Chapter Seven: A Little Romance

Since I started planning the pies for the blog, I have been so excited to dish this "Lover's Pie" up!!!

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I was brainstorming what delightful things to make in pie for a romantic evening. Chocolate, obviously. For the holiday, chocolate covered strawberries seem appropriate. Pretty Woman taught me that if you have strawberries, you really should have champagne. And if we're being honest, what would Valentine's Day be without whipped cream?



So, from my brainstorming I had the ingredients. And this week I'm mixing up my blog format! (It gets on my nerves when recipe bloggers write the method in the blog body but leave the actual recipe until the end. I want to know how much of everything there is without the annoying *down scroll, up scroll.*)

To start I opted for a cold set custard, but more on that in a minute. Because of a cold set I needed a full bake crust. I decided on a mealy crust this time around, so my fats needed to be well mixed through the dough rather than large flakes of fat. I enlisted a helper.

Mealy Pie Dough
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup ice water

Partly, I opted for a mealy crust this week because it was a new method and partly because my daughter wouldn't necessarily understand the instruction of flaking fat. Either way, mix it until all the fat is well incorporated through the salt and flour, then add water until it comes together. Chill for twenty minutes and shape into your pan. Then bake at 400º F for fifteen minutes with pie weights, then remove the weights, reduce the temperature to 350º F, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. That's your foundation.

When I was in school one of the recipies I loved was chocolate silk pie, so I'm opting to stick with this tried and true slice of heaven. But that will just be my base. The full recipe is found at the bottom of the page. I know, I hate it. But there's so much necessary technique in getting the right set, I need the full method below. But here are the ingredients as a teaser! :D

Chocolate Silk Pie 
1 ounce cornstarch
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
4 2/3 ounces sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 ounce cocoa powder
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla

The strawberries need to be covered in chocolate, so I am putting them in the pie itself. Using fresh strawberries is difficult in anything baked because they hold so much moisture. Two things can, and according to Murphy, will happen: 1) they will shrivel when the moisture is released in the heat of the oven and 2) the moisture that seeps out, whether baked or not, will soak into other components of your dessert. In this case, with it being a cold set pie, the crust is still vulnerable from seepage of fresh strawberries and would likely turn out soggy. I can't have that! I mulled through several options to prevent water loss and the resulting disaster, from using freeze dried strawberries to coating the strawberries in chocolate. Instead I'm opting on adding a layer of strawberry jam in the middle. Without a recipe, I boiled sugar, strawberries, and lemon juice until soft, then mashed them up and boiled off as much water as possible.

The pie filling that I've listed below is the old favorite that I've made about half a dozen times and I love it every time. Seriously, out of all the books I have from my time as a baking student, this is one of my favorite go-tos!

Whip your cream. If you need help, check out one of my other blogs about whipped cream.

Putting it all together is really what's making this pie so special. Pipe whipped cream rosettes along the edges of the pie. Top that with a strawberry heart! (Aww...) To make a heart out of a strawberry, slice off the green top of a long, pointed strawberry and cut a v shape off the top toward the middle. Then thinly slice the strawberry... voila!

But the really exciting part is this next bit. (Who has noticed there hasn't been any champagne so far?) Husband and I were watching The Great American Baking Show last December and one method really caught my fancy. Amanda made champagne caviar to top her pavlovas. You can find the full dessert recipe here. I have to admit that on all the culinary shows, I'm enthralled at the science of molecular gastronomy, or simply, making food do stuff on a chemical level. Amanda gelatinized champagne and formed the warm gelatin into balls! (Think: a more advanced technique for jello shots.) So that's what I'm going to attempt. If it goes well, it goes right on top of the pie. If not, I am shamed and wait a week for pie redemption.

Champagne Caviar
3 cups cold vegetable oil
2 packets powdered gelatine
3 tablespoons cold water
3 ounces sparkling wine
2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Bloom the gelatin in the water. Warm the sparkling wine to 100º F (warm to the touch) and mix in the sugar until dissolved. Combine the gelatin and sweetened wine together until fully melted and pour into a spouted bottle. Drizzle the liquid into the VERY cold oil, then, in batches, remove the orbs from the oil, rinse well with cold water, and drain on a paper bag.

Some things to note in this process: The oil has to be very cold to set the gelatin immediately. Have a cheesecloth handy in a shallow cup for draining excess oil when you remove them initially. Add the sugar to the champagne over a sink or in a large vessel because the champagne will foam like crazy.


Aren't they cute!?

Bring  it all together and you end up with this beauty, fit for sweethearts! Did I mention, since you only use three ounces of champagne, most of the bottle is left over for... whatever your heart desires!



Chocolate Silk Pie Filling
1 ounce cornstarch
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
4 2/3 ounces sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 ounce cocoa powder
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Mix together the cornstarch, sugar and eggs. In a medium pot heat the milk, cream and cocoa powder. Temper the milk into the eggs.

*Some notes about tempering eggs....
1)To temper is to slowly mix something hot into eggs, raising their temperature as not to fully cook and scramble the egg component, for those who didn't know. 

2) Using a whisk is the best device to temper because there is more even distribution as you stir.

3) You will need a rubber bottomed bowl or an extra set of hands, because if one hand is filled with the pot and the other with the whisk, there's nothing to hold your bowl in place while you stir. I opted for a little helper.

4) Start tempering slowly until the temperature begins to rise. Then it's less likely for eggs to scramble as you add the rest of the milk.
*Now back to our recipe....

 Return the tempered egg mixture to the heat and cook until thickened, stirring (with the whisk still) constantly. When it has thickened, remove the mix to a bowl in an ice bath to halt the eggs cooking. Stir in the semisweet chocolate and vanilla immediately, while still hot. (You know, to melt it all.)

Spread the filling in a pre-baked pie shell and chill, covered, until set. (When covering, make sure the saran wrap is touching the entire surface of the filling. This will keep it from creating a film like you find on cooled cook-n-serve pudding.)