French Silk Chocolate Pie

A belated Happy Pi Day. I've been wanting to try this recipe for a couple of years and yesterday was a good excuse. This is a very rich dessert; even a sliver of a slice is substantial.

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French Silk Chocolate Pie

Source:  cookscountry.com

Serves 8-10

1 pie shell, baked and cooled

1 c heavy cream, chilled

3 large eggs

3/4 c sugar

2 T water

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

1 T vanilla extract

8 T (one stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and softened

Melt the chocolate using your preferred method. I like using a microwave: I chopped the chocolate finely and heated the chocolate at 50% power for 3 minutes, stirring after each minute. Set aside to cool.

Whip the cream using an electric mixer on medium-high speed until you have stiff peaks. Refrigerate until needed.

Bring a half inch of water to a simmer in a saucepan. In a large heat-proof bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, and water. Set the bowl over the water, ensuring the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat while heating until the mixture has thickened and it has reached 160F. This may take 10 minutes or so.

Once the mixture has reached the target temperature, remove from heat and continue to beat with the electric mixer while the mixture cools to room temperature and becomes smooth but fluffy.

Add the chocolate and vanilla to the egg mixture and continue beating until the chocolate is incorporated. The fluffy texture of the egg mixture may collapse somewhat. Beat in the butter, a few pieces at a time, until well combined. With a spatula, fold in the whipped cream until you see no streaks of white, being careful to mix close to the bottom for bits that hide out. The mixture will be quite thick. Scrape the mixture into the pie shell and smooth the top. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours and as many as 24. Serve topped with some lightly sweetened whipped cream or with shaved chocolate, or both.