An original recipe mash-up, with inspirations from Marie Carter, Driscoll's, and Keri Russell.
My husband and I recently watched the movie Waitress, a charming Adrienne Shelly film featuring a lot of mouthwatering pies, plus Keri Russell looking adorable in a diner waitress uniform. Every man's fantasy: hot waitress bakes you pie regularly. Also, it's a shame what happened to Adrienne Shelly. But I digress.
As I mentioned previously, I am baking my husband a pie-of-the-month this year (though my waitressing uniform is not nearly as hot as Keri Russell's). Watching pies unfold onscreen, smooth chocolate and fillings poured lusciously into crusts, often over perfect fruit, made me desperate to reproduce some of them (and John desperate to eat them). In particular, the Lonely Chicago Pie attracted me. I wasn't really satisfied, though, with the recipes that other people, similarly inspired, had invented and posted on the internet, so I went looking for something that combined a blend of mixed berries with really dark chocolate (not a pudding or a mousse). Actually, to be honest, the recipe I just linked is much closer to what I was looking for than anything I was able to find that day, and if I'd found it then I might have tried it.
I ended up torn between a fairly dense chocolate-and-berry pie from Marie Carter, and this more pudding-y pie from Driscoll's that had the advantage of a whipped cream topping. I love whipped cream and it seemed desirable for balancing the rich chocolate. Ultimately I decided to combine the two, and this dessert was born.
My husband and I recently watched the movie Waitress, a charming Adrienne Shelly film featuring a lot of mouthwatering pies, plus Keri Russell looking adorable in a diner waitress uniform. Every man's fantasy: hot waitress bakes you pie regularly. Also, it's a shame what happened to Adrienne Shelly. But I digress.
As I mentioned previously, I am baking my husband a pie-of-the-month this year (though my waitressing uniform is not nearly as hot as Keri Russell's). Watching pies unfold onscreen, smooth chocolate and fillings poured lusciously into crusts, often over perfect fruit, made me desperate to reproduce some of them (and John desperate to eat them). In particular, the Lonely Chicago Pie attracted me. I wasn't really satisfied, though, with the recipes that other people, similarly inspired, had invented and posted on the internet, so I went looking for something that combined a blend of mixed berries with really dark chocolate (not a pudding or a mousse). Actually, to be honest, the recipe I just linked is much closer to what I was looking for than anything I was able to find that day, and if I'd found it then I might have tried it.
I ended up torn between a fairly dense chocolate-and-berry pie from Marie Carter, and this more pudding-y pie from Driscoll's that had the advantage of a whipped cream topping. I love whipped cream and it seemed desirable for balancing the rich chocolate. Ultimately I decided to combine the two, and this dessert was born.
Photo credit: Julie Lin
Now, the chocolate layer of this dessert is really very solid, more like something I would call a torte than a pie. However, there are a lot of berries, both inside and on top, and a thick layer of cream that fairly shouts "French Silk Pie," and of course it is pie-shaped, because it is baked in a pie pan. My daughter announced that it was neither cake nor pie, but shared aspects of both; she, continually alert for connections to gender and sexuality politics, delightedly declared it a "non-binary dessert."
The apple pie I posted before: totally heteronormative.
Feeling "non-binary dessert" was a bit clunky, I suggested "non-pienary," and she, being fourteen, thought that was brilliant. This recipe is so named henceforth.
**
Non-pienary
1 1/2 c. chocolate graham crackers
1/2 c. + 1/3 c. butter
1 c. dark (preferably bittersweet) chocolate chips
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar, plus a spoon or two more
2 T. powdered sugar
2. eggs
1/2 c. flour
1 1/2-2 t. vanilla
about 2 small packages raspberries
about 1 small package blueberries
2 c. heavy cream
Crust: Crush 1 1/2 c. chocolate graham crackers or cookies (I used teddy grahams) and mix with 1/3 c. melted butter. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.
Filling: Melt together the other stick of butter and 1 c. good-quality dark chocolate chips. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and gradually stir in 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. white sugar, and 2 beaten eggs, a little at a time. Add 1/2 c. flour, 1 t. vanilla, and about 3/4 c. of raspberries and 1/2 c. blueberries, give or take. Mash the berries a little before using. Pour it all in the crust and bake 45 minutes. Chill until entirely cooled, if possible, before topping.
Topping: Puree one small package of raspberries in the blender, then strain through a sieve to remove seedy parts. Add a spoonful or two of sugar. Whip 2 c., of heavy cream with 2 T. of powdered sugar and a little bit of vanilla (1/2-1 t.). Mound the pie with the cream. Spoon little dollops of raspberry puree onto the cream and use toothpick to swirl. Top pie with plenty of extra berries. Serve with dashes of extra raspberry puree on the plate.
The apple pie I posted before: totally heteronormative.
Feeling "non-binary dessert" was a bit clunky, I suggested "non-pienary," and she, being fourteen, thought that was brilliant. This recipe is so named henceforth.
**
Non-pienary
1 1/2 c. chocolate graham crackers
1/2 c. + 1/3 c. butter
1 c. dark (preferably bittersweet) chocolate chips
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar, plus a spoon or two more
2 T. powdered sugar
2. eggs
1/2 c. flour
1 1/2-2 t. vanilla
about 2 small packages raspberries
about 1 small package blueberries
2 c. heavy cream
Crust: Crush 1 1/2 c. chocolate graham crackers or cookies (I used teddy grahams) and mix with 1/3 c. melted butter. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.
Filling: Melt together the other stick of butter and 1 c. good-quality dark chocolate chips. Remove from heat, cool slightly, and gradually stir in 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. white sugar, and 2 beaten eggs, a little at a time. Add 1/2 c. flour, 1 t. vanilla, and about 3/4 c. of raspberries and 1/2 c. blueberries, give or take. Mash the berries a little before using. Pour it all in the crust and bake 45 minutes. Chill until entirely cooled, if possible, before topping.
Topping: Puree one small package of raspberries in the blender, then strain through a sieve to remove seedy parts. Add a spoonful or two of sugar. Whip 2 c., of heavy cream with 2 T. of powdered sugar and a little bit of vanilla (1/2-1 t.). Mound the pie with the cream. Spoon little dollops of raspberry puree onto the cream and use toothpick to swirl. Top pie with plenty of extra berries. Serve with dashes of extra raspberry puree on the plate.