Chocolate Cream Pie

Zombified.

That's how I felt today.  I had the stares.  And the shuffling gait.  Muffled sounds were made.  Not a pretty picture.  And then I had a cup of coffee.  And everything was good again.  Well, sort of.  While the Nespresso was making its way through my system (eyes re-focussing - check, brain de-fuzzing - check), I was trying to navigate my way through the kitchen without bumping into too much stuff.  My objective?  A piece of chocolate cream pie.  With a single-minded focus on the dark chocolate wafer crust and creamy pudding-like filling (personally, the whipped cream doesn't do it for me), I edged closer to the fridge with arms shooting straight ahead, reaching for the handle (geez, I guess the Nepresso didn't hit all spots yet since the zombie-posing was back).  Door flung open, eyes now (kinda) wide with anticipation, and..... no pie.  Just a tell-telling trail of cocoa powder dust where the pie previously lay in wait.

Me thinks that a certain Monarch has been here.  You'll have to excuse me while I go check if said tell-telling cocoa powder has darkened his pristine goatee...

For the record, this is what the pie looked like, from start to finish...

 chocolate crust....

becoming a custard...

thickened and strained custard...

now a chocolate kinda pudding...

bowl licked clean...oops, how did that get in here?!?

getting ready to hit the fridge for a few hours...

a bottle of porto peeking from behind the whipped cream...

APB out for this pie....

Chocolate Cream Pie (adapted from Gourmet)

For crust

• 1 1/3 cups chocolate wafer crumbs (from about 26 cookies such as Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar

For filling

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 cups whole milk
• 5 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), melted
• 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

For topping

• 3/4 cup chilled heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Make crust:  

• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together crumbs, butter, and sugar and press on bottom and up side of a 9-inch pie plate (1-quart capacity). Bake until crisp, about 15 minutes, and cool on a rack.

Make filling:  

• Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks in a 3-quart heavy saucepan until combined well, then add milk in a stream, whisking. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking, 1 minute (filling will be thick).  

• Force filling through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then whisk in chocolates, butter, and vanilla. Cover surface of filling with a buttered round of wax paper and cool completely, about 2 hours.  

• Spoon filling into crust and chill pie, loosely covered, at least 6 hours.

Make topping:  

• Just before serving, beat cream with sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks, then spoon on top of pie.

Cooks’ note: Pie (without topping) can be chilled up to 1 day.