Everyone knows that the best flavor for any dessert is chocolate. Take an undercooked, soggy, waste of a baked good (trust me, I’ve made my fair share of them) and drizzle chocolate sauce on it, and suddenly it's fabulous. So when I decided to get baking for the first time in weeks, I knew it had to be something chocolate.
As it was for my sister’s birthday, the requirements for the dessert had to pertain to her tastes (which frankly aren’t too sophisticated): something chocolatey, dark, decadent, rich, and delicious. However, when I began looking for a recipe that I could work with, I realized I had only two sticks of butter, and couldn’t make any of the classic cakes, pies, cookies, or pastries. Instead, I began brainstorming myself.
With two sticks of butter and the desired outcome of chocolatey goodness, I began with the prospect making a simple chocolate pudding tart, the inspiration of which I came across through a BuzzFeed Tasty video. (My obsession is quite extreme.) Simple, yes, requiring only five household ingredients, but with the richness and silkiness of any lavish chocolate tart. The base of the tart was a simple cookie crust of crushed oreos, while the filling combined chocolate, eggs, water, butter, and coffee. The addition of coffee to the tart filling would only amplify the flavor as well as reduce the sweetness.
Living in a family of stingy dessert critics, this is the perfect recipe to make. Rather than being overloaded with sugar and sickly sweet, it's chocolatey and semi-sweet, and will satisfy everyone it's served to. Requiring only a few basic ingredients, my parents were forced to refrain from lecturing me about using too many materials. (Especially since they lapped up the final product.)
After baking, the pie is delicious enough to be eaten barefaced, but I decided to go the extra mile for my sister’s birthday.
I made a simple chocolate ganache with dark chocolate and cream, as well as a strawberry sour cream glaze. I mixed the two together to create a beautifully marbled and colorful finish on top of both of the pies I made.
On one of the pies, I continued adding layers, first by piping homemade chocolate whipped cream across the entire pie, layering sandwich cookies on top, and finally covering everything with a sheet of glazed blackberries and raspberries. The final touch was a trio of toffee dipped almonds in the center.
For the second pie, I went against the layer route and chose to design simple decorations instead. I outlined the pie with glazed raspberries and blackberries, as well as put a few in the center. I went on to pipe whipped cream along the border as well as create the shape of an 18 with crushed oreo crumbs. Finally I piped some chocolate decorations, a cursive ‘Happy Birthday’ and a couple of three dimensional piped butterflies.
The results were two pies of identical ingredients but each of a unique appearance. The first a delicate and beautiful layered delight, and the second a marbled, elevated, birthday pie. But both tasted equally amazing: rich and with heavy notes of coffee and dark chocolate; delicious.
Ingredients (yields 1 pie)
Base Recipe:
¾ cups oreo cookies
½ tablespoon of butter
Chocolate Pie Filling Recipe:
1 cup dark chocolate
⅓ cup water
1 stick of butter
1 tablespoon instant coffee
3 eggs
Chocolate Ganache:
½ cupe heavy cream
1 tablespoon of water
½ cup dark chocolate
Sour Cream Glaze:
⅔ cup blended strawberries
¾ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup icing sugar
Chocolate Whipped Cream:
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
2-3 tablespoons cocoa powder (to taste)
3-5 tablespoons icing sugar (to taste)
Recipe
Base:
Blend oreos in a food processor and add melted butter.
Move crushed oreos to a cake pan and compress with a spoon until flat.
Filling:
Put butter, water, and coffee in a pan and melt/dissolve completely.
Pour hot butter mixture into chocolate and whisk until smooth.
Whisk in 3 eggs until smooth.
Pour filling into the cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 12-17 minutes.
Remove the baked pie from the oven and let it cool.
Topping:
Heat heavy whipping cream and water in a pan until hot and combined.
Add cream to chocolate and whisk until smooth.
In a bowl, combine sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract and stir until well combined.
Blend strawberries and add to a sauce pan until reduced by ½.
Add Reduced strawberry pureé to sour cream mixture and stir until combined.
Drizzle chocolate ganache and strawberry sour cream glaze in stripes onto pie. Using a toothpick, drag zig-zagged lines across the surface to create a marbled effect.
For the whipped cream, whisk cream, sugar, and cocoa powder in a bowl until the whipped cream forms.
Pipe cream as desired on the pie.
Decorate the pie as you wish!
