CHOCOLATE LOVER’S CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE

Growing up, I could always count on my mom’s parents to have something with chocolate at their house. One of my grandmother’s specialties, and a favorite of mine, was her chocolate cream pie. I jazzed this one up a bit with a no-bake chocolate crust and cocoa whipped cream for the chocoholic in us all.

CHOCOLATE CRUST

20 chocolate sandwich cookies

¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted

CHOCOLATE FILLING

½ cup sugar

¼ cup cocoa powder

¼ cup cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

2 ¼ cups whole milk

¾ cup chopped semisweet chocolate, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

For the crust, place the cookies in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse until crumbs are formed. Add the melted butter to the crumbs, and continue pulsing until the mixture is moist throughout. Press into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

For the filling, in a medium saucepan whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt. Slowly whisk in the milk, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 12 to 15 minutes. After 15 minutes it should have a pudding consistency. Remove the pan from the heat. Immediately stir in ½ cup of the chopped chocolate and the vanilla until the chocolate has melted completely. Let the filling cool for 10 minutes. Pour the filling into the chilled crust, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For the topping, place the cream in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream until it is slightly thickened. Add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Spread the cream over the pie, and garnish it with the remaining ¼ cup chopped chocolate. Loosely cover, and refrigerate the pie overnight. Keep chilled until you are ready to serve.

MAKES 8 SERVINGS.