Pie #18: Conference Pie (Chocolate Pots de Crème Pie)

Last week I went to the University of Georgia for the Design and Analysis of Experiments Conference 2012.  I really enjoyed attending this conference because the steering committee and organizers place a large emphasis on encouraging new researchers. I'm grateful for the welcome and advice from the experienced researchers as well as for the contacts I've made with other graduate students.

 I arrived to Athens in the late afternoon, after having flown over lunch.  Dinner was to be replaced with a snack reception, so I decided to venture out for a complete meal.  Prior to leaving Ohio I had heard rumor of a delicious vegetarian place; Urban Spoon recommended The Grit so I set on the 1.5 mile trek to find some delicious vegetables.  After needing to turn around once, and rerouting once due to a no-sidewalk situation I finally arrived.  Walking through the door I was greeted by a large display case full of cakes and pies; I knew Urban Spoon had suggested wisely!  (Hm, I think there's a statistical application here.  When unsure of the correct answer, go with the recommendation of the masses.  I'll cover more about this another day.)  At any rate, I chose the noodle bowl of the day (complete with vegetables, tempeh, and orange sauce), a delightfully sour lemonade, and a slice of sour cream chocolate pie.  I was in heaven - everything was delicious!  I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the pie - the filling was fairly solid, not like a pudding pie.  However, upon my first bite I knew I had tasted something similar before - my brother in law Travis's chocolate pots de crème.

Several years ago Trav came to visit us and we cooked up a storm.  One item we whipped up was the chocolate pots de crème that he made at his place of employment, Generous Servings.  When we made it together, I was so anxious to eat it that I wasn't able to wait until it set before digging in!  Being reminded of this recipe, I simply had to make it into a pie!

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Chocolate Pots de Crème Pie
(Originally from Cooks Illustrated)

Ingredients:
1 graham cracker crust

filling:
10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
5 egg yolks
5 T. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 3/4 c. cream
1/2 c. milk
1 T. vanilla
1/2 t. instant espresso powder, mixed with 1 T. water (omitted as Perry hates coffee)

topping:
1/2 c. heavy cream
2 t. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla extract

Pie Algorithm:
1. Place chocolate in medium bowl; set fine-mesh strainer over bowl and set aside.

2. Whisk yolks, sugar, and salt in medium saucepan until combined; whisk in cream and milk. Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and scraping bottom of pot with wooden spoon, until thickened and silky and custard registers 175-180 degrees, 8-12 minutes.

3. Immediately pour custard through strainer over chocolate. Let mixture stand 5 minutes to melt chocolate. Whisk gently until smooth, then whisk in vanilla and espresso.

4. Pour mixture into pie shell.  Gently tap against counter to remove air bubbles.  Cool to room temperature; cover and refrigerate.

5. Just before ready to serve, whip all topping ingredients until stiff peaks form.  Place in pastry bag with #4 star tip and squeeze a dollop onto each slice.

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My life is running by at a sprinter's pace, so I once again purchased a crust this week.  (This is also the reasoning behind the boring pictures - no time to make sure I captured the pie well!)  Truthfully I liked the pots de crème better when it didn't have a crust.  It was nice to be able to serve the slices easily as the crust held the filling together nicely.  However, it was harder to enjoy the smoothness of the filling as the graham cracker crumbs mixed themselves in and made the filling feel gritty.

All in all, I cannot complain.  I LOVE this recipe.  While the chocolate is not super sweet, it is very rich.  This allowed me to enjoyed each slice with a steaming mug of coffee.  I would be interested in experimenting with combinations of other flavors - adding the espresso, mint, amaretto, almond, others?  I think any of the above would be delicious either mixed with the chocolate, or in the whipped topping!