Southern Living posted a recipe for an “Ultimate Chocolate Pie” that looks pretty good: https://www.southernliving.com/syndication/ultimate-chocolate-pie
Not bad. But it made me think of a chocolate pie my mother used to make that I think may be even better, and easier. There’s nothing wrong with making your own chocolate mousse of course and creme fraiche is easy enough to make, but a lot of southerners opt to use Cool Whip and chocolate pudding when possible. Don’t get me wrong. I think creme fraiche is better. But it doesn’t keep nearly as well as Cool Whip does. It tends to break. SL’s recipe would be preferable if you’re serving guests and it’s going to be eaten immediately. But that’s not how things are eaten at my house. If you are going to impress guests, I’d use creme fraiche instead of Cool Whip in the recipe.
DEEP DISH CHOCOLATE PIE
- Melt 1 stick butter
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans(toast them if you want, or use pistachios)
- Mix all together and form a crust with this mixture. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees, allow to cool completely.
- Mix 8oz cream cheese, one cup confectioner’s sugar one cup Cool Whip. Blend thoroughly and spread over crust.
- Mix 2 small packages of instant chocolate pudding with 3 cups cold milk. Pour over cream cheese mixture.
- Add 1 cup Cool Whip to make finish layer. Garnish with chocolate chips, shavings or powder.
This is a pie I grew up on and it’s super-rich, so no need for big helpings. And that’s coming from somebody who can put away the rich stuff. My grandfather had a pecan grove in Georgia, so we always had tons of pecans on hand. But you can use whatever nuts you want, or even a graham cracker or Oreo crust. Nothing’s written in stone when cooking or baking. Well, some things are, but a lot isn’t.
