My Recipe Book

A Bit of Madness

It's quite fitting to start off 2021 with something as beautifully chaotic as this recipe, one of my favorite healing methods for dark, stormy days--both physically and metaphorically speaking. It is fairly simple, involves few ingredients, and involves some SMASHING to let out pent-up anger.

The recipe is as follows: 

LEFT-IN-THE-DARK CHOCOLATE PIE

Ingredients:

----------------------------------------------------------------

For the DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE FILLING:

1.5 Cup Dark Chocolate Morsels (or Semi-Sweet if you aren't feeling as vengeful and bitter)

.5 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

For the OREO CRUST:

30-36 Oreos (This is one Family-Sized Package)

6 TBS Unsalted Butter, Melted

For the LEMON CURD FILLING:

.5 C Unsalted Butter

.75 C Granulated Sugar

.5 C Fresh Lemon Juice

3 TBS Lemon Zest, Finely Grated and Tightly Packed

6 Egg Yolks

A Pinch of Salt

To Begin:

Prepare a pie tin, approximately 9-inch diameter (though the recipe can be tweaked to fit a larger pan. 

To make the crust, put the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and nuke it for 20-second intervals until it is completely melted. In a large Ziploc bag, place all 36 of the Oreos inside. This is where you get to let out your inner rage. Smash the heck out of those Oreos with a rolling pin, your fists, whatever's handy, until there are no large chunks remaining. Once the desired level of crushed-up is reached, carefully pour the Oreo crumbs into the bowl of melted butter. Mix with a wooden spoon until thoroughly clumpy. At this point, you can start pushing the Oreo crumb crust into the bottom of your prepared pie tin. :)

On to step two, building the lemon custard. To start with, you will need to melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, remove the butter from heat and whisk in the sugar, lemon juice, zest, and salt. Add in the yolks one at a time. Once everything has been added, it is time to put this pan of deliciousness back on the heat. Whisk it constantly until it thickens a bit, about 5 to 6 minutes. DO NOT BOIL! When the desired thickness is reached, transfer the lemon curd to a separate bowl. Let cool, whisking occasionally, then refrigerate until needed. 

Step three, CHOCOLATE GANACHE TIME! Make sure your chocolate is of considerably small size. Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Now it's time to pour the heavy whipping cream into a separate bowl and put it in the microwave for 45 seconds to a minute, making sure the cream doesn't bubble up over the sides. Once heated, pour the whipping cream over the chocolate morsels. Let sit for 2 or 3 minutes, then start whisking in the center of the bowl---slowly moving outward until fully combined. Let cool completely before use.

Here comes the fun part.

Gently spread an even layer of ganache directly on top of the Oreo crust. Next, spread your chilled lemon custard over the ganache. If desired (which I totally did), douse your tart with whipped cream (you can use the rest of your whipping cream plus 3 TBS powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla...or opt for some good-ole-fashioned Reddi-Whip), remaining chocolate morsels, some lemon zest. Definitely Instagrammable. 

Or, if you don't care about aesthetics, just put the pie straight to your face. I won't judge.

((I will be posting a video and photo of the final product today or tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled! In addition, please tell me in the comments how this recipe turned out for you if you tried it!))