Chocolate Angel Pie Revisited

If ever there was a recipe that deserved a re-post, it is this one--my favorite pie, my daughter's favorite pie, and the only pie I have ever seen my brother-in-law eat. Even my husband, who abhors meringue, savors every bit of the creamy chocolate filling and real whipped cream topping, all the while saving the meringue crust for my daughter. This pie is a tradition for me. My sister learned how to make one from her mother-in-law and promptly taught me. It has graced every Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas celebration in our family for over thirty years. What is this amazing pie? Chocolate Angel Pie.

The recipe that I am going to share is the very same one that I have made for over 30 years. I've strayed from the original just a few times...using the occasional pasteurized egg, meringue powder, or a splash of Kahlua. It has never failed me. Let me begin...

Chocolate Angel Pie

Printable Recipe

Crust:

4 egg whites, room temperature

1/4 t. cream of tartar

1 cup sugar

Filling:

1 cup chocolate chips

4 egg yolks*

1 t. vanilla (try using a tablespoon of Kahluha instead)

2 egg whites, stiffly beaten

1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream 

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Chocolate curls or shavings for garnish

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F; grease a 9" or 10" glass pie plate or spray with cooking spray.

Beat 4 egg whites until stiff, but not dry, adding cream of tartar. Add sugar gradually, beating until stiff and glossy. Spread meringue in pie plate, making a "well" in the middle for filling. Bake in 300 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn off heat and keep meringue in oven for at least one hour or overnight.

Greasing the pie plate is essential if you eventually want to get the crust out.

Put chocolate chips in medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute to 1 minute and 20 seconds (be careful not to burn them--the chips will retain their shape). Add egg yolks and beat with electric mixer until smooth. Let chocolate mixture cool slightly, then add vanilla. Fold in beaten egg whites, and then thawed whipped topping, mixing well.

The egg whites that are added to the filling help to give it volume. If you are concerned about raw eggs, skip this step or use powdered meringue.

Pour filling into pie shell, cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours.

Just before serving, whip whipping cream with 1 T. powdered sugar and spread over the top of the pie. Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired.

*If you are concerned about using uncooked eggs, use pasteurized egg yolks for the filling and leave out the two beaten egg whites. It is not recommended to use the pasteurized whites for making the meringue crust (they won't get stiff).

Use a potato peeler on a bar of chocolate to make the curls.

It's interesting how recipes change over the years. The original recipe came from my brother-in-law's family and it doesn't use frozen whipped topping. My sister changed that back in the 70's because her filling didn't set up as well with just the whipped cream. I like this addition because it's not as heavy as using the yolks and the whipped cream--plus it's how I learned the recipe. These days, it isn't always safe to use eggs that aren't cooked completely. For myself, I use the recipe as is, unless I'm making it for work or for people I know might be at risk for eating a rare contaminated egg. For me, it's worth it to use three different egg sources to keep the integrity of the recipe: regular egg whites for the crust, pasteurized egg yolks for the filling, and powdered egg whites for the filling. Omitting the egg whites in the filling is probably ok, but I think it gives the filling some lift.

Happy Holiday Baking!

POM-Cranberry Angel Pie

Am I a lucky girl or what? I got a case of the new POM-Cranberry juice to try! Thanks, POM Wonderful! Let this be my full disclosure--I received some free product. Truth be told, I occasionally get various things to try. Generally, if I have nothing nice to say, I just won't post. If you don't have anything nice to say....well, you know the drill.

For some reason, I seem to get my POM samples when fresh pomegranates aren't available. So much for the arils to sprinkle on top of anything....

The last time I received a case of POM, it was all about cupcakes. And they were good. But this is the year that is all about pie, right? Pie being the new cupcake and all. So I decided on this:

POM-Cranberry Angel Pie

Printable Recipe

4 eggs, separated

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/3 cup sugar, divided
1/3 cup POM-Cranberry juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 (8 oz) container non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
3 drops red food coloring, optional
1 cup whipping cream
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease a 9” glass pie plate (or spray with cooking spray).

In large bowl, beat 4 egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff, but not dry. Add 1 cup sugar slowly, beating until stiff and glossy.

Spread meringue in pie plate, making a “well” in the center for the filling.

Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour. Turn off the heat and leave crust in oven for at least one hour or, preferably, overnight.

In small, heavy saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, POM-Cranberry juice, lemon juice and 1/3 cup sugar. Heat over medium-low heat until mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and bring to room temperature.

Fold whipped topping into POM mixture; add a few drops of red food coloring, if desired. Spread into pie shell and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for several hours.

When ready to serve, whip whipping cream with vanilla and powdered sugar and spread over the top of the pie. Garnish with fresh pomegranate arils if available.

If you've read any of my posts, you may have noticed that I'm a big fan of angel pies. What makes it an angel pie? Why the meringue crust, of course. I didn't take any pics of the procedure as my light was waning, but if you need a refresher, here is a link to my Lemon Angel Pie.

Meringue crusts are easy to make and look impressive. I especially like the chocolate version of angel pie, but I also like to experiment, so the idea of a pomegranate angel pie has been in the back of my mind for awhile. The only problem I ran into was the fact that whenever I cook with pomegranate juice it turns an unappealing brown.  Thus, I added red food coloring...just a touch...don't hate. You do eat with the eyes first.

We have a winner! A little lemon juice brightens up the taste, a little red color brightens up the pie, a lot of whipped cream just tastes good....

I have a few more bottles---what should I try next? Stay tuned for a cocktail....



Meat Pie

I hear that cupcakes are on the "out" list this year, being replaced by pie. This wouldn't surprise me, considering all of the pie, sweet and savory, I've seen seen lately. Why, in my house alone, we had two pies (both totally consumed) on New Year's Day.

The first pie of the day was actually a "tourtière", or a French/Canadian meat pie. My mother-in-law's grandmother was French/Canadian, so tradition in my husband's family is to have Meat Pie every New Year's Day for good luck. I have to tell you, though, that her family has enough "good luck" food traditions, we should be swimming in lottery money by now....pork and sauerkraut, fish that swim forward (?), black-eyed peas (those I've never had)....Meat Pie is the one that I don't mind having.

The recipe for these is pretty easy.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F., and line an 8" cake pan (I use the foil ones) with pie dough. I used a Pillsbury crust, although my MIL swears by homemade. Then, just peel and dice 2 large baking potatoes and put them in a large saucepan. Cover them with water, bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, or until just tender. Leave them in the water and mush them up a little with a potato masher, then add 3/4 pound ground beef, 3/4 pound ground pork, 1 chopped onion, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it cook until the meat is no longer pink. Drain the water, adjust the seasoning, and spoon the meat into the 8" cake pan. Top the filling with the remaining pie crust, cut some holes in it to vent, and pinch the pastry together. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, placing foil around the edges of the pie if it starts to brown too much.

Serve the pie wedges with dill pickles (I often use a little ketchup, but don't tell that to anyone of true French/Canadian descent).

We finished the day with my Lemon Angel Pie. Both of these pies could give the cupcake a run for it's money.

What do you think---is pie the new cupcake?

Chocolate Mascarpone Pavlova Pie.....My First Daring Bakers' Challenge

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

How suitable that the the first Daring Bakers' Challenge that I am privy to is a pavlova. You see, I have always considered my chocolate angel pie to be my signature dessert and the similarities are...well, see for yourself.

For a link to the recipes that were provided click here.

One of the problems that I've had with my chocolate angel pie is that it relies heavily on eggs that aren't cooked....an issue these days to be sure. I get around it using dried egg whites and pasteurized eggs, but it's kind of a pain. When I saw the pavlova recipe, I couldn't help but want to adapt it into an angel pavlova pie--no raw eggs to deal with! Check it out:

I used my own recipe for the meringue crust since it was so similar. The only change I made was to mix in 1/3 cup cocoa powder. Yum...why didn't I think of a chocolate crust before? It did turn out a bit more crumbly with the addition of the cocoa.

I always spray a glass pie plate with cooking spray before spooning in the meringue. If you skip this step, you won't be able to get the crust out of the pan in one piece....trust me.

Doesn't the meringue turn out pretty? I bake it for an hour in a 250 degree oven, turn the oven off, and leave it in (don't open the door) overnight.

