Chocolate Cream Pie

CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE

We had a great family get together for nearly a month and a half when all our children had come down like a whiff of fresh air. The over burdened dining table looked like a perfect wishing table with all their childhood favourites.The table now looks relieved with a spread of two or at the most three dishes on it. The jokes cut at our (parents) expense followed by the hearty laughter and chatter, the babbling of the babies and children and the merriment have all gone back with them. Now we are back to square one, just the two of us lost in reverie in our now empty nest.

My children not only relished 'amma's' food but also came forward to prepare their own exotic dishes for all of us.

We are a family of ardent chocolate lovers. The Chocolate Cream Pie prepared by my daughter-in-law was a great hit and she had to prepare more of this delightful dessert the very next day due to the persistant requests of the connoisseurs!

Here is the recipe in her own words:

TARA'S CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE

Crust Ings:

2 cups cracker/ biscuit crumbs (I used 1 large package whole grain digestive buiscits)

4 tablespoons butter

Pie filling ings:

½ of a large bar of chocoate

2 tablespoons sugar (if using dark chocoate)

1 box silken tofu

1 cap of vanilla essence

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons sugar

Whipped Cream Ings:

2 cups fresh cream

3 Tablespoons fine sugar

1 cap of vanilla essence

Process:

Crush the crackers in a bowl until they are a fine powder.

Drizzle in the melted butter and stir until all the bread crumbs have absorbed the butter.

Pour the mixture into an pie dish and press out to an even thickness on the bottom and all the way up the sides. Set aside, in the fridge if you are in a warm place.

In the mean time, slit open the tofu box and squeeze out the excess water. Let it sit so it can continue to drain while you temper the chocolate.

For the chocolate, use the doubble boiler method. I did not have an official doubble boiler so I improvised with a smaller dish, holding with the kitchen tongs and stirring to temper the chocolate. An option while tempering the chocolate is to add extra cocoa powder, sugar and milk to get a “chocolatier” end result.

Once the chocolate is tempered remove from the double boiler and put into a bender. Add the tofu, sugar, honey and vanilla to the blender with the chocolate. Blend until smooth (15 seconds or so).

Pour the mixture into the pie shell, return to the refrigerator. Let the pie sit and firm for about 2 hours before serving.

While the pie is chilling make the whipped cream. For best results use a VERY large metal bowl and large whisk that are ice cold. I store mine in the freezer for 30 min before making the whipped cream. Pour the cream into the cold bowl and whip with the whisk to add bubble. After a few whips add in the sugar, whip again and then add in the vanilla. Continue whipping until the cream forms stiff peaks.

Top the pie slices with whipped cream when you are ready to serve.