I like Pie.
People who know me can expect to hear at some point in the day the following statement:
“I like [Pie, .py, pi]”
Depending on what is going through my head determines which one I mean. In the case of this post, I am referring to Pie.
Right now, I am speaking of “Southern Fried Chocolate Pie”, a specialty of my grandmother.
This came about through accident, I think. I think she either ran out of pecans (or I ate them all) after prepping the goop (like the technical terminology there?) for a chocolate pecan pie.
It’s not fried, the surface just sorta looks that way . . . all shiny and pitted.
Southern Fried Chocolate Pie
Heat oven to 350F
(Makes 2 9-inch standard pies)Dry (combine)
3 Cups sugar (cane/raw gives richer flavor)
7 to 9 Tbsp cocoa-powder
heavy pinch of salt (maybe as much as 1/4 tsp)
Optional to taste: cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, cayenne, gingerWet (conbine)
12oz Evaporated Milk
4 whole large eggs
1/4 to 1/2 stick of butter (melted and cooled some)
1 Tbsp (can add another tsp to Tbsp if you like) VanillaMix the two together until very smooth. You can mix with electric, or hand-wisk (spatula also, just takes a bit longer)
pour into pre-baked pie shells or raw pie shells. Either is fine, but give a very different texture.
Bake 45 minutes up to an hour. Should still be a little jiggly, but not sloshy and not set firm.
You can add pecans, walnuts, or other nuts, or chopped dried (not candied) fruits to the pieshells prior to filling. Nuts may decrease the baking time, the dried fruits may increase the time, depending on the moisture-content. You may want to use a bit less sugar with the dried fruits as well.
That’s what I’ve come-up with so far in my experiments to try to recreate the glorious pies of my youth. I’m not quite there, yet. Something is missing. That is why I have so much lee-way in my recipe. Next batch, I’ll either add or drop an egg, or maybe a yolk to change the texture a bit.