As the holiday season kicks off, we here at Metro Parent thought it was the perfect time to share some of our favorite family recipes with you. If you’re looking for a dessert idea that’s different, try making French silk pie this year. Here, editor-in-chief Julia Elliott gives you her recipe – and the story behind it.
The story
I know that pumpkin is all the rage, but I’ve never been a big fan of pumpkin pie. The denseness and heavy pumpkin flavor of this ubiquitous holiday “favorite” was never a hit for this certified sweet lover. Enter the holy grail of the holiday table, at least for the Elliott family – French silk pie. The first time we had it was at the old Bakers Square restaurant/bake shop in Warren. Its light-yet-rich, milk chocolatey melt-in-your mouth filling combined with a crunchy buttery crust was the most amazing thing we’d ever tasted – until we decided to make our own. This recipe I humbly submit is better than Bakers Square, and if you have chocolate lovers in your family or anyone with a pulse, for that matter, they will love it as much my family does. One important note: Make the homemade whipped cream. Once you have it, the stuff in the can will taste like sweet noxious sludge. Trust me. It’s worth it.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 6 Tbsp. salted butter, melted
Filling
- 4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 4 whole large eggs
Whipped cream
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 4 Tbsp. powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Directions
Crust
- Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into a 9-inch pie dish.
- Bake at 375 F for 7 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown. Let cool completely.
Filling
- Melt chocolate in microwave safe bowl or in double boiler on stove. Set aside to cool.
- With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy (about 2 minutes); then pour melted chocolate into mixture. Add vanilla.
- Beat thoroughly with the whisk attachment.
- Set mixer at medium speed and add eggs one at a time, beating 3-4 minutes and scraping the bowl with each egg addition.
- Give mixture one final beating with spatula and pour into prepared pie shell.
- Chill at least 3 hours.
Whipped cream
- Pour cream into chilled mixing bowl and add the sugar and vanilla.
- Beat on high until cream is thick enough to hold its shape and sticks to a spoon.
Serve small slices (it’s very rich) with a heaping dollop of whipped cream.
