Monday, February 7, 2011

CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE WITH ORANGE-MASCARPONE CREAM TOPPING

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Recently, I received an Emile Henry 8” pie dish, compliments of CSN Stores.   Almost immediately after the pie dish arrived, I found out that Emile Henry was sponsoring a “How Pretty is Your Pie” contest.  I thought this would be good practice for me, the plain cook who never thinks of presentation.  First prize was entry to the Crisco National Pie contest in Florida.  How I would love to attend that contest, but I wouldn’t pay the price of transportation, hotel, meals and entry.  I planned on entering four or five pie recipes, but the contest required a photo, naturally in an Emile Henry pie dish.  Alas, time ran short and I never did get my entries in.  I had one pie that was a killer, but the photo came out terrible and there was no time to do a repeat.  So only two entries made it in time.  How surprised was I when I received an email that this pie was a runner-up!  I didn’t think it looked good enough, so I’ll just assume the other entries were pretty bad. 

Looks aside, this pie was delicious!  A rich, smooth, chocolatey  filling is topped with mascarpone and heavy cream sweetened and flavored with Triple Sec and orange zest.  The pie sits in a flaky Crisco crust and is topped with a special chocolate-orange bar that is grated over the top.

Eat this sinfully-rich dessert in small slices.  Though the chocolate amount is moderate by today’s standards, and the filling uses  regular milk instead of half and half or cream, it’s still loaded with calories, and no real nutrition, but, boy, does it taste good.  Go ahead and indulge, just so long as it’s a rare treat and you don’t get carried away. 

The Chocolove chocolate-orange bar grated over the top is perfect for this pie. 
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I’ve been making butter crusts lately, and have gotten away from Crisco crusts.  For this contest, I thought I would honor Crisco, the sponsor of the national pie contest.  I was very surprised to find that this pie crust was delicious!  Several people commented on how good it was, and I liked the fact that it didn’t shrink much at all when it was blind-baked.  The flaky and tender Crisco crust also complements the pie and tones down the chocolate. 

Side note:  My prize hasn’t arrived yet.  It’s a $50 baking set consisting of bowls and, guess what else:  another Emile Henry pie dish!  If you’re interested, you can see my recipe on the Emile Henry website, along with the other pie entries. 

Chocolate Cream Pie with Orange-Mascarpone Cream Topping
Source:  Judy’s Kitchen
Rating:  9 out of 10


CRUST:  Use your favorite pie crust, or make this easy, flaky Crisco Pie Crust:
1-1/2 cups low-protein flour, such as White Lily All-Purpose (not self-rising)
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup Crisco all-vegetable shortening, placed in freezer 15 minutes.
4-6 Tbsp. ice water 
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Pulse flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in work bowl of food processor to combine.  Cut Crisco into 5-6 pieces and add to work bowl.  Pulse till contents are like wet sand.  Pour into medium bowl and with fingers or fork, gently mix in enough ice water to form a dough.   Press dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or up to overnight.  Roll out to 12” circle on lightly floured surface.  Fit into 8” deep dish or 9” regular pie plate without stretching.  Trim and flute edges.  Refrigerate 15 minutes.  Heat oven to 375F.  Prick pie dough with fork all over; cover with parchment paper or tinfoil and fill with pie weights or beans.  Bake 15 minutes; remove pie weights and paper.  Return crust to oven and continue to bake another 15 minutes, or till golden brown and cooked through.  Cool completely.

CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE FILLING: 
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 Tbsp. natural unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. finely grated orange zest 
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely grated
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. orange extract
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

In 1-quart microwaveable bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, salt, orange zest, milk and egg yolks.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes, then whisk till smooth.  Continue to heat and whisk at 1-minute intervals till mixture is just thickened, about 4-5 minutes total.

Remove from microwave and stir in chocolate, flavorings and butter.  Whisk or stir till melted and smooth.  Press through a sieve into a clean bowl.  Cool slightly, then pour into cooled crust.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

ORANGE-MASCARPONE CREAM TOPPING:
1 cup mascarpone, chilled
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp. orange liqueur, such as Triple Sec
1 Tbsp. finely grated orange zest

In medium bowl, combine mascarpone and sugar.  Beat on medium till well mixed, about 1 minute.  Add cream, liqueur and zest and continue to beat till mixture is whipped and thick enough to put in frosting bag and pipe onto pie.  Using a star tip (or other favorite tip), pipe topping onto top of cooled pie, mounding center section higher than edges. 

GARNISHES:
1/2 of a chocolate-orange bar, such as Chocolove
2-3 thin orange slices 

Sprinkle edges of pie thickly with grated or curled chocolate bar.  Sprinkle raised center section lightly with chocolate.  Twist 2-3 orange slices and place atop center section.  Yield:  8 servings
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13 comments:

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Congratulations on the win Judy. I think your pie is lovely. Sometimes we're our own worst critics.

I'm crazy about Emile Henry products.
Sam

teresa said...

absolutely beautiful!

The Food Hound said...

I LOVE Chocolove! I think mascarpone is my favorite new ingredient for frostings/toppings. I'm not a huge pie fanatic, but I LOVE chocolate cream pie! You shouldn't be surprised this was a runner up! Looks awesome!

Diane said...

Congratulations on being runner up, sure if you had more time you would have had a winner. This recipe is quite mouth watering, yum yum. Diane

briarrose said...

This pie looks just incredible. You did a beautiful job on it.

Roz | La Bella Vita Cucina said...

Great news about your winning placement! Good for you! This pie is beautiful and the flavors that are combined are perfect with each other. I love that pie dish! He makes the prettiest and yet simplest bakeware!

Biz said...

Jealous of your pie pan - love it! And it looks delicious. I am a fan of both butter and crisco, but I think crisco has a bit flakier crust for me - I keep a can in my freezer too :D

Barbara Bakes said...

Congratulations! It looks like an award winning pie to me! I've never been happy with an all butter crust yet. I do a mix because I love the flakiness you get with Crisco.

Juliana said...

Judy, what a beautiful and yummie pie, love the idea of orange and mascarpone...

Kerstin said...

Congrats!! I can totally see why you won a prize - love the flavors!

Marge said...

Congratulations!!! Is this the pie you're talking about not being pretty??? Looks wonderful to me! Almost too pretty to eat...almost :o)

Nutmeg Nanny said...

Yum! This pie looks amazing! I love love love mascarpone.

Hanaâ said...

Congratulations. How cool is that? Your pie looks rich and decadent so I can understand why the judges picked it! Great job!