Gypsy Life!

Good news, and even greater news.. First off -We're moving again, surprise surprise! When an opportunity is knocking on your door, you better open it, and invite it in for chocolate cream pie. We will be moving to Louisiana. I can't wait! We had such a great time down there, the people were awesome, and the food was killer. Everything is spicy and so good. So after our trips to Maryland - I want to get a Berger Cookie while I'm there ;) and Alabama, we'll be settled in LA by the middle of June. Secondly Remember that chocolate cream pie we invited opportunity in for? Yeah, how could you forget. I made one! It's delicious, super easy to make, and even more fun to decorate. You can do whatever you want, add as much chocolate as you want, any kind of chocolate you want depending on your flavor preferences, and again you can put bananas, strawberries, raspberries, white chocolate, nuts, WHATEVER YOU WANT ON IT OR IN IT. Pretty awesome huh?! You bet your butt it is.




This is the first time I made a chocolate cream pie using the cooking method. I have made them before using boxed pudding mixes, but again no cooking involved. It's so easy, I have no idea why I was always afraid to cook my own pudding from scratch. From now on, it's all I'm going to do, it's all I really WANT to do. There's nothing like homemade, right? The pie that I made tonight is very chocolaty and not super sweet, which we like. If you prefer sweeter chocolates, more of a milk chocolate flavor, just adjust the chocolate you put in accordingly.


Chocolate Cream Pie

Crust:
1 1/2 C chocolate graham crackers, crushed
6 TB butter, melted

Filling:
3/4 C granulated sugar
1/3 C all purpose flour
2 TB unsweetened cocoa powder
1 C milk
1 C heavy cream
3 oz semi sweet chocolate chopped ( I used 3 squares of Ghirardelli)
3 egg yolks
2 TB softened butter
1 TS pure vanilla

Topping:
2 C heavy whipping cream
1/2 C sugar
2 TS pure vanilla
chocolate shavings ( I used one square)


To make the crust, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter in a medium size bowl. Using a fork, mix until the crumbs are moist. Press into the bottom of a pie plate and set aside. Go ahead and combine the sugar, flour, and cocoa powder in a small bowl, whisk to get rid of any lumps and to combine all ingredients. In a 2 quart saucepan combine cocoa mixture with milk, cream, and chopped chocolate. Cook on medium heat, and be sure to stir constantly. When the mixture starts to bubble, continue stirring for 2 minutes. Take a little of that mixture and rapidly beat into egg yolks, do this quickly so you do not cook the egg yolks. Once mixed, stir that into the reserved chocolate mixture and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Stir that until butter is fully melted. Pour into pie crust and let chill for 3 hours. Once the pie is set, make your whipped topping. In a chilled large bowl, beat the cream until soft peaks form, then add in sugar and vanilla. Beat until sugar dissolves and mixture is thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Decorate as desired.





Now come on over and I'll cut you a slice!