Yay! I found some decent chocolate at Trader Joe's. I used 6 bars (a little over 9 oz). Instead of melting the chocolate in a pan, I microwaved it for about a minute and twenty seconds.

The recipe provided called for 1 3/4 cups mascarpone. Yikes! That stuff is a little pricey. Plus, it sounded like an awful lot, especially if you were supposed to use it in the sauce on top, too. I ended up getting just one 8 oz. container and combining it with 4 oz. of softened cream cheese.

I did add the Grand Marnier....love the stuff! Next time, I'll add some fresh orange zest, too. The chocolate in this is so intense, the orange flavor was a little lost. I whipped up  8 oz of heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar, folded this into the mascarpone mixture, and then folded it all into the chocolate.

After I filled the meringue with the chocolate mascarpone, I put some plastic wrap on it and chilled it for a few hours. In the mean time, I whipped up some Creme Anglaise (just a fancy name for custard sauce).

I basically used the recipe provided for this, only adjusting the amounts. Since I used 4 egg whites in the meringue, I used the 4 yolks for the custard and adjusted the milk to 1 3/4 cups. That's a vanilla bean in the picture....it really added a wonderful flavor. Since I only bought the one container of mascarpone, I omitted it from the topping altogether; I simply whipped up another 8 oz of heavy cream with a little powdered sugar and folded it into the Creme Anglaise.

OK...so the whole family raved about this "new" angel pie. The husband (who doesn't like meringue) liked the chocolate version, and the daughter (and her friends) couldn't get enough of the chocolate mascarpone....fudgy, they said. And me---I adored the custard sauce on top of the deep chocolate filling. I sprinkled a little orange zest on the top, mainly for aesthetics, but it ended up giving it even a little more flavor.  Definitely a keeper, this recipe. I'm liking this Daring Bakers' thing.....

Chocolate Angel Pie

It’s interesting to me how traditions get started. My sister was married over 35 years ago (I’m not saying how old I was at the time—suffice to say I was a junior bridesmaid at that shindig). It was an interesting blend of two cultures, she being a Dutch baker’s daughter and he being the son of a successful  Milwaukee businessman. As such, she acquired a slew of new traditions that she naturally shared with me, her tag along little sister. I don’t think she realizes how much of an influence she had on my ability, and frankly my love of, baking. Of the many recipes she learned from her husband’s family, my favorite has always been the Chocolate Angel Pie. They served it at all of their holiday functions and, in keeping with tradition, my sister served it at all of hers….and taught me how to make it as well.

Chocolate Angel Pie

Crust:

• 4 egg whites, room temp.
• 1/4 t. cream of tartar
• 1 cup sugar

 Filling:

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 4 egg yolks*
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
• 1 (8 oz)container non-dairy whipped topping, thawed (you can use real whipped cream for this step, if you prefer)
• 1 cup whipping cream



Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Grease 9" deep glass pie plate. (I spray it well with cooking spray)

Beat 4 egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy. Add sugar gradually, beating until stiff and glossy.

Spread meringue in pie plate, making a "well" in the middle for filling. (I won't show you how to make the crust again, but here is the link: Lemon Angel Pie)

Bake in 300 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn off heat and keep meringue in oven for at least one hour, preferably overnight.

Put chocolate chips in medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute to 1 minute 20 seconds or until chocolate is melted (be careful not to burn them--the chips will retain their shape).

Add egg yolks and beat with electric mixer until smooth.

Let chocolate mixture cool, and then add vanilla (or for an extra kick, add a little Kaluha). Fold in beaten egg whites, and then thawed whipped topping, mixing well.

(This doesn't look quite as good as the lemon one yet, does it? Just wait...)

(Better...)

(Now doesn't this look good?)

Pour filling into pie shell, cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours.

Just before serving, whip whipping cream with 1 T. powdered sugar, and top pie. Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired.

*For safety reasons, I have adapted this recipe over the years. I used to use the raw eggs in the filling and I have never had a problem, but I can't take a chance and serve it to anyone else with that risk. I use regular egg whites for the crust and pasturized egg yolks for the filling. The filling also has two beaten egg whites which I like to use for volume. For this I use powdered egg whites. That step is optional. It is kind of a pain to use three different egg sources, but this pie is very much worth it!

Enjoy!