1 egg white)
• 2 tbsp. melted Butter

Filling:

• ½ cup Sugar
• 2 tbsp. Corn Starch
• 1 tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• ¼ tsp. Instant Espresso Powder (I used Bru Instant Coffee Powder)
• ⅛ tsp. Salt
• ⅛ tsp. ground Red Pepper (I did not use it)
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Large Egg Yolk
• 1 ¾ cups 2% reduced fat Milk (I used 1% Milk)
• 2 oz. Dark Chocolate chopped (I used 1 oz. bitter chocolate and 1 oz. milk chocolate. Recommend dark chocolate)
• 1 ½ cups frozen reduce-calorie whipped topping (I recommend Cool Whip)

Preparation:
Crust:

• Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.
• Break graham crackers into small pieces and run it in the food processor for few seconds. It does not have to be a fine powder.
• Keep aside 1 tbsp. for topping and take the rest into a bowl.
• Add cinnamon, sugar, salt to the crumbs and mix well.
• Add egg white and butter to the mixture and mix well.
• Grease a 9” pie pan with cooking spray. I lined the pie dish with an aluminum foil & then sprayed the cooking oil.
• Transfer the mixture to the pie pan, press it to the pan.
  

  

• Bake it for 9 minutes or until the crust is lightly toasted. I would recommend baking for less than 9 minutes as mine was very firm.
• Remove from oven and cool it on a wire rack until completely cool.
  

  

Filling:

• Combine sugar, corn starch, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, whole egg & a yolk and whisk well.
  Heat milk in a heavy bottom pan on medium high heat until it just begins to boil and tiny bubbles form around the corners.
• Turn off the heat (it is not required but I did), gradually add some hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
• Transfer the milk egg mixture back to hot milk and cook it on medium heat, whisking it constantly.
• The recipe called for cooking it for 10 minutes until thick and bubbly. I cooked it for 7 minutes.
  

  

• Remove from heat, add chopped chocolate and stir/whisk it until chocolate is melted.
• Transferred the filling into a bowl and cooled it in an ice bath. One can put the pan directly in a bowl of ice.
  

  

Pie

• When completely cool, pour the filling into the crust, cover it with a saran wrap and refrigerate until the pie is set.
  

  

• Spread whipped topping on top of the chocolate filling, sprinkle with the cracker crumbs, refrigerate until ready to serve.

Suggestions:

• I would skip cinnamon powder or add very little.
• I would reduce the baking time for the pie.
• Use Cool Whip frozen whipped topping instead of Reddi Whip cream.

Egg less Pie

• Egg white can be omitted in the preparation of pie crust and if required add more butter. I think additional butter is not required.
• For the filling, egg can be skipped. I have not tried it but this filling recipe is similar to chocolate custard I made few days ago. I am guessing this filling would taste fine even without eggs.OR can add little gelatin or agar agar.
• For semi-homemade chocolate cream pie, get a store bought pie crust, for the filling use Jell-O instant chocolate flavored pudding.

This day in 2011: Ground Chicken Vegetable Pulao