Dense and dark chocolate pies such as this are often called mud pies, a name that doesn’t have too much appeal for me. If you want to be different and bake a pie rather than a cake for a birthday, this is the one to choose. The filling is solid enough to support all the candles you can stick into it, and it won’t melt under the heat. A stand-type electric mixer is almost essential for beating the egg whites.
Makes one 9-inch pie
Crumb Crust for a 9-inch pie shell, made with chocolate wafer cookies (page 32)
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 ounces (2 squares) unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces or coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate morsels
3 eggs, at room temperature
⅔ cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Form and bake the crumb crust as directed in the recipe, baking it for 8 minutes. Cool completely before filling.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and sift them together onto a sheet of waxed paper. Set aside.
Place the unsweetened chocolate, butter, and 1 cup of the chocolate morsels in a medium-size, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Set over medium-low heat and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the mixture is melted and smooth. While the chocolate melts, start beating the eggs.
Combine the eggs, sugar, instant coffee, and vanilla in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer at high speed until the mixture is thick and foamy and about 4 times its original volume. (This will take 7 to 8 minutes using a stand-type electric mixer, longer if you are using a hand-held electric mixer.) If you are using a stand-type mixer, remove the bowl from the stand when you’re finished beating.
Add the warm chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and, with a rubber spatula or large wooden spoon, stir until the batter is streaked with chocolate. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the egg mixture and continue to stir—taking care to reach the bottom of the bowl—until the batter is evenly mixed, with no unblended streaks. Stir in the remaining 1 cup chocolate morsels.
Pour the mixture into the prepared crust and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling has become slightly firm and has puffed slightly, and you see small cracks in a few places. Cool completely before serving